The Creativity Test

One of my favorite things to do with all ages it a Creativity Test.  Many students come into art with a preconceived idea of what art is and what they will be doing in art. Many of them think they "suck" and they "can't do it." They merely got placed in Art because there was no where else to go. The Creativity Test is a way I get them to think outside the box.

I begin by giving them nine boxes of lines and tell them transform each box into an image using the line. The worksheet I give them is this:

I don't give them much instructions beyond that. I simply ask them to turn the lines into a picture. It normally takes an entire period for my class to get this accomplished (45 minutes).

The next day, I give a lesson on the definition of creativity and show examples of this same creativity test done in different ways. Some of it is academic as my school likes to cross curricular Electives with Core. So we talk about synonyms and definitions and how to judge creativity.

I then give them back their original nine boxes and a new one. This time I erase the box lines so that all they have is nine lines on their paper. On a piece of heavy cardstock, I tell them to use colored pencil and turn all the lines into one cohesive picture. Step one was to turn each line into a picture so they had nine individual pictures, the next step is to now turn all the lines into one picture.

I get them started by asking them: Where are you? In the water? In a park? In a store? On A street?

Once they pick a place, they need to think about their characters: Are they animals? People? Monsters?

Next I ask them: What is happening?

Some kids really struggled and it took about 3 class period to complete the project in it's entirely. Here are some of the really great ones the kids came up with:

If you are waiting for supplies or just need a simple project to get your kids started, this is a good one. All we did was copy the images onto cardstock and I made them use pencil or colored pencil only.

Name: Creativity Test

Materials: Cardstock 81/2 X 11, Pencil, Colored Pencil, Creativity Template

Length: 3 - 45 minute periods for final draft; 1 45 minute period for rough draft