Casey Smith

1/8/2018
Creative Investigation #1: Question that!
Creativity in Adulthood
Summary
Creativity is often thought of as an action that children partake in. Children play pretend,
draw and color imaginative places, and create creatures with playdough, but how is creativity
exhibited in adults? My question is concerning creativity in adulthood. Do adults feel more or
less creative than they did as children or youth?
Key Points
I created a short questionnaire for people to participate in using Google Forms. The only
question on the form is, “As an adult do you feel more or less creative than you did as a child or
youth?” This is a multiple choice question with the answer options being “More” or “Less.”
Following the question is a section for participants to explain their answer. By using Google
Forms all of the submitted responses are entered automatically into a spreadsheet. This allows
me to easily access and view all of the data. There were 12 responses to the questionnaire. Eight
participants answered they felt more creative and four participants felt less creative as an adult.
While more participants responded that they feel more creative as adults than they did as
children their explanations for their answers vary greatly.
Some participants that felt less creative explained that they have no time as an adult to
participate in creative activities. They believe they are too busy with work, kids, aging parents, or
running errands. One participant explained they had more opportunities as a child than they do
now. Another participant described that they had lost their creativity due to the rigidness in
school and later in life. The participant felt that organization and schedules dominate life and
they no longer have the ability to be creative like they were as a child.
Many participants that felt more creative mentioned they felt they had more opportunities
to be creative as an adult. As adults they do not have others putting limits on their creativity, and
they are free to engage in the creative activities they desire. One participant discussed that she is
more creative because her job requires a lot of creative work. Several others also mentioned that
they are more creative as adults due to their career. Two participants listed patience as a factor in
their creativity. One stating that as a child they would get frustrated and quit but as an adult when
they get frustrated they take a break, change their view and keep working.
Personal Reflection
In 2009, Azzam mentioned that people often, “associate creativity with being totally free
and unstructured” (p. 22). I think this correlates to why people also often view creativity as
something that takes place during childhood and not adulthood. Azzam continues to discuss how
creativity is not about being artistic but that a person can be creative in many areas such as math,
science, teaching, and running a family (2009). I noticed this misconception in the participant’s
explanations. All of the participants related creativity to artistic opportunities. Belludi (2017)
proposes using brainstorming and encouraging questions as a way to promote creative thinking. I
believe that by using this technique is many of life’s everyday choices creativity can be found in
more than just artistic areas. Even Kaufman and Gregoire touch on this idea in, “18 Things
Highly Creative People Do Differently.” One of the 18 things highly creative people do
differently is viewing all of life as an opportunity for self-expression. They state that creative
people may seek out opportunities in their everyday lives where they can express themselves
(2014).
In “Creativity for 21st Century Skills” Piirto discusses five core attitudes she believes
creative people have. One of these core attitudes is self-discipline. I believe that as adults we
possess stronger self-discipline and motivation for being creative. As children the moment of
creativity can be fleeting, as they quickly move from one thing to another. Whereas adults have a
desire and drive to be creative therefore purposely making time to engage in something creative.
I think that if adults can understand and recognize when they are being creative in other
areas of their lives, such as organization or running a family, they would feel more satisfied. I
also think they would be more open to being creative in other aspects of their lives.
References
Azzam, A. 2009. Why creativity now? A conversation with Sir Ken Robinson. Educational
Leadership, 67(1), 22-26.
Belludi, N. 2017. Good questions encourage creative thinking. Right Attitudes Ideas for Impact.
Retrieved from http://www.rightattitudes.com/2017/05/23/good-questions-creative-
thinking/
Kaufman, S. & Gregoire, C. March, 4, 2014. 18 Things highly creative people do differently.
Huffington Post.
Piirto, J. 2011. Creativity for 21st century skills: How to embed creativity into the curriculum.
Rotterdam: Netherlands.
Smith, C. 2018. Creativity in Adulthood. Retrieved from
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1uyk3siEPk20MgaZZagIau8HYLsSF-
6xY6UcEzCqimVo/edit#responses