building using imagination skills - squarespace · imagination and creativity are terms that are...

Building Using Imagination Skills


Primary teachers’ guide


Introduction Page 4

The principles when teaching skills Page 4

Keep it simple: How does Imagination develop? Page 6

Measure it: What are your students’ current capabilities? Page 9

Start early: Why start with your youngest students? Page 10

Pitch it right: Differentiated activities to get started Page 11

Keep practising: In your classroom, your curriculum and across school Page 27

Bring it to life: How to link to the real world? Page 28

Other useful resources Page 29

We are very grateful to the Commercial Education Trust and the Worshipful Company of

World Traders for their support of this project.


Introduction

Enabling Enterprise was set up by a team of teachers in 2009 with an apparently simple

mission: to ensure that all students develop the enterprise skills, experiences of work and

aspirations to succeed.

We felt that there was a gap in our education system. The academic knowledge and

competencies our students were developing were essential. But just as essential was the

wider set of skills and attitudes that would unlock their potential to learn, and one day enable

them to achieve employment, be successful entrepreneurs or to excel in higher education.

The skills we focus on

Enabling Enterprise focuses on building eight enterprise skills which have been shown to

most effectively unlock learning:

In this guide we focus on Using Imagination for primary school students.

How to get the most out of this guide

This guide has been developed to support teachers in their classrooms. We’ve included

some of the academic and pedagogical background to developing your students’ skill of

Using Imagination. Then there are tools to help assess the skills of your class, along with a

selection of activity ideas to get started.


The principles for

teaching skills

At Enabling Enterprise, we’ve identified six

key principles which underpin any effective

teaching of skills – whether it be encouraging

students to Use Imagination or anything

else. These are:

(1) Keep it simple: Have clarity about what you are trying to

achieve in building your students’ capabilities to use their

imagination.

(2) Measure it: Understand your students’ current strengths and

weaknesses related to their ability to use their imagination

before you get started.

(3) Start early and keep going: It doesn’t matter whether your

students are in Year 1 or Year 6 – supporting them to use their

imagination will help them become more successful learners.

(4) Pitch it right: Different activities, focussing on Using

Imagination will help the students at the right stage for their

development.

(5) Keep practising: There are other ways that you can continue

to support and develop your students’ imagination skills,

whatever they are doing.

(6) Bring it to life: You can reinforce the need to use your

imagination in a whole array of situations and help them to

apply this skill by making links to the real world.

This booklet helps to bring to life how to

support your students to use their

imaginations, by looking at each of these

areas in turn – with some practical ideas for

how to make it a reality.


Principle 1:

Keep it simple

So, what is Using Imagination?

Albert Einstein is quoted as having said, ‘Imagination is

more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited.

Imagination encircles the world.’ So what do we actually

mean by ‘using imagination’?

The Oxford English Dictionary defines imagination as: ‘The

ability of the mind to be creative or resourceful. The faculty

or action of forming new ideas’.

Imagination and creativity are terms that are often used

interchangeably, being linked to innovative thinking.

Christensen the author of ‘The Creativity Challenge’ (2015),

explained, ‘imagination is about seeing the impossible, or

unreal. Creativity is using imagination to unleash the

potential of existing ideas in order to create new and

valuable ones. Innovation is taking existing, reliable systems

and ideas and improving them’.

At Enabling Enterprise, for our primary aged students, we

think of the skill ‘Using Imagination’ as being a combination

of imaginative ideas, creativity and innovation.

How does it develop?

The NFER’s Caroline Sharp (2004) summarised much research into creativity and how it

develops in children. She found, ‘Most theories of child development view young children as

highly creative, with a natural tendency to fantasise, experiment and explore their

environment… this high level of creativity is not necessarily maintained throughout childhood

and into adulthood.’ In fact, a study by Meador as far back as 1992 presented evidence that

creativity begins to decline when children enter the formal school system, at around the age

of five. It is therefore vital that we seek to ensure teachers are able to include opportunities

for their children to utilise the imagination they bring with them to school and develop it

further. Indeed, Sir Ken Robinson, in his 2006 TedTalk ‘Do schools kill creativity?’ said,

‘Creativity is as important as literacy and we should treat it with the same status.’

For Key Stage 1 children then, it is about supporting them to be confident to come up with

their own ideas and share them. Over time, the focus is on the children being confident to

imagine, to think, and to dream - whilst using a range of tools that can support their creative

thinking and help them to solve problems.

Ultimately, by the time they leave school students should be confident when presented with

the need to create new ideas or innovations, and have a range of strategies they can use to

help them generate further ideas and overcome challenges.


