Welcome to the Play Based Learning Podcast. I'm your host, Kristen Arby Peterson, and maybe your new teacher, Bestie, that is here to hype you up, maybe give you a motivating kick in the pants, and teach you all I know about play and childhood. I am here to help you challenge old and outdated practices and inspire you to create a truly developmentally appropriate early childhood environment that fosters creativity, passion, Curiosity and joy in the children that you care for.
Let's set the stage for a lifelong love of learning. Let's get going. Welcome to the Play Based Learning Podcast. This is Kristen, of course, and joining me today, I have one of the most creative humans that I have been blessed to know. Her name is Beverly Beck. She is from Happy Little Humans, and we are talking about creativity. For, uh, like a series of three episodes here. So you're going to get to hear a lot from Beverly, a lot from me.
And we're just going to like fill your brains with all of the creativity goodness, because both Beverly and I like believe so deeply in the power of creativity and why we need it as children, why we need it as adults. And like how it can just like amplify us and give us our best life. Right? Yes. Okay, that was totally off the cuff. I just made all that up. I mean, it's true. It's all true. But like, I just rattled. So, if there's anything you want to add to that, Beverly, go ahead.
Because you're so creative, that's why. Okay, so Beverly, you're gonna get to hear her, the most adorable accent. She's from Ireland, and I can't wait to go visit someday. I can't. It's gonna be amazing. So, people are gonna love your, like, they're going to eat up your accent. It's like, we just want to bottle it up and take it with us.
Okay. I literally would hope by the end of it that I don't sound like you, because like with ADHD I kind of like take on someone else's personality and I'm just like It's okay. I might not be Northern Irish by the end of this. Well I might be Irish by the end of this because I'm in the same boat. So, I mean, we'll just swap places. Okay. All right. So in this episode, we are talking about the foundations of creativity. We want, what is the root of creativity? Where does it come from?
What's the definition? Why is it important? So that's what we're going to dive into. Beverly, do you have any immediate first thoughts? Um, I just have done a bit of research and I just, what I was thinking was just that we could maybe both give our own definitions. Okay. So, um. All right. You go first. Well, I think on the podcast the last time you asked me the question, what, what does creativity mean to you? And I, um, can, can I come up with something off the cuff before the podcast?
And I was like, oh, I really like that . So, um, what did I even say? I said creativity. I don't know. I don't remember a DH. adhd. So, Uhhuh, I say creativity is sticky. So sticky as in it's the glue that holds everything together. So it's. It's, it's everything.
It's really, it's the chair we're sitting on, the microphone that we're talking through, you know, it's the creative thought that everybody has to come up with something that hasn't been done before, so that we can make something original and innovative and just, you know, From ourselves and put it into the world. I think that's just, you know, yeah, yeah. I'm a little bit obsessed with it, so I could ramble on. So you tell me what you're okay.
I don't know that I've ever put down like my own definition of creativity anywhere. So this is off the cuff. Um, So, my idea of creativity, and this isn't really a definition, so it's an idea of what I feel like creativity is, is, um, it's, creativity is like this invisible energy that surrounds us in everything that we do, and I believe that you. No, I okay, so there's everything exists. Okay, every idea exists. It's already it's already out there.
Creativity is really the colliding of two or more ideas together to form a new idea or a new thing. And I believe that creativity is I mean, it's really the driving force of our whole entire being and world. Like, without creativity, there wouldn't be podcasts. Without creativity, there wouldn't be an iPhone. Without creativity, there wouldn't be a floaty for me to lay out on in the lake.
So, And without creativity, there would be like no entrepreneurs like entrepreneurs like you and I are the most creative people out there because that's really what the basis of like entrepreneurship is, is ideas and implementing those ideas in a different way than anybody's ever done before. So like, entrepreneurs really are. super creative beings.
Um, I also love to talk about creativity in this way that creativity is, it's like confetti and it's like, like I said, it's all around us in the universe and it's floating around and I don't know if I'm sure you've felt this being the amazing Beverly brain that you are, um, you're standing at the sink washing dishes and all of a sudden an idea hits you smack. Right in the face and you're like, whoa, where'd that come from?
