What do grade 6/7 students think about CrEaTiViTy?

I taught at Malaspina Elementary (grade 6/7) in PG for two days and fell in love with the students (as I tend to always do). Since Rob is writing a book on creativity and as a teacher I feel it is so important to encourage children to think deeply about things and develop their own ideas and opinions, I had them write anything and everything they could think of when they thought of the word, "Creativity." This is what they came up with (the responses vary beautifully). 

Once you have read them all, I would love for you to comment on what words/phrases/ideas touched you the most and what Creativity means to you. I have created some questions for you based on what the students wrote.

My questions for you to ponder:

Is creativity something you do or create? Is is something you are? A part of your being?
Is creativity therefore an action or part of being? Being and doing are two different things.
Is creativity the process of that creation instead of the end result?
Does creativity come from the mind, heart or someplace spiritual? Anywhere?
What does imagination mean to you?
Can creativity involve being physical, emotional and verbal? 
How can feelings be creativive, if they can be at all?
What does it mean to express ourselves?
Is creativity spontaneous or forced (have to think about it)?
Is being creative doing nothing? Perhaps the doing nothing creates creativity?
Is creativity escaping reality or being present within it?
Is a part of creativity the result that happens that you didn't want to even though you had a goal in mind? (Read the quote by the student that talks about a man creating a bird and it turns out to be something different, therefore a creative expression). Does this therefore mean that creativity is spontaneous and comes from nowhere yet somewhere?Is it a letting go of expectations and goals that limit us to creating things in certain ways?

Creativity Comments by the Students:

"I am creative by thinking of a whole bunch of things and I can paint well."

"Creativity is to be imaginative. What creativity means to me is alot. I am creative by doing experiments like my recent project Dead or Alive."

"Creative: Colourful; using your imagination; do what you like, if it makes you happy; being yourself, like wearing what you like, not your friends/peers; express (expression); your own words."

"Creativity is a self-minded being of your thoughts that you put into your creations. Using your potential creative thinking, your critical work can turn into your most precious item. Creativity to me means put all of your best into everything I make to make it my best every time."

"Creativity I think is a form of expression of your feelings. Creative can be from love, passion, hate, compassion and much more different feelings. And its form can be sculptures, paintings, colours and other solid to liquid and fragrences and more. But to me creativity is that you put your expressions into a form of something."

"Creativity to me is like your own handshake you make up that would be you being creative! Me being creative is in my own style, my own words, and my amazing drawings. Creativity is expressing yourself in any way, shape or form."

"Creativity to me is where I can express all of my feelings on a piece of paper. Another thing is when you can just use anything you want to use (I love art, and to me... art is everlasting!"

"I think creativity is a fantasy opinion expressed physically. For example, a man is given a project and he tries to paint it. When he is done it looks nothing like a bird because it was creativity. All the colours and shapes expressed his creativity."

"Being creative is doing nothing." (My favourite!)

"I think creativity is a way to get away from reality."

"I am creative by playing sports like I always make up new shots and different plays in basketball. Creativity means alot to me. I do it in sports, schoo, outside of school and many more things."

"I think creativity is a lot of things, like being creative in art and having a personality like being outgoing, playing and not self-conscious of yourself. Creativity could be a happy by trying a new thing every day. It could be the way you speak. All I'm saying is creativity is basically everything. Everybody has a different personality, to me that's creative."

"To me creativity means how you dress and your own style. It's also how big your imagination is and how you do things differently and in your own way."

"Creativity is when someone expresses themselves in their own particular way. Like in sports, art or even their personality."

"Creativity to me is a way of expressing myself through words, but to other people it may mean through art, photographs or anything else."

"Creativity is an expression of yourself, no matter what people will always be there to have entertainment but mostly it means to have fun and entertainment. Being creative is basically having fun!" 

"I think creativity can mean lots of different things. To me I thinik it means like you have a big imagination."

"Creativity is something from your mind put on paper."