What does Using Imagination look like?

Traditionally, highly imaginative or creative people have been considered to be those who

achieve ‘extraordinary’ things. The likes of Mozart, Einstein and Leonardo Da Vinci for

example falling into this category. Howard Gardner back in 1999 adopted this ‘elite’ definition

of creativity, claiming that ‘truly creative people (or ‘geniuses’) are those who make a

difference in the world.’

A report of The National Advisory Committee for Creative and Cultural Education in the

same year, chaired by Sir Ken Robinson however adopted a much more ‘democratic’ view of

creativity. It argued that, ‘all people are capable of creative achievement in some area of

activity, provided that the conditions are right and they have acquired the relevant knowledge

and skills’. From this viewpoint, every child can be considered to have the potential to use

their imaginations and develop their creative skills.

Neuroscience, however, still paints a complicated picture of creativity. It is thought to involve

a number of cognitive processes and the full picture of how the imagination and the mind

works is still way off being fully understood. There are countless papers, articles, blogs etc

that focus on creativity, but there is agreement that people and children who are imaginative

(or creative) will exhibit similar behaviours. These can have implications for the classroom

that will need consideration. They include details that creative people will:

day dream

want to observe others

seek out new experiences

be drawn towards challenges

be resilient

be curious – asking questions

become totally absorbed in their thoughts or a task

A research summary by Education Scotland (2007), ‘The Journey to Excellence - Fostering

Creativity’, talks of, ‘everything around us - our homes, cities, medical services, transport

and communication systems - are conceived and developed by practical people who know

how to implement creative ideas. Creativity can be readily associated with a wide range of

everyday tasks and activities, and the importance of creativity at a personal level is often

greatly underestimated’.

In recent years, there is a growing acceptance that having a ‘good imagination’ or ‘being

creative’ it is not simply about coming up with ‘big or unique ideas’. This is important, but of

equal importance is developing the skills to come up with practical solutions to everyday

problems and then applying them to real life situations. In our classrooms we should ensure

there are opportunities for children to develop their imaginations, or creativity, in both

senses.


How is Using Imagination built?

Target for:

Student Descriptor Teacher Explanation

Pre-Year 1

I can have my own ideas with help from an adult.

Students can come up with own simple ideas when modelled by a teacher.

Year 1 I can have many ideas about something in the classroom.

Students are able to come up with many ideas with the support of a stimulus.

Year 2 I can have ideas about something I know about with help from an adult.

Students know that imagination means making things up, pretending, coming up with something new. They are able to do this in the context of their own world, with support of teacher modelling.

Year 3 I can use my imagination to create new ideas.

Students can come up with new ideas without always needing modelling, in the context of something familiar to them.

Year 4 I can talk about how my imagination has helped me create a new idea.

Students can explain how they used their creativity to come up with new ideas.

Year 5 I can use my imagination to create ideas about something new to me .

Students can use their imagination to come up with ideas outside the context of the world that they know, using knowledge of the wider world.

Year 6 I know ways to help myself come up with new ideas.

Students can use resources, such as other people or stimuli to help spark their imaginations.

Year 6 Better

I understand the role of imagination in different situations.

Students can understand and use imagination in different situations, including practical and theoretical situations.

Year 6 Best

I can use creative thinking to make links between different ideas.

Students can use their creativity to see links between different ideas and concepts.

The development of a student’s Using Imagination skill extends well beyond primary school,

until they can efficiently and confidently select the most effective creative approaches or

strategies for any given situation.


Principle 2: Measure it

Where to begin? As teachers, if we were to approach the teaching of any academic topic, or basic literacy and

numeracy we would always start by understanding the existing needs of our students.

When teaching the enterprise skills, we often fall into the trap of measuring the number of

activities, rather than the progress that the students have actually made.

When focussing on Using Imagination it is important to remember that the skill of using ones

imagination and being creative is not just about ‘special, talented creative people doing

special things’. Every child will have the potential to improve this skill.


Principle 3:

Start early and keep going

How young is too young?

Most people accept that young children usually display more imagination and creativity than

older students or adults. In many primary schools, in the early years, teachers will talk of

their children ‘using their imaginations well’, while teachers in upper Key Stage two will often

‘mourn’ that the opportunities to be imaginative have been lost or are not taken up.

The research summary produced by Education Scotland (2007), ‘The Journey to Excellence

- Fostering Creativity’ talks of children being, ‘typically naturally inquisitive’ and that they

‘have a great capacity for imagination and fantasy…many young children explore, ask

questions and are unafraid of being judged by others’.

