Seven Components of Creativity
Even though the focus is on children, the 7 components are applicable to adults.
Components
| Development Areas |
Components | Description |
| Cognitive |
1. Imagination & Originality (imagine & explore original ideas) | Creativity involves producing original ideas that are unusual or novel, and it sometimes involves combining 2 or more different concepts to create new synthesised ideas. Children express their imagination and original ideas through pretend play and the creation of imaginary companions and make-believe worlds. |
| 2. Flexibility (maximum openness to unique & novel experiences) | The interaction of intelligence and creativity often begins with flexible combination and modification of prior concepts or strategies to produce new representations. Children can experience flexibility by seeing from different perspectives, remaining open to new and challenging experiences or, especially as they become older, gaining awareness of how seeing from a single perspective can limit their creativity. | |
| 3. Decision-making (make thoughtful choices that support creative efforts) | Discretion, judgement decision-making play an important role in the development and expression of creativity for children. Decision-making skills required convergent thinking, which is critical to creativity because it allows individuals to refine ideas and to select the best possible answer from the ideas generated to solve a problem. | |
| Social & emotional |
4. Communications & Self-expression (communicating ideas thru self with confidence) | Communicating one's unique perspective plays a vital role in creativity by allowing individuals to express their feelings, ideas and desires through language, art and physical movement. A sense of confidence and connection to authentic feelings allows children to express their unique insights and thoughts with others. |
| 5. Motivation (demonstrate internal motivation to achieve a meaningful goal) | Motivation is at the core of the development experience and inspires children to explore and satisfy their curiosity. When individuals are internally motivated, acting without the promise of a reward, they are most creative. | |
| 6. Collaboration (develop social skills that foster creative teamwork) | Collaboration allows for the exchange of ideas among children as they work to find a solution for a problem or project. Working together towards a shared goal fosters perspective-taking and provides a chance for children to explain and expand their thinking in new ways. | |
| Physical |
7. Action & Movement (boost creative potential through physical activity) | Exercise and physical activity are associated with better focus, enhanced memory and greater ability to learn. Action and movement stimulate the building blocks of learning in the brain, and regular exercise can act as a cognitive enhancer to promote creativity. |
(source: Centre for Childhood Creativity, 2020)