From the first 5 words of the Bible, we understand that God created. He is a powerfully creative God who can speak things into existence. Then God created man in His own image.
Did you know humans are the only creation on earth that can think creatively, learn creative skills and express our hearts through creativity? Perhaps a portion of being made in the image of God the Creator is the ability to be creative.
You have creativity! There are so many ideas and ways to inspire creativity listed below. Let’s discover how to quickly become creative or unlock your creativity and appreciate this God given gift.
Inside all of us is a creative inner child needing permission to play!
According to Dictionary.com, creativity is.
the process by which one utilizes creative ability:
Well that was helpful, right? Maybe we grasp creativity from a different perspective.
The Thesaurus gives words that are the opposite of creative.
It’s interesting that each of these words can be changed with very little effort into creativity.
Being fruitless, unfruitful or unproductive are easy to fix. When a fruit tree or plant needs to produce fruit, it may need pruning, feeding or sunlight. You are very much like a fruit tree.
Your creative fruit will flourish when you prune away distractions that are making you unable to tap into your creativity. Maybe it’s the tv. Or maybe time management is the issue.
Feed and water your creativity and it will begin to bear fruit. But if you also want your creativity to thrive, spend time in the light of the Son. Discover how you can be creative with God and He will not only change your art, but also your heART.
As Art teachers, uninspired, unimaginative or untalented are words that can hamper creativity because they seem to be the first things we hear many people say when it comes to art.
But creativity is more than just art such as drawing, painting, or sculpting. Creativity is gardening, baking, building, writing, composing, dancing, sewing, arranging, designing and so much more.
There are talents and abilities that seem to be strong in some people especially in an area of the arts. Those people have jumped into their natural God given creativity with both feet.
But those same people may struggle in another area of creativity and need a class, tutorial or training to obtain another skill.
Many creative avenues can be learned, trained and taught.
Look at a leaf, a snowflake, a tree, a flower or an animal. God designed each and every element on the earth with amazing details.
Watch how the wind affects the sand, the leaves, the grass and trees. What patterns do you see? Creativity and inspiration is all around you. You only have to look from a new perspective.
Lie on the ground and look up at the sky. The clouds form shapes to inspire your creativity. The new position will also give you a different perspective of trees!
Life is too short to miss out on learning a new skill or something you’ve always wanted to try. There are classes and tutorials to help you learn to dance, paint, sew or play a musical instrument. If you try something and it’s not your niche, try something else. Practice makes progress not perfect!
Be who God created you to be.
Discover who you are in Him and then discover all the amazing wonders He has in store for you. There’s only 1 you. You are You-nique.
It has been said that if you want something to die, don’t feed it. Every organism on the earth needs to be fed or else it will die. If you don’t feed your creativity, it suffers.
Treat your creative gift as if it was a living organism.
Feed it.
Nurture it.
Help your creativity to grow.
Also make sure you feed your creativity good thoughts and words. When you speak negative words to yourself or your creative ability it stifles your creativity. Words are powerful.
Every building begins with a plan and most importantly a foundation. Give your plans to God and allow Him to be the foundation for all you want to complete. He gave you the ability to be creative. He’s wanting you to use it for His glory.
But just because something is invented doesn’t mean it can’t be redesigned or improved. What is something you would like to improve? What could be made better?
Problem solving- If you own a business you know there’s always problems to solve. Use your creative thinking to solve those problems or find someone who can. Creativity can help a business thrive by branching out into areas you may not have thought or planned.
When things happen in the world, creativity shifts, morphs, and expands into solving problems, troubleshooting and reinvention.
Remember, creative thinkers are problem solvers, troubleshooters, explorers, inventors and world changers.
Write down what you think about creativity. Put your feelings to words on paper. It may be a word, a sentence, a paragraph or pages in a journal. Now, draw something that represents what you have written.
You can use a stick figure, a shape (circle, square, leaf, something that looks like spilled milk) Just pick one thing that illustrates what you feel.
Grab some of your favorite aromas and then close your eyes. What do you think of? Open some vanilla…. what sugar cookie or dessert pops in your mind? What does cinnamon bring to your thinking? Fresh cut grass? A candle? Maybe a favorite lotion will help.
Smells will conjure all sorts of memories and thoughts that can put us in a creative frame of mind. Have you ever smelled play dough? Which bring the next example…
Playdoh. Just grab some and roll it into a ball, then apply some pressure as you roll it back and forth into a snake like shape. It’s hard to not be creative while playing with Playdoh.
Other textures give creative thoughts…. paper, burlap, wood, rough, smooth, warm or cold, texture and touch get the nerves in our hands and fingers ignited.
If we say sand under your feet, do you think of the beach?
Can you feel the sand and the sun?
Do you imagine the waves and the smells of the beach?
What color umbrella would you sit under to help keep the sun from burning you?
What does your beach towel have on it? Is it solid? Striped? Does it have a design?
If you could have 3 things with you at the beach what are they?
Get the creative juices flowing in you…. touch something that gets you to think and imagine a place you would love to visit.
Creativity inspiration really is all around you. We’ve listed ideas that have helped us and others to spur creative juices, but it is only a small list from a large beautiful world of ideas. You’ll find us in a hobby store, thrift store or playing with art supplies to unlock our creativity.
What inspires you?
Start writing all the numbers that are associated with you…. write them all over a piece of paper. What crazy numbers are you?
Open a box of crayons, markers, paint, or colored pencils and pick a color.
What color do you enjoy the most.
What color makes you relax.
What color makes you hungry.
What color reminds you of something from your childhood?
What color would you paint the sky if you could choose a color that’s not blue.
What color reminds you of the leaves in the spring, or fall?