As children mature, they do however, become more affected by the views of others and this

begins to inhibit their creativity. This is one of the many challenges for teachers - for it is

around the age of 8 years old that children become more aware of what others think about

their ideas. Teachers need to be mindful of how to help their students develop resilience

around their creative ideas. Edward De Bono (1999) suggested, ‘that the creativity typical of

young children is a function of their innocence…if you do not know the usual approach, the

usual solution, the usual concepts involved, then you are more likely come up with a fresh

way of looking at things’.

Another challenge, felt keenly by teachers in recent years and noted by Guy Claxton and Bill

Lucas (Educating Ruby, 2015), is that the opportunity for children to be imaginative has been

squeezed from the curriculum. They described that ‘having a good idea when you need one

is central to creativity, but it is not much taught in schools’. For many teachers (and school

leaders) the current priorities and pressures placed on schools, stifle the creative abilities of

children and young people - and those who teach them.

Sir Ken Robinson has alluded to this too over the years. In ‘Out of our Minds’ (updated

2011) he commented, ‘we now have a school curriculum that teaches ten subjects but only

limited ways of thinking.’ He went on to say, ‘business wonders why education isn’t

producing the thoughtful, creative, self-confident people they urgently need’.

The consensus amongst researchers and education experts suggesting that if a young child

has a strong imagination they are more likely to perform better in school later on, should

surely make the development of imaginative skills a greater priority for all of our children in

our classrooms? When coupled with the knowledge from global business leaders that

creativity is a valuable commodity in the modern world, it seems on the face of it, that the

solution is rather straight forward – we must endeavour to plan for and provide opportunities

for our children to develop, use and celebrate their imaginations in everyday classroom

activities.


Principle 4:

Pitch it right

Putting it into practice

Ideas for your classroom: Years 1 and 2

Target for: Student Descriptor

Pre-Year 1 I can have my own ideas with help from an adult.

Year 1 I can have many ideas about something in the classroom.

Year 2 I can have ideas about something I know about with help from an adult.

Year 2

Better I can use my imagination to create new ideas.

Year 2 Best I can talk about how my imagination has helped me create a new idea.

Tips for all Activities

The recommended team size for all activities for KS1 is small, starting with a partner

and increasing to 3 or 4 children maximum.

It is also worth considering the space the team will be working in. A smaller table for

example facilitates conversations more readily.


Activity 1:

Imagination Hats Length of exercise: 15 minutes

Materials: Selection of dressing up clothes or props

Brief description: In small groups of 3-4 give the children the opportunity to pretending to be

someone else, choosing an outfit or prop that they wear or use as their new character.

Children can then interact with each other as these characters.

Instruction:

Show the children the selection of clothes or props.

Explain that the children, in small groups will have the chance to dress up and use their

imaginations to pretend to be someone else.

You may want to model this how you could talk about who you are pretending to be,

linking to a learning theme or story if preferred. Encourage children to stay in character

when talking to each other.

Extend to allow the children the opportunity to reflect on how they came up with their

ideas.

Teacher or other adult to target focus questions to children e.g. where did you get your

idea from? Did a story or teacher or friend help you come up with that idea? Could that

hat or prop belong to someone else? Who else could you pretend to be when you are

wearing that hat?

Encouraging the skill development:

Skill Descriptor Activity to support in development

Pre-Year 1

I can have my own ideas with help from an adult

Use modelling to support children to come up with ideas, give them guidance through questioning.

Year 1 I can have many ideas about something in the classroom

Encourage children to come up with more than one idea, using the same prop.

Year 2 I can have ideas about something I know about with help from an adult

Use stories they know or themes that could help them come up with ideas using what they are familiar with.

Year 2 Better

I can use my imagination to create new ideas

Encourage children to come up with a completely new character or something that they have never seen before.

Year 2 Best

I can talk about how my imagination has helped me create a new idea.

Ensure there is time to reflect on how they came up with their ideas – challenge them to consider what inspired their ideas, and share the different tools the children used.

Key Stage 1


Activity 2:

Working My Imagination

Length of exercise: 10 minutes

Materials: None required other than space

Brief description: This can be used as a warm up to start for example a P.E lesson.

Putting in the context of a familiar place, e.g. school, home, the park, doctors

surgery, dental practice, shops, and challenge the children to 'act out’ different tasks.

Instruction:

Children standing in a space or circle

Teacher to explain they are going to work their imaginations (you may wish to ask

them to put on their imagination hats)

Then challenge them to pretend they are doing a familiar school based task e.g.

reading a book, kicking a ball, writing their name etc

Challenge children to choose another task to pretend they are doing and act it out

for everyone else to copy. Take it in turns to show their idea. Can anyone guess

what the activity might be?

