At the Museum, we believe unstructured Discovery Play encourages development of creativity. Creativity is more than the ability to paint or make music, of course - it's the ability to create novel connections, develop new themes, and see patterns.

Last week's New Yorker Magazine has a fascinating article examining the science behind those "eureka" moments - unfortunately only an abstract is available online - but if you can find a copy (it has a dinner party with lobsters escaping on the cover) do check it out.

Researchers John Kounios, a cognitive neuroscientist at Drexel University, and Mark Jun-Beeman, a cognitive neuroscientist at Northwestern University, explain that "the insight process is an act of cognitive deliberation--the brain must be focussed on the task at hand--transformed by accidental, serendipitous connections."

So, when your kids come to play here, we encourage them to use our exhibitions in novel ways - to get into the "flow" of playing and develop their own insights into the way the world works. Not only are they having fun, but they're exercising the part of their brain that will lead to creative success in the future.

This entry was posted on July 29, 2008 and is filed under Jennifer Caleshu.
Tagged: creativity
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