And I believe that if you don't take that creative confetti that would just hit you on the face, somebody else is gonna get it. Somebody else will use that idea, whether it's tomorrow or whether it's 50 years from now, that will, that piece of confetti is gonna continue on and it's gonna hit somebody else. Until somebody uses it. So, mine's kind of very abstract. Um, of what I believe and where it comes from.
Yeah, I love that though, because that is, my first ever audio book was Elizabeth Gilbert's Big Magic. Yep. And that is exactly what she talks about. Absolutely. The idea is not yours, it's an idea in its own entity, and if you don't actually do something about it, it'll move on to someone who will do something about it. Uh huh. And that's where I got that from. But then I used my own creativity and labeled it Creative Confetti, which she didn't do. So, there you go. That's like a new idea ish.
Yeah. You know, smacked a couple ideas together, and there we go. Yeah, absolutely. Um, and it's just whenever you say it that I had a little giggle to myself because I can't wait to say it to you, there's something that I want to do in the third episode. I know, I'm excited. I'm just like, oh, I just got Wikipedia here, and it's going to be great. Um, so, yeah, no, totally. I totally get all of that, and I think, The whole thing about creativity is you can make up your own meaning about it.
It's really Absolutely, it doesn't exist in any form until you actually put it into into action And I believe that creativity is a necessity in life. And unfortunately, our industrialized school system, our industrialized education system, it's a creative vampire.
It sucks the creativity right out of children and leaves them kind of an empty shell of a human filled with random bits of academic knowledge that really aren't going to serve them in life beyond learning how to read, write, and do some math. Yeah, so. It's creativity, like if you look at the world, I don't know if you know this, if you look at the World Economic Forum, their number one skill that the employers look for in 2024 is creativity, and like, only 2 percent of adults have creativity.
So, we need now more than ever, and we should have been doing this a long time ago, to like figure out a way to keep and hold on to that creativity for a little bit longer. Yeah. Yeah. Do you not meet, do you not meet a lot of adults who are just like, sad? No. Because, sad because they don't have any joy in their lives or any, just like, any hobbies that are creative or, or they don't, you know, they see something and they don't think.
I, I remember, I remember like, I still do this with my kids. I remember whenever I was in high school and this was like quite an embarrassing moment, but at the same time, I look back and I think, actually, I was still really creative because And by high school, I mean I was a teenager, so I was probably about 15. Yeah. And I remember we were going, I was away with one of my friends, and we were just walking and I was looking at the clouds and I was saying, Oh, wow, do you see that?
Whatever it was, an image of something, it reminded me of something. And, it's just like, oh my goodness, you're crazy. Just like, yeah, whatever kind of thing. Yeah, yeah. I do that with my kids now and then, you know, that's something that shakes them out of a funk if they're in the car and they're tired and they're after school or they're just, you know, they don't want to be in the car. We look out the window and I say, Oh, I can see a unicorn over there. Or, Oh, look at that fish.
Or look at that man fishing. Or, you know, and I was like, Oh, that's a complete. Distraction and just taps into their imagination and able to kind of let them get out of that sort of funk of that boredom of that. I love that idea. Yeah. So, so that's, that's me. I looked up some other artists. Yeah, I'm, I'm excited to see what this, what they say. So I thought to myself, I'll not do artists because I'm not do all artists because. Right.
I mean, like, artists aren't the only one who are creative, and I think that that is a huge misconception about creativity. It's like, oh, I'm not creative because I can't draw. Oh, I'm not creative because I can't write, like, poetry. Oh, I'm not creative because I can't paint. That's, like, I am a very creative being, but my creativity comes in ideas. And, um, like, just, I don't know.
Creativity I mean, I used to be very creative, like, hands on, doing things, like, I loved that when my kids were littler, but now my, like, energy comes from ideas. Like, creative flow is coming from ideas and fresh new things. And that's probably an ADHD thing, too, but Okay, so, what do we got? But I can see you getting excited about it as well, which is nice. I know! It just lights up.