If appropriate – split the class into groups of 3-4 and take turns to be the one

pretending and the one guessing each other’s actions

Teacher to ask individuals where they came up with their ideas to ‘pretend’ for

the other children to copy.



Pre-Year 1


Support children by discussing different situations and children then act out the one they choose.


Encourage children to think through their whole day at school and the different tasks they would be doing.


Without giving specific suggestions, give some themes of task that they could use to come up with their ideas.

Year 2 Better


Give children the opportunity to think about more unusual activities or ones that are outside their own experiences.

Year 2 Best

I can talk about how my imagination has helped me create a new idea

Encourage children to share their thought processes, and support those who are less confident.


Activity 3:

And what else…? Length of exercise: 15 minutes

Materials: A selection of everyday objects for small groups to think about e.g., a bean bag, a

building block, a pencil, a small bucket

Brief description: This activity encourages children to come up with ideas about focussing on

everyday objects they will recognise and use, but imagining what else they could be used

for.

Instruction:

This activity could be done as a whole class, or ideally in smaller groups of 3-4 with

adult support (maybe as part of a carousel)

Show an everyday item with the group and talk about what it is used for and whether

they have used it

Then challenge them to put on their imagination hats (pretend) and think about what else

it could be used for. Teacher may need to model this e.g. the bean bag is actually a bed

for a pet hamster or a paperweight.

Pass the object around the small group (or 3 or 4 children in a larger group) and

encourage the children to answer ‘And what else it could be?

After each object – reflect on how they came up with ideas, have used their imaginations

and praise each child for sharing an idea.



Pre-Year 1


Encourage children to have ideas that are their own, but might be similar to a suggestion, for example teacher says hamster bed, and child says pillow for a rabbit.


Encourage children to use the environment around them to come up with ideas of how to use the object.


Encourage children to approach the task practically and try using the object in different ways.

Year 2 Better


Make the task more theoretical and challenge the children to come up with fantastical ideas.

Year 2 Best


Encourage children to share how they came up with their idea and make an ‘imagination wall’ to show children how different ideas can be developed.

Key Stage 1


Activity 4:

Imaginative Rooms Length of exercise: Up to 1 hour

Materials: A shoe box per pair and a choice of other junk modelling materials

Brief description: Children working with a partner are challenged to create a small model of a

room that would be suitable for a character from a story they are familiar with (linked to a

current learning theme)

Instruction:

Remind the class of the story and character they are focussing on – linked to their

learning theme.

Pair the children up and explain each pair will be given a shoe box to use as a room and

access to other modelling resources.

Challenge them to work together to come up with ideas about what the character would

want in their room – partner talk time.

Give a time limit to actually make the room – approximately 30 minutes.

Allow enough time for pairs to share their model with another pair – show and tell each

other all about the room they have created and the ideas they have had.



Pre-Year 1


Read out bits of the story around the character and highlight which bit shows them what to put in their ‘room’.


Ensure that each child in the pair is coming up with multiple ideas.


Use displays or guidance on the story to help them visualise their room.

Year 2 Better


Challenge children to think of things that are not directly referenced in the story but are appropriate for their character.

Year 2 Best


Children should share their approach with their partner, explaining how they came up with each idea.


Ideas for you classroom:

Years 3 and 4


Pre-Year 3 I can have ideas about something I know about with help from an adult.



Year 4 Better

I can use my imagination to create ideas about something new to me.

Year 4 Best I know ways to help myself come up with new ideas.


Activity 5:

What could it be? Length of exercise: 15 minutes

Materials: A bag containing a selection of everyday objects e.g. a banana, a small ball, a

remote control, an ice pack, a pine cone. Try to get different textures and sizes.

Brief description: This is a development from the activity ‘And what else?’ to encourage

children to be brave when coming up with new ideas. They have to come up with new ideas

about the objects they are feeling.

Instruction:

With the whole class or smaller focus groups, explain that the bag contains an everyday

objects – be careful not to show them what they are!

Teacher to model putting their hand into the box and feeling what the object is. Do not

take the object out, but instead start to describe it. Make it clear we are not guessing the

object – we are using our imaginations to come up with new ideas. Model sharing an

idea of what the object could be taken from how it feels e.g. the small ball is a miniature

planet in the sky, the banana is the tusk from a fruit elephant.

Praise children for having a go, being brave to share an idea and talk about having

creative ideas and how by listening to the ideas of others can help us come up with even

more.



Pre-Year 3

I can have ideas about something I know about with help from an adult.