What color makes you feel good?
Isn’t color amazing? It can do all these things and more. Stores set up their rooms, shelves and even how things are placed on the shelves based on how color affects a person.
Restaurants paint their walls to make you hungry! They need you to order food and want to eat so they paint the walls in reds, yellow and deep warm tones to make you feel hungry.
You can dance if you want to! That was also a song in the 80’s in case you want to listen to more music! Movement is a creative way to express yourself! Many dances have been passed down through history, because someone moved a certain way and put it to music.
The mashed potato, the twist, the sprinkler, the Pee Wee, the running man… maybe one comes to mind that you can do! But dance isn’t the only movement that can spark some creative energy in you.
Try crawling across the floor on your belly using your arms…. left and right. It’s a warm up to get the left and right sides working together. It also gets the tactile need of our sensory nerves cranked up! Your senses love creativity.
Listen to various music. What music makes you want to dance?
What style makes you want to sit still?
When you hear a song, what shape do you think of?
What color does that song bring to mind?
Music can change the feel of a movie, a show or a soundtrack. You wouldn’t play “Flight of the Bumblebee” to get a child calm and ready for a nap. Music affects how we feel and how we think. It can also spur on creativity.
If you do not feel creative in the place you are in… try moving to another location. Sometimes a change of venue will change your way of thinking.
What room in your house inspires you to think creatively? Maybe it’s the kitchen… where you try different flavors in your morning coffee? Maybe it’s the bedroom where you can sleep with your feet at the end where you normally place your head? The closet? The living room where you can build a fort with the cushions and pillows? Or maybe you need to get out of the house to think creatively.
The park, library, coffee shop, church and museums are great ways to see other creative energy in use. Maybe try your position too…. turn an item upside down, draw it.
Or you can hang upside down and see how the world looks from a new perspective!
Try making a sandwich with something unusual today. Peanut butter and jelly is good but what about syrup? Bacon and grape jelly?
Restaurants and chefs around the world get creative with their food. All sorts of new recipes and dishes are presented to us to tempt our pallets. Potato chip companies want you to come up with new flavors and cookie companies are stuffing their cookies with all sort of new cream fillings.
What creative food can you make in your kitchen?
Fix your favorite dinner today. Mix your meals up today… have breakfast for supper. Eat pizza for breakfast. Try green eggs and ham! Even better….. play with your food!
Grab some veggies and fruits and dip them into the paint. You can cut open an apple, orange, and stamp onto some paper. Broccoli makes trees and a potato can be carved into any shape you want for a fun stamp.
You do not have to reinvent the wheel! Creativity is all around you…..books, art, inventions, and especially the internet. Do some research.
Knowledge is power.
Some of our favorite sources of creativity are children’s books. We love to be inspired by the illustrations and stories. You can see some of our inspiration sources to use as Art Books for Kids.
Search the internet on one item and it’s usage, design, and other ways you have not considered. Sometime in the past, some created the potty, your toothbrush or an automobile using creativity.
Example: a pine cone. What are some ways you can take a simple pine cone and make something else with it.What can you do with a pine cone? What if you painted it? Cut it?
Find a book that inspires you and act on that creative spark.
Grab paint chips from a home store and enjoy how they make you feel or laugh at the names they are given…..some of those are very creative.
Put on your favorite shirt or maybe it’s your pjs. Go into your closet and put on the most ridiculous combination of clothing. A polka dot scarf, a floral shirt, striped socks…. nothing is off limits.
Find a color of clothing that inspires you to think.
Try a new hat made from construction paper or try a costume that takes you to another period in history or your palace of your imagination.
That sounds terrible….. but it’s effective! Hang out with a creative person for a bit and you’ll be introduced to a whole new world.
Don’t be intimidated if they run circles around you…. just remember that right brainers think differently and at warp speed when in creative mode. Or a right brain thinker will process 101 different things at the same time! They may not even finish a thought, task or sentence. Just let one creative thing they do inspire you.
Follow the lead of a child. Let a child pick the daily schedule from what to wear, eat and to what to do. What can a child think that you never thought of before?
Yes… usage. Use something you use daily in a different way. Disney’s Little Mermaid used a fork to comb her hair. It sounds weird but being creative with what we use has lead to many creative inventions.
Apple dreamed a computer would be used everyday in just about every home. Now millions of people carry them around as cell phones or watches.
Even in Math and Science…. concepts based on facts, creativity is used. Helium fills a colorful balloon connected to a basket that floats into the sky as a hot air balloon. Take one item and think what you would change about it. How would you redesign it?
Rest. Be still. Listen. Ask God the Creator of all for a creative thrill today….. and laugh
You were created and designed by a creative God. Hop on over to our Bible Art Lessons page to discover what the Bible says about Art, if Art is important to God and how you are a unique valuable masterpiece to God.
God has given you creative ability to use and enjoy. Creativity separates you from all other creatures in creation. Remember that you were made in God’s image and a part of that is the ability to create from what He has provided. You just need to engage your creative ability and find your niche.
Take your creative ability or idea, give it to Him and allow God to bring it into full color.
Discover how we love combining 2 of our favorites to teach Art using the Bible and Bible using Art. This post is filled with how creativity is a God given gift we all have and can use to glorify Him in many ways.
These methods to unlock and untangle (detangle) your creativity are from our mini course, “The HeART of You.”
You will find it and more Bible and Art lessons when you join our membership.
Simple exercises, projects and insights to help you give God’s creative child inside of you the permission to play!
We would love to tell you more about becoming a ReMEMBERer.
Access our online Bible studies and resources anytime and anywhere.
Our desire is sharing God’s Word and love through creative resources for all learning styles.