"I'm Bored!"
If you enjoy this page, please Stumble it (or share any way you can). Thank you.
Don't forget to download the FREE Animal Tales chapter book for 7-10 year olds from my website.
I'm sure many of you know Flat Stanley. Third graders make paper copies of this storybook character and mail them to family members hoping for postcards to be sent back. Because my children are so close in age, my brother was sent three Flat Stanleys in four years.
The first Flat Stanley toured London. The second one visited the historic sites along the Thames. By the time the third one arrived, my brother was fighting cancer so Flat Stanley had adventures closer to home. The photo shows the time Flat Stanley broke his foot when playing soccer with a cabbage he'd helped grow.
The point is that there's no limit to creativity. It needs no batteries or electrical outlet. It's always available no matter where you are and it keeps life interesting and deters boredom. So I have one question for us all:
Why aren't we fostering creativity in today's youth?
View Printer Friendly Version
Reader Comments (4)
Doesn't always follow but one reason we spend less time being creative with others is technology. mobile phones, computers and televisions readily available,x boxes, IPads etc etc etc. It's inevitable that something has to give when we and our children spend too much time on them so we have less time for relationships.. All these gadgets are a recent phenomenon I.e. Within the last 50 or 60 years to the present day. And we reap what we sow.As a child my excitement was reading books and getting into adventures thinking I was the Explorer in the jungle or the knight in armour or the cowboy in the wagon train and then I would be found in the surrounding mountains with my friends playing out all these adventures. BUT did this make me engage more with adults . No. No no . Quite the opposite because I grew up in an age when children were to be seen and not heard . When adults met we children had to go elsewhere to play so we never had conversations like modern children have with their families. it wasn't that we were loved less but it was because there were places and boundaries that were more defined. it didnt do us any harm . in fact it gave us a childhood that was defined unlike many children these days who grow up too quickly.. However. The good parent will always find the way to engage. I hope I've dropped a few thoughts for you all. I am sure we all have experiences that would be valuable to consider as life is different for us all .In many ways all the good technology in our lives has given us benefits if used correctly but it has also made life more dangerous and we have to be more alert.. from books to computers has in some ways made it easier to be creative because a computer can give instant visual scenes whereas with a book one has to picture ones own ideas but there's nothing more challenging than standing in a park,, or a field or on top of a mountain with your children or friends and saying "Let,s play".
Sometimes we just need a little nudge to use our creativity. I find the internet and access to the history, art, and culture online to be very inpsiring!
Good one, Rhia, I never heard of Flat Stanley before. Is he just in the UK, or here in the US as well?
I agree that some creativity has been lost because of the technological advances and I hope we find a balance between technology and creativity in the future. Just like with food, our 'toys' must be used in moderation don't you think?
Sally...I'm sorry you've never heard of Flat Stanley because he's an interesting character. I believe it's written by Jeff Brown (American, I think)...and third graders across the country read about him (he's a boy who gets squished by something so he's flat and his parents mail him to a relative for a vacation). The series is quite entertaining and has been around since 1964. Thanks for your comment, Sally.