Encourage children to share ideas, even if it is just to share what they think the object actually is.


Encourage children to come up with new and creative ideas, even if they don’t initially, give them space and opportunity to do this.


Keep reflecting on how they are coming up with ideas.

Year 4 Better


Encourage children to think outside the realm of their own experiences. Ask them questions that challenge them to come up with original ideas.

Year 4 Best

I know ways to help myself come up with new ideas.

Encourage children to share their approaches to come up with new ideas, and use each other’s approaches.


Activity 6:

What if…? Length of exercise: 20 minutes

Materials: 4-5 slips of paper with scenario examples of different problems faced in the

classroom, school or community.

Brief Description: This is an opportunity for children to think creatively to solve problems they

might face in Key Stage 2 and to consider how they do so with greater independence

Instruction:

Arrange children in to teams of 3-4.

Teacher to give each team a slip with a scenario on (e.g. What if I have forgotten my

P.E. kit…, What if I forget what the next part of the task is in a lesson and the teacher is

working with another group?’, ‘What if I see someone breaking a school rule?’)

A team member to read out the scenario and then allow the team a few minutes to

discuss their ideas.

Teacher to take ideas from a couple of groups and note on flip chart.

Switch the scenarios – and repeat.

Teacher to make explicit that using their imaginations to think about what it would be like

in each scenario will help them to come up with ideas to solve everyday problems

without panicking.

Encouraging the Skill Development:


Pre-Year 3

I can have ideas about something I know about with help from an adult.

Give examples for one or two of the problems so that children can learn from the process. Ensure that scenarios are ones that the children will be familiar with.


Ensure that children are being challenged to come up with new ideas about how to solve problems – especially when swapping the scenarios, they need to come up with something that hasn’t already been thought of.


Ensure that there is a reflection about how they came up with ideas, and consider how they will use this skills in different real scenarios they can find themselves in.

Year 4 Better


Some of the more challenging scenarios could be about something that is new to the children and they would not have considered before.

Year 4 Best

I know ways to help myself come up with new ideas.

Support children to consider how they used each other,, their teacher, their own experiences and inspiration from around them to come up with new ideas.

Key Stage 2


Activity 7:

Turn it into…. Length of exercise: 15 minutes

Materials: Everyday classroom objects to consider e.g. a pencil, a paper clip, a protractor

etc, whiteboard & pen or scrap paper/pencils per team. Stopwatch/Timer on the

screen/buzzer or bell

Brief Description: This is a follow on from the earlier ‘And what else?’ Play as a competitive

game. Small teams, within tight time limits are to come up with imaginative, innovative ideas

about what an everyday object could be turned into.

Instructions:

Teams of 3-4 around small tables to facilitate the sharing of ideas. Teams to nominate a

scribe.

Teacher to hold up an everyday object and challenge teams, in 1 minute to jot down as

many different things the object could be used for other than its usual, intended use.e.g.

a paperclip could be used as a tie clip, a pencil as a javelin for a squirrel, the protractor

as a pizza slicer

At the end of the round – ask teams to share their suggestions – the team with the most

or most innovative ideas gets a point. Play a 2 or 3 further rounds depending on the time

available.

Encourage teams to reflect on where their ideas are coming from and how by hearing

and sharing ideas helps generate further ideas.

Ask teams to decide on a ‘Using Imagination’ award for the person in their team who

shared creative ideas. Challenge them to explain their choice.



Pre-Year 3

I can have ideas about something I know about with help from an adult

Support teams with an initial idea or two. Encourage them to start with things they already know.

Year 3 I can use my imagination to help me create new ideas

Encourage teams to be really innovative and visualise the object in different places.

Year 4 I can talk about how my imagination has helped me create a new idea

During the reflection, really highlight that doing the activity a few times helps with developing imagination skills as gives space for sharing, reflecting and building on ideas.

Year 4 Better

I can use my imagination to create ideas about something new to me

Encourage children to think outside of their own worlds by suggesting that the object is in a specific place that would be new to them, and challenge them to think how it could be used.

Year 4 Best

I know ways to help myself come up with new ideas

Encourage children to share how they will come up with ideas as a team, before the object they are considering is shared.


Activity 8:

What am I?

Length of exercise: 20 minutes

Materials: Teacher access to ‘riddles’. Some are available here:

http://www.poetry4kids.com/blog/news/writing-riddles/

http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-riddles.html

Photographs or pictures from magazines and newspapers as inspiration for writing their own

riddles

Brief Description: Share some examples of riddles with the class (could be linked to a topic)

then challenge them to write their own in pairs or small teams for others to ‘guess.

