Curating a list of organizations dedicated to creativity in education

Blue Skunkers, I need help! I'm working on a list of communities, organizations, and competitions devoted to developing creativity and innovation in our students. And as a believer in the wisdom of the crowd, I'm soliciting your recommendations for this list, along with any comments about experiences you may have had with these.. TIA!

_________________________________

You are not alone. The promulgation of creativity is important enough that many are doing something about it. These established organizations and efforts reduce the isolation teachers too often feel when working on creative activities with students:

1. Center for Creative Learning <http://www.creativelearning.com/> is a consulting organization with a strong research base. Led by Dr. Don Treffinger, the center primarily offers paid services, but does have a newsletter, Creative Learning Today, and many other free resources.

2. Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education <http://www.entre-ed.org/> business-focused, the consortium primarily supports business educators, sponsoring an annual National Entrepreneurship Week and national conference.

3. Destination Imagination <http://www.destinationimagination.org/> is a vernerable non-profit organization that focuses on global projects, the most popular being the “Our Challenge” competition.

4. Google Science Fair <https://www.googlesciencefair.com/en/> is an annual online competition that asks students to identify what they love, what they are good at, and how they want to change the world.

5. Spark!Lab Invent It Challenge <http://challenges.epals.com/>, co-sponsored by the Smithsonian and ePals, alows both individuals and groups to compete in four age categories in coming up with a solution to a real world problem.

6. Odyssey of the Mind <http://www.odysseyofthemind.com/> among the largest and oldest programs in which international teams solve problems in a wide number of categories for students ranging from kindergarten to college.

7. Makerspace <http://makerspace.com> is new site that provides a directory of community makerspaces as well as a blog dealing with these places.

_________________________

 OK, Skunkers. What's on your list?

Image source

Comments

[Christopher Harris]

Board games are a great way to foster creativity in students. Unlike video games, which are locked into what the designers could think up, board games can open up new spaces for wildly creative thinking.

Some best bets for creative thinking board games include
Snake Oil - Out of the Box Publishing - Players pick two cards from their hand that name items to create a new product that they pitch to a selected character.
Once Upon a Time - Atlas Games - Players are telling a fairy tale that they build dynamically using cards. Others can sneak in and capture telling through creative use of their own cards.
Dixit - Libellud - Pick a card from your hand of beautiful images as well as a word/phrase to describe it. Everyone else also picks a card that might match your word/phrase. Will some, but not all, players pick your initial card?

[Doug Johnson]

Thanks for the reminder, Chris. I remember fondly the imagination that went into creating Dungeons and Dragons scenarios when sponsored after school gaming clubs back in the dark ages.

Doug

[Cheri Dobbs]

Hi Doug. After completing my first season as a coach with our FIRST LEGO League team, I have to say that this organization definitely encourages creativity. The students are issued a challenge, and it's up to them to figure out how to (1) program their robot to complete tasks on the board (2) develop effective teamwork, (3) come up with an innovative solution to the year's assigned global problem/topic, and (4) present the solution in a creative way (multimedia, skits, songs, etc.). There is not "one right answer" to any problem that the students are given.