Lights you up, which lights the, you know, the room up and the energy just changes and everybody just picks up on that. It is like that famous quote, like creativity is contagious. Pass it on. You know, it's like, yeah. So the first one here is Pablo Picasso. So, okay, obviously. So his famous quote is every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up. So that is huge, isn't it? But that study, what was that study? And you talked about the NASA.
NASA, NASA study of creativity, which is interesting because when I was writing my book, I wanted to reference that. And so I had somebody go on a deep dive to try to find the study. Cause it's cited in different places, not the actual study, but. Like, Sir Ken Robinson talks about it in his book, Creative Schools, and um, then Dr. George Land has a TED Talk on it, and he calls it a study, that he did this study, but there's no actual documentation that the study was ever done.
So, we have to reference Dr. George Land's TED Talk for that. talking about his own study. Um, but that, I found that was really interesting because it's very a popular study in education and it's, there's no proof that it was an actual study other than Dr. George Lam's TED talk. Interesting, huh? Maybe we're all aliens and we're at Lebanon. That would be cool. That's secret quarter. Um, let me see.
Okay, but hold on now, Pablo Picasso, how long ago was, I don't even know, like, when was he living? Pablo Picasso, centuries ago, he was, oh, my artist, my art history, um. I don't know art history, I'm gonna Google it quick. Um, because, I'm wondering, Oh, I just, like, opened up my text messages and wrote in Picasso like I was just gonna text him. I'm just gonna text him quick and ask him when he was born. Picasso. Wouldn't it be funny if he replied? Uh, 1881. Died in 1973!
Wow. Okay. So there was, so depending on when he said that quote, there was like the industrialized model of education. I was just curious to see if like, because that's a huge, that's a huge part of why we don't have creativity as adults. So I was just kind of wondering if schooling was a thing when he was a painter. Okay. Yeah. Well, I think what the case, I don't think he was like, it took a while for him to actually get his style and get out there because he was part of.
Um, a movement, but at the same time, Um, you know, a lot of those artists weren't really famous until after they had died, you know. So, um, yeah. I'm like, who hasn't done a Picasso portrait at one point, you know, where they cut up a picture of their face and put it in different shapes and, you know, so everyone knows who Picasso is. Yeah. They don't know anything about art. Yeah. Um, but yeah, no, I just find that very interesting. Um, there's another guy who is a psychologist.
I hope I get this pronunciation right because I Googled it. So, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Okay. Hopefully that's right. Yep. I can't tell you if it is or not. Google says it's fine. So, fingers crossed. Good. Uh, creativity is an act, idea, or product that changes an existing domain or that transforms an existing domain into a new one. So. Yeah. That's sort of similar to what you had sort of said about, you know, taking something So, guys. Yeah, yeah. Colliding together to make one new one.
Mm hmm. Yeah. So from a psychology point of view, um. What do, how do you spell that person's first name? M I H A L Y. Okay. And the surname is C S I K S L E N T. M I H A L Y I. Oh, wow. Okay. That's why I Googled it. A mouthful. Wow. Wow. Yes. Okay. Lots of vowels. So, his work was known for It's work on flow. So which is That's, that's why I had you spell it because I was like, I'm pretty sure I have the book Flow and I also have the one that's called Creativity by the same author.
Yeah. But I find their books a bit wordy and hard to follow so I haven't really made it all the way through. Yeah. I don't think I've ever finished a book in my life, to be honest. I love the honesty. Let me see. So we all know the scientist that is Albert Einstein. Yeah. So creativity is seeing what others see and thinking what no one else ever thought. Oh, that's a good one.
So he considered creativity as the ability to perceive the same things as others, but come up with unique and original ideas or solutions. That's, that's what I feel like I'm, that's how I am creative. Yes. Because then there's like that thinking side of it. Yeah. And the problem solving and the, uh, like thinking outside the box, as everyone says. Yeah. Yeah. And then some, I remember sometime someone said, well, what if there isn't a box? Oh, that's interesting.
Huh. You think that I'd say the box, but there is no box. So it's a bit like the. Schrodinger's cat thing where they, you know, that, that thing in the Big Bang Theory where they talk about Schrodinger's cat and it, it, it exists but it doesn't exist inside the box and you don't know, that kind of thing. Oh, that's very abstract. My brain is having a hard time wrapping, like, wrapping around that. Yeah, what if there wasn't a box? Like, why do we have to have a box?
And the interesting thing is, is I have found, being the creative brain that I have having it, um, I would say like 98 percent of society lives in the box. I actually think it might be 97%. I, I think I read somewhere that 3 percent of, People are, okay, and this might be kind of different, but there's another book I read, and it talks about, um, visionaries.
Um, it's something, I can't remember the name of the book, but it talks about how only 3 percent of the world's population are visionaries. Which are the people who come up with all of the creative ideas in the world. Is it like a personality style type thing? Yeah, so that way, no, but the book wasn't, it's, the book is not about personality styles.
The book is actually a business book that is talking, that's teaching the entrepreneur, normally the one who's going to pick it up, who is the visionary, that they need to have the, And I don't know what, I can't remember what term they used for it in the book. Um, they need to have, it's basically like the yin and the yang. Yin, yin and yang.
You need like this other person who's going to like be the one who does all the processes and does all of the like busy work that you don't want to do because your brain is too busy. being creative. And so you have to like offset yourself if you want to be a successful entrepreneur um, by hiring or having somebody on your team that is the executor that will do all of the things to support you. And if anyone wants to come on board with me and be that person, that's fine.
It's an unpaid internship. So who do we do, Einstein? Let me see. So the next one then is Sir Ken Robinson. I bet you are excited about this. So he's an educationalist, obviously. So his quote is, Creativity is the process of having original ideas that have value. Okay, but why does it have to have value? Value for who? Value for what? Like, If it serves a purpose, does it have to have a va like, value?
Do we have to like, make there be an end goal that there ha it has to be valuable to someone or something? Or can't it just be like, I don't know? Yeah. I think he I think he has said more things that are more about You know, creativity in the process and everything, but I just thought that one was quite interesting because it seemed quite sort of, um, like closed, whereas I thought he was quite open.
Yeah. About creativity, but, um, I think, you know, saying about, he's emphasizing creativity as a process. Involving sort of the, the generation of original valuable ideas highlighting its importance in education and personal development. So, let's see, was education based. Maybe value could be like an intrinsic value, doesn't necessarily need to be. Yeah, that's true. Yeah, okay, I like that. Um, and the last one is Teresa Amabile. Amabile. So A M A B I L E. Okay.
And she is a researcher from Harvard. Okay. Um, so creativity is the production of novel and useful ideas in any domain. So I thought that was quite interesting that she highlighted any domain. So that goes back to the fact that we can be a math teacher and be creative, or we can be a hairdresser and be creative, or we can be. Um, an engineer, or a schoolteacher, or anything. Preschool teacher? Yeah. Well, that kind of goes, given, really. Right? I know.
Yeah. Yeah. So, so yeah, that was, that was, I thought that was quite interesting. I was curious, kind of, what, um, did you have any stories when you were little? About creativity? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, actually, um. I, I think my first kind of like, real, uh, moment that I had, that I think has really helped me through my whole entire life, is that, I joined, there was like a circus coming to town, right? Okay, and they were having a coloring contest.
Of this clown, with some balloons or whatever it is, and you were supposed to color it, turn it in, and then they were going to, um, pick the best one, and then that person got a prize, alright? So, I remember, like, trying to, like, okay, mine has to be the best, how am I gonna make mine the best? Because I have to win this. And I remember my dad saying, well, you have to stand out.
You have to figure out a way to make yours stand out from everybody else's, so just let them blend in with everybody else's. So you got to kind of think outside the box and figure out what else you can do. So I ended up gluing cupcake sprinkles, little round cupcake sprinkles, as the clown's hair. Like, I glued it, and it was like the most perfect leaf shaped clown afro. And it was like little colored sprinkles. And, um, I won!