Instructions:

Share some examples of riddles and discuss.

Children working in groups of 2 or 3.

Give each team a picture of an object or person or place. This could be linked to a

learning theme.

Challenge the team to ‘secretly’ write a riddle (3 or 4 clues) about the person, object or

place on their picture.

Allow teams to share their riddle with another team to have a go at guessing.

Swap again if time allows. Praise those teams who have been especially imaginative in

their riddles. Reflect on how sometimes taking time to think about someone, something

or someplace, can mean you are reminded of how interesting it is and how you may then

have further ideas.



Pre-Year 3

I can have ideas about something I know about with help from an adult

Use pictures of people or places that the children are really familiar with and support them with spotting distinguishing features.

Year 3 I can us my imagination to create new ideas

Use pictures of familiar people, places or objects, but consider what they know about them that is not in the picture but could go in the riddle.

Year 4 I can talk about how my imagination has helped me create a new idea

Encourage children to share the process of how they came up with their riddle.

Year 4 Better

I can use my imagination to create ideas about something new to me

Give children pictures of things they are not so familiar with to challenge them in thinking about ideas they are less familiar with.

Year 4 Best

I know ways to help myself come up with new ideas

Encourage children to build off each other’s ideas and consider how they can come up with more than one riddle to challenge themselves.

http://www.poetry4kids.com/blog/news/writing-riddles/

http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-riddles.html


Ideas for your classroom:

Years 5 & 6 Research has shown that children can become less inclined to share their imaginative ideas

as they grow older as they become more aware of others opinions about them, and more

fearful of being judged negatively. In the classroom it is important to model how to value all

ideas, that sharing an imaginative idea takes courage and can be really helpful to others, as

well as lots of fun!


Pre Year 5 I can talk about how my imagination has helped me create a new idea.

Year 5 I can use my imagination to create ideas about something new to me.


Year 6 Better I understand the role of imagination in different situations.

Year 6 Best I can use creative thinking to make links between different ideas.


Activity 9:

Doodling Duet

Length of exercise: 15minutes

Materials: Paper and pencils, stop watch or timer

Brief Description: A quick activity for children to work on in pairs, valuing each others ideas

and celebrating that sharing ideas can be fun!

Instructions:

Pair the children up and have them sitting back to back

Provide each with a small piece of paper and a pencil

Give the children 10 seconds to doodle freely (take their pencil for a walk – you may

need to model this on the board) on their own piece of paper

Children to hand their doodle over to their partner who then has 1 minute to turn the

doodle into an alien, animal or other object or being.

Challenge the children to turn the doodles into vehicles, pieces of clothing, hairstyles on

a character or any other concept that is fitting.

Children can contribute to a whole class collage by sticking their doodle pictures onto a

large sheet of paper – emphasising that sharing imaginative ideas can be fun.



Pre-Year 5


Encourage children to talk through their design with their partners, so that they explain how they came up with the idea.


Highlight that the doodle is new to them and not something they came up with, but they have to build off this idea to create something.


Encourage children to think about how they will come up with ideas from the doodle, and discuss it with each other.

Year 6 Better


Encourage children to see that using imagination in this context is fun and build teamwork.

Year 6 Best


Challenge children to try and link the different drawings that they have come up with from the doodles, and see the relationships between them.


Activity 10:

Persuasive Powers - Great to Greater Length of exercise: 15 minutes

Materials: A list or a magazine or website showing different objects or gadgets that children

will like.

Brief Description: This short activity challenges children to consider a gadget or object they

already like and seek to persuade others that they could make it even better by making

some creative, innovative changes to it.

Instructions:

Provide children with catalogues or instructions in advance to look for a picture of a

gadget or object they think is really great.

Ask children to look at their picture and then decide how they could make the object or

gadget even better.

In small teams of 4-5, children to take it in turns to show a picture of the object they

selected and explain to their team why they think it is a great gadget and then explain

how they propose to make it even better.

Emphasise that they will need to use their persuasive powers to convince their team that

their great gadget could be even greater.

Teams to provide feedback to each other – did their team use their imaginations? Were

they creative in their ideas to make the gadget even greater? Would their innovative

ideas mean even more people would want to use/buy the gadget?

Encouraging Skill Development:


Pre-Year 5


When talking through their ideas, children should explain what inspired them to make the changes they are suggesting.


Encourage children to think of something new, rather than an existing idea – ideally something they haven’t seen before.


Have an ‘ideas generation’ board where different ways to generate ideas are shared and children can refer to it.

Year 6 Better


Reflect that using your imagination can sometimes be about improving an existing idea rather than coming up with a new idea.

Year 6 Best


Encourage children to think about how this activity can help them with other challenges, and when else they might need to improve an idea.


Activity 11

Triple Take Length of exercise: 25 minutes

Materials: Card with actions on, such as digging a hole, painting a picture, flying on a magic

carpet. Approximately 12 per team (each team can have the same 12)

Brief Description: This is a charades type game encouraging imagination and team work

skills to be used.

Instructions:

Split the class into teams of 3

Provide each team with approximately 12 different ‘action’ cards.

One person is to do the action (‘actor’), one is to sit on a chair facing them to guess

(‘guesser’), the third stands behind the guesser (‘facilitator’) and holds up the cards for

the ‘actor’ to see and respond to.

After 3-4 different actions have been correctly guessed, team mates swap round so each

takes a turn in each role.

Encourage the teams to reflect in which role they were needing to use their imagination –

the guesser and actor role.

o How did they make their guesses – what were they basing them on? Draw out

that our own past experiences can help them come up with imaginative ideas.



Pre-

Year 5

I can talk about how my

imagination has helped me

create a new idea.

Use the reflection time for children to consider how they

are thinking about the acting and guessing to come up

with ideas.

Year 5

I can use my imagination to

create ideas about

something new to me.

Ensure that some of the actions the children think about

are new to them and challenging their thinking.

Year 6 I know ways to help myself

come up with new ideas.

Teams should reflect after each round to think about

whether they could act and guess the ideas well, and

think about how to improve with coming up with ideas.

Year 6

Better

I understand the role of

imagination in different

situations.

Have the reflection about the role of actors and

guessers and how the role of imagination was different

in those two roles.

Year 6

Best

I can use creative thinking

to make links between

different ideas.

Challenge children to think about how they could break

down the actions to act them out. They could also link

the action to something familiar to the guesser.


Activity 12:

Take a Tour Length of exercise: Approximately 30-45 minutes for all teams to take the tour

Materials: None needed but do inform other staff that children will be touring the school

Brief Description: This is a fun activity, encouraging the children to use their imaginations

and share these ideas to entertain others. This could be a precursor to an extended piece of

individual or shared writing.

Instructions:

Explain to the children that at various times of the school year, people take a tour of the

school e.g. open days, parents evening, but today they are going to conduct a different

type of tour!

Show the children a route that can be taken - this could be done by all walking the route

together and highlighting the different place and people. Lasting about 10 minutes that

will take in approximately. 4 or 5 key places around the school.

Back in the classroom split the class in to teams of 4 or 5. Team members to decide

who is speaking at each stop off point along the way when they give the tour.

Children are then going to be give 5 minutes to prepare their own bit of the “Alternative

tour”. Each team member is to introduce the area or person by correct name but then be

creative to explain their role or function. For example. ‘Here we have Mrs X our school

office manager. She can often be seen on the telephone or at the photocopier but we

have it on good authority that she is in fact a secret agent working for the government.

She is here to monitor, not what occurs in school but to keep an eye out for unusual alien

life forms often seen lurking around the dinner hall!

As each team sets off on their tour – stagger start times to they don’t overlap.

As the children move on to the next tour stop off point, the next person shares their

ideas.

When all teams have completed the tour – ask them to reflect on how they found the

activity.

o Was it easy or difficult to ‘make something up’ about the places or people they

know so well? Who showed they had some really imaginative ideas? Who came

up with something totally different?




Pre-Year 5


Reflecting at the end will enable children to see how they came up with their ideas.


Encourage children to think about their ideas – challenge them if they are too similar to the real function or person.


Praise children to approaching it in different ways, for example discussing it with their neighbour, taking inspiration from a book or picture.

Year 6 Better


Explore how using their imagination can help them understand different people but can also help them come up with new ideas.

Year 6 Best


Encourage children to explain how they came up with the imaginative ideas, highlighting how they made links between different ideas to come up with their imaginative description.


Principle 5:

Keep Practising

Tips for building Using Imagination in your classroom

Have an ‘ideas board’ for different scenarios when they might need to use their

imagination. Make it explicit that being creative isn’t just for when you need to write a

story or make up a dance, it is about problem solving and building on existing ideas to

make them even better.

Make the link clear between using ones imagination and solving problems – model to the

class when you are doing this. Verbalise the thought process. Ask them for

suggestions.

Set up different zones within your classroom where children are encouraged to use their

imagination. For example, you can have an imagination station where children can be

encouraged to record ideas or questions. Or a special writing or drawing table where

imaginative ideas can then be posted or shared on a display.

Have displays that suggest approaches that help with using your imagination, developed

by the children. This can be a working wall to add to throughout the year.

Tips for linking Using Imagination to your curriculum

Plan for times when you can be non prescriptive as to how a student might present,

record or share their work.

Highlight that using your imagination is important in all subjects, and is not just for the

Arts.

Provide problems for example that may have different solutions and encourage class to

come up with a different way of solving a problem.

Encourage students to see there are different ways of doing things. Give examples and

praise equally.

Tips for building Using Imagination across your school

Ensure there are opportunities for ‘creativity’ – make students aware this skill is valued

as highly as being a great reader or quick with numbers.

Celebrate in assemblies – awards, displays, newsletters to raise awareness that using

ones imagination is needed in all kinds of ways and isn’t only associated with being

artistic or musical. Break those stereotypes.

Provide opportunities for children to find out about or even meet and be around creative

people from different backgrounds or work places.


Principle 6:

Bring it to life Bringing in real world links

A challenge that we have all seen as teachers is how knowledge or skills developed

in the classroom, or in a particular subject or topic, struggle to make the leap into

new situations.

One of the most effective ways we have found to combat this is to make explicit links

to the real world throughout.

Some of the great ways to do this are:

Visiting Employers: A key part of Enabling Enterprise programmes are taking

students out of their usual school setting and realising how the skills they are

using in school can be used in the rest of their lives. You can find lots of

examples of how to think about employer visits through our website at

enablingenterprise.org/news

Invite in Parents: It’s also great to bring speakers into school. This might

mean parents or others like governors or business partners of the school. Our

advice would be to give the students plenty of scope to ask questions, rather

than just a lecture from the speaker.

Extended Projects: Finally, whilst we hope that the activities that we’ve shared

are useful as a starting point, we find that project-based learning is the most

effective way to build really rich, deep skills for the students. You can find a lot

more examples and things to try on our website.


Conclusion and further

resources An Ofsted report of 2010, ‘Learning: Creative Approaches

that Raise Standards’ found schools that used a Project

Based Learning (PBL) method of teaching and learning, as

advocated by Enabling Enterprise, and sought to develop

creativity and utilise the imaginations of their students, were

more likely to achieve an outstanding Ofsted report.

This, coupled with a study from 2014 which found 90% of

parents across the UK thought the teaching of creativity

should be added to the curriculum and another that

economists regard creativity as a vital component of

economic growth. Such views all add to the arsenal that a

greater emphasis should be placed on the development of

children being able to ‘use their imagination.’

The CBI’s website states that the ‘creative industries

constitute one of the fastest-growing sectors in the UK’ and

employment sectors recognise that by having the ability to

generate ideas, to think creatively, to solve problems is

hugely important. Therefore potential to be innovative in the

workplace will really stand our children and young people in

good stead in the future, whatever path they choose.

Worth taking a look at:

Christensen, T. (2015) ‘The Creativity Challenge’

Sharpe, C. (2004) ‘Developing young children’s creativity: what can we learn from

research?’ www.nfer.ac.uk/nfer/publications/55502/55502.pdf

Meador, K.S. (1992). ‘Emerging rainbows: a review of the literature on creativity’,

Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 15, 2, 163–81.Refs

Gardner, H. (1999). ‘Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st

Century’.

De Bono, E. (1992) ‘Serious Creativity’

Robinson Report. Department for Education and Employment. Department for

Culture, Media and Sport. National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural

Education (1999)

https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity?language=en

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept09/vol67/num01/Why-

Creativity-Now%C2%A2-A-Conversation-with-Sir-Ken-Robinson.aspx

http://www.nfer.ac.uk/nfer/publications/55502/55502.pdf

https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity?language=en

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept09/vol67/num01/Why-Creativity-Now%C2%A2-A-Conversation-with-Sir-Ken-Robinson.aspx

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept09/vol67/num01/Why-Creativity-Now%C2%A2-A-Conversation-with-Sir-Ken-Robinson.aspx


Education Scotland (2007), ‘The Journey to Excellence - Fostering

Creativity’

http://www.journeytoexcellence.org.uk/resourcesandcpd/research/summaries/rsfosteringcreativity.asp http://www.cbi.org.uk/business-issues/creative-industries/

http://www.journeytoexcellence.org.uk/resourcesandcpd/research/summaries/rsfosteringcreativity.asp

http://www.journeytoexcellence.org.uk/resourcesandcpd/research/summaries/rsfosteringcreativity.asp

http://www.cbi.org.uk/business-issues/creative-industries/

building using imagination skills - squarespace · imagination and creativity are terms that are...

Documents