Hilarious April Fools' FUN for the Classroom!
By Chris Dunmire
Play one of the most-guaranteed, creatively delightful (and harmless!) jokes ever in your classroom (or home) this coming April Fool's Day. Print one of my eye-catching (but fake!) word-find puzzles as an assignment for your class of smart students (or puzzle enthusiast) and then sit back to watch the fun unfold. These joke word search puzzles have delighted teachers, parents, and pranksters worldwide since 2005.
365 Pictures: Daily Prompt GeneratorDiscover the hidden treasure that's inspired teachers, writers, bloggers, and others for the last decade: Creativity Portal's original worldwide collaborative daily prompt generator! This inspiring feature is the result of the combined creative efforts of scores of artists, photographers, writers, and other creatives who answered the invitation to create and combine personal pictures, images, art, and illustrations with thought-provoking prompts to inspire others globally with unique perspectives and visual stimulus for writing projects. SEE TODAY'S PROMPT
Write What You See
By Hank Kellner
Less is more. There's really nothing complicated about the photo shown below. A figure stands silhouetted against a gray-to-black background. In the far distance, a bright circle hovers over the horizon. One fist appears to be clenched as the figure stands with its feet apart. Is the figure male or female? Is it facing the horizon, or is it facing the camera? Does its posture suggest anger, rage, or hostility? Why is the subject standing alone in a space that's delineated by shades of gray? If you showed this photograph to students to inspire them to write stories or poems, you might ask them the questions cited above. Alternatively, you might simply show the photograph and allow your students' imaginations to kick in and guide them as they create their compositions.
Inspirational Muses
Gnomes do not seek dominion over all the Earth and every living creature. Their very existence depends upon and reveres the sanctity of wild places. I am no expert on Gnomes, but a few years ago I was able to observe one myself. According to Gnome experts Wil Huygen and Rien Poortvleit, author and illustrator of "The Complete Guide to Gnomes," no Gnome sighting can be confirmed and deemed official unless observed by two witnesses, and I was alone at the time, on a walk down a lonely dirt road near my home in Durango, Colorado. So this can't be considered an official sighting, or a confirmed and documented Gnome encounter. I'll just call it a story instead.
Creativity Coaching
By Durga Walker
Ancient alchemists were intent on transforming base metals into gold. But on another level, alchemy was seen as a means of transforming the alchemist's base nature into a higher spiritual state. Likewise, gold nuggets often emerge from the raw material of words. And at the same time, whether or not you consider yourself a writer, the alchemy of writing transforms your life every time you pick up a pen. Writing builds a bridge from the formless realm of vague ideas and misty sensations to the concrete world of physical reality. Through writing, our ideas are given a physical form that we can share with others who will hopefully understand what we're trying to say.
Creative Careers Interviews
By Molly Anderson-Childers
My friends are my family of choice. They are the biggest emotional and spiritual support network I have. I also wanted to write about friendship with myself. I'm learning to be my own dearest friend. Because I'm learning a lot about that and practicing that now, and I know a lot of other people are practicing that too. And I also found that so many friendship books are about either the joys of friendship, or the difficulties of friendship. I wanted to write a book that included both the joys and the difficulties, and ways to integrate the two. To practice integration.
Writing from the Deeper Self
By Naomi Rose
Creativity often seems to be viewed as the ability to come up with a lot of out-of-the-box ideas ~ a brainstorm of ingenuity, a mental agility. And while it can include this, of course, creativity is so much more than this. It is, at its essence, a soul-thing. And since this is so, everyone has the capacity to open to and cultivate it, if they are called to. But like many realities of our deep nature, this can be invisible to people about themselves, and it also can be invisible to a larger culture ~ such as our own. And the effects and side-effects of this neglect can be far-reaching, even if we are not consciously aware of it.
Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching™ Stories
By Jill Badonsky, MEd
As a creative seeker, you no doubt have heard Albert Einstein's quote about imagination being more important than knowledge. I have always enjoyed repeating this quote because the notion of the imagination taking us further than knowledge excites me but also because I feel stronger in the world of imagination than I do if say, if I were a contestant on Jeopardy. But here's the question, "How do we apply this knowledge about imagination being more important than knowledge to our everyday life?"
Visual Journaling Prompts
By Violette
Who doesn't love to doodle? How many times have you sat at your desk or kitchen table during a long phone call, pen in hand, and wound up with some pretty phantasmagorical doodles? Now don't tell me you can't draw or doodle — of course you can! Your doodles can be windows to your soul. When you doodle absentmindedly, you relinquish control of your left brain and allow your right brain to take over. That's when the magic happens. Doodling while you are sitting in a classroom or meeting, talking on the telephone or waiting in a waiting room is a good start.
Premiums and Printables
By Chris Dunmire
With fake fun printable 'Cashius monetarius' seed packet! As featured in Money: Everything You Never Knew About Your Favorite Thing to Find, Save, Spend, and Covet by Sandra and Harry Chonron, this unique origami money plant makes a delightful gift to create, but hard to give away! Learn how to make this truly memorable craft with my with easy-to-follow instructions in a fully-illustrated, step-by-step 23-page project book.
Creativity & Inspiration
By Tom Evans
The Earth travels a distance of well over half a billion miles every year around the Sun. For many of us though, we may as well be standing still. At the start of each orbit, we often diligently and religiously set some goals and make new resolutions. There is nothing wrong with setting goals and having ambitions. What then often happens though is, when we hit adversity, our goals get thrown out of the window while we deal with the latest crisis or drama. We run a script in our heads that life is hard and 'it's not meant to be.'
More April Foolery
By Chris Dunmire
Promising news has come to light for many citizens of the world seeking to increase creativity. After working closely with the product development team at a major U.S. beverage company, Creativity Portal is pleased to offer this new line of creativity-enhancing herbal teas under the Mirecle CreativiