by Alix Tonsgard
Providing an environment that stimulates creativity and innovation is one of the things we are most passionate about at DuPage Children’s Museum (DCM). Creative and innovative processes support problem solving, critical thinking, persistence, curiosity, and imagination, all of which are cognitive capacities that are critical to a child’s success throughout the lifespan.
That being said, when I stumbled upon a post on Red Tricycle Eureka! Discover 13 Books that Inspire Innovation, I couldn’t wait to share it with you. The list begins with one of my most favorite books, Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty. One of the things I like best about this particular story is the fact that, on more than one occasion, Rosie fails. This story really highlights what it is to be persistent and how this pays off in the end. We talk a lot about persistence at DCM and I think that it is so important not only to present children with opportunities to fail and persist, but also to engage them in conversation on the topic. Another book included in the post that I adore is one that I have blogged about in the past, Not A Box by Antoinette Portis.
Other books include: What Do You Do With An Idea?, Papa’s Mechanical Fish, If I Built A Car, The Junkyard Wonders, and more.
I encourage you to look up the full list and add these books to your reading list. All of them have the ability to let your imagination run wild and present opportunities for a deeper level discussion with children of a variety of ages. Read them yourself prior to reading them with your child. Let the ideas percolate in your mind and think about what interests you about the stories. This will be a good starting point for a conversation with your child.
Other good discussion starters include questions such as:
Why do you think she/he did …?
What do you think would have happened if…?
What would you do if…?
Alix Tonsgard is an early learning specialist at the DuPage Children’s Museum.