And I got, like, free cotton candy and free, um, Popcorn, I think, and I got into the circus free with my family. And then they announced my name over the loudspeaker. I think that that just stuck with me forever and ever and ever. And when like another way that this showed up in my life too, was when I was opening my preschool, I knew that our town was full of traditional preschools.
And I obviously knew I wanted to do play, but I knew I had to do something even more different than just play based because every other preschool says they're play based, but they're not. So I had to do something that would even be more catchy than that. And, um, I mean, I ended up opening up a nature based preschool really for like the differentiation factor, but also because like nature and children is a necessity in early childhood. So, um, it went on to, it's like the most successful.
It's successful, like it's always got a waiting list, and it's been open for 10 years, um, and I think that that is, like it's always just stuck with me, that like if I want to succeed in life, I need to figure out a way to stand out and do different and be different than everything else around me. And that's really just kind of how I've lived my life.
And now that I'm older, I've really started sorting out Those boxes that society puts us in, and being creative around that too, and really being unapologetic for it. Like, I live a different lifestyle than many people, and I am not married and never planned to get married, and I changed my own last name to what I wanted it to be, and, or am changing my own last name to be what I want it to be.
Like, people don't, it's not common, and, I really believe that it's because creativity is such a huge part of my life, and I'm just not willing to accept the status quo at all, ever, for anything. So, how about you? Um, I kind of was loving competitions and stuff too. I remember, um, I don't remember anyone ever saying to me about standing out, but I remember thinking that I had to do something different. Yeah. Because Everyone else was creating.
I remember the, it was like this show that everyone had to make this, this card picture of something and I literally, I literally got anything that I could find that was a collage to stick on. And like you, I ended up using lentils on mine. And, um, like, Had to go to the shops to get like sticky paper that was fluffy and stuff and, um, you know, cut up bits of fabric and pleated them like little mini curtains. Oh, I love that.
So, it was just like, so, so many sort of different ideas and different things and it had to look like a window, if it was a window. You know, I cut a picture out of a magazine and then a couple of strips pleated those wee curtains and put them on. And in the end, then I, I won at the competition out of all the different schools and everything, and that was the start of the competitive streak, I think. Um, but yeah, just, I've kind of, always won competitions.
I just remember doing like this Easter egg competition that was in schools and you had to boil an egg and decorate it and stuff and I called mine Dougal. He was a little Scottish guy in a kilt and I drew on the pattern and plaited it and everything and give him a fluffy beard and so aww. As long as I can remember I have been doing little things like that. Like I used to go.
We used to spend every summer at the caravan up at a beach near us and I used to go and get shells and make little tiny shell people and go around the caravans and sell them for like 20p so I could get chocolate bars for everyone. Oh my gosh, that is adorable. So that's kind of my life, yeah. So I'm still trying to sell chocolate bars for 20p just so I can buy them for everyone. You have good chocolate over there in Ireland. Good chocolate, have we?
Yeah. Um, yeah, there's some really good, um, like individual companies that do like handmade chocolates and stuff and really nice stuff. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Too many, too many chocolate brands over here. Um, yeah. So that's mine. And you know, in the next episode of our series, we're going to kind of see how that links into the classroom and how that links into parenting and kind of bring it that next stage. All right, so there you have it.
We're going to leave you on a cliffhanger until the next episode and we're going to chat about integrating creativity into early education and parenting or into your own family. Um, so, Beverly, where can people find you? Um, I am mostly on Instagram. So, at happy little humans play and You can just email me, hit me up anywhere you can find me, really. Do you have a website? Yes, my website is www. happylittlehumans. com Um, and, yeah.
If you want to kind of enter my crazy world, you can, in this little corner of the internet, um, yeah, come on, sign up for me. Amazing. Okay. Well, stay tuned everybody. And thank you so much, Beverly, for your time and your creativity. And we'll, I'll see you in the next episode. Bye bye. If you liked what you heard today, share this podcast with your coworkers, admin, or maybe even your partner. And I love getting five star reviews so more people can embrace play.
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