MINDS IN BLOOM BLOG

Creativity is everywhere; all you need to do is take the time to look for it. Look around your environment, experiences, and memories for creative inspirations, and encourage your students to do the same!

Creative Inspirations

The quote below is located in the restroom at the Horses Mouth Bookstore and Internet Cafe in Buffalo, Texas. If you were here, as I am (far from my home in Bothell, Washington), you would not need to read it backwards because it is located on the wall directly across from the mirror, so of course it is reflected backward, which is forward to the reader.

Traveling with Kids: No Screens Allowed

Yes, you have a portable DVD player (your vehicle may have even come with one), and yes, your kids have a wide array of handheld video games. And yes, making use of these devices ensures a quiet and peaceful ride. It also ensures that your kids’ brains will be on autopilot and that no interaction of any depth will take place. The alternative? Make a

Use these literature worksheets with any book!

In addition to Minds in Bloom, I am also a Top Ten seller on teacherspayteachers.com. I specialize in creating ready-to-use materials that can be implemented with little or no teacher preparation. My offerings are all highly rated and reasonably priced. I have included a little information about each set of materials here, but there is much more information available, as well as free preview pages

About Rachel Lynette

Welcome! I’m so glad you are here!  Minds in Bloom started as a place for me to share strategies and ideas for teaching creative and critical thinking skills, and while that is still and important piece, it has blossomed into so much more. At this point, about 3/4 of the posts here are written by guest bloggers in the field of education. This has resulted in

Thanksgiving analogies make for a fun alternative to the traditional Thanksgiving art projects and history lessons. Get your students thinking creatively and critically with these 15 analogies created just for Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Analogies

Here are some fun Thanksgiving analogies to use with your students. Thanksgiving : November : : Valentine’s Day : _________ pilgrim hat : head : : pilgrim shoes : ______________ turkey : bird : : yam : ______________ parade : watch : : food : ______________ kind : helpful : : grateful : _____________ empty : full : : apart : ______________ Thanksgiving : Thursday

Need a Great Thanksgiving Song?

Here is a link to A Turkey Knocked on My Back Door from Gettin’ Creative. It has the lyrics and a video of a child singing the song, which is great for learning the tune. My daughter brought this song home in second grade. She is in eighth grade now, and I still make her sing it!

It's always a great idea to cultivate the creative classroom, but sometimes we need some fresh ideas for what to do with the front of it. I'm sharing many ideas in this blog post for ways to utilize the valuable real estate that is the front of your classroom, where your students likely spend a lot of time looking. Click through to learn more!

The Creative Classroom: Come to the Front

Your students spend a lot of time looking at the front of your classroom, so it is important to make the most of that space. This is valuable real estate, so think carefully about how you want to use it. In most classrooms, the central feature is the whiteboard. If you are one of the lucky few that is blessed with an Interactive White Board

ideas for brainstorming in the classroom

Creative Brainstorming with Post-Its

Traditional group brainstorming usually involves a leader fielding ideas and writing them in list format. However, you can use Post-It notes to make group brainstorming more personal and interactive. In addition, the Post-Its method allows you to easily organize ideas once they are all given. You could use this process in several ways: To solve a classroom problem; e.g., Our book nook is in a

Thanksgiving Would You Rather Questions Kahoot

20 Fun Thanksgiving Would You Rather Questions

Would You Rather – Thanksgiving Edition This conversation-making, thought-provoking, debate-initiating SUPER FUN game is the perfect activity to get your students in the Thanksgiving spirit!  You can use these questions in so many ways! But whichever way you choose, your students are sure to have a blast! Grab these FREE Google Slides or Kahoot game to use these questions! Our Best Would You Rather Questions

risk taking

Allowing Children to Take Risks

A very long time ago I read something in a parenting book (of course I can’t remember which one) that said that we as parents should allow our children to do risky things, even those things like tree climbing that scare us half to death. Further, this author said never to tell a child to be careful. The reason given was that by telling our

classroom library

The Creative Classroom – Your Class Library

The two main challenges with a classroom library seem to be making it cozy and inviting yet easily accessible, and keeping it organized. Here are some thoughts on both. Make It Inviting Most kids love cozy spaces. Ideally, your class library should be in a corner of your room, away from the door and the sink. A rug is a must. Bean bags, big pillows,

What's the best time of day for creativity? Click through to find out! There is indeed a certain time of day that our bodies and minds are best prepared to be creative, to relax, to be productive, and more.

Best Time of Day for Creativity

According to this article from Prevention Magazine, the best time of the day for creativity is 9:00-11:00 in the morning, while 11:00-2:00 is a great time to solve difficult problems. With that in mind, seems like it makes sense to start the day with a quick, creative activity – perhaps a journal prompt or a waker-upper and then move into language arts with math just before or

how to get students to think critically and creatively about their art

8 Questions to Ask Children about Their Art Work

Your child (or student) comes to you with a picture she has just drawn. You look at it and say something like, “Wow, that’s beautiful.” Then, you put it on the fridge. And that is pretty much it. While there is nothing wrong with this scenario, if you want your child to think critically and creatively about her art, you could use this opportunity to

Many of the world's greatest thinkers had numerous failures before they had successes. Teach your students to try creative thinking and to take risks, all for the sake of learning.

Creative Thinking: In Defense of Mistakes

You’ll always miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. -Wayne Gretzky Mistakes are the portals of discovery. -James Joyce A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing. -George Bernard Shaw In school, the right answer is so often required that children do not learn to value the wrong one. In fact, many children have learned that

Ken Robinson discusses whether schools kill creativity and how often, students feel so pressured to get the "right" answer that they're afraid to give the wrong answer.

Ken Robinson Talks about Creativity

I stumbled on this video last night. I love his speaking style, and he makes some really good points, one of which is how schools value “the right” answer so much that we make kids afraid to be wrong. Often, those who have done great things have been wrong quite a few times before they were right. Risk-taking is an important aspect of creativity. When

It can be a real challenge to entertain small children while waiting, so here are three fun word games to play while waiting at the bank, in line for a ride, or other times that you find yourself waiting with your kids.

Three Ways to Entertain Small Children While Waiting

So, you are stuck in a very long line at the supermarket behind that woman who has 65,000 coupons, most of which are expired, but she is insisting that the checker call the manager, and your 4-year-old is getting whiny, and your 6-year-old is getting grumpy, and you are really wanting a hot bath, but there you are in the checkout line with a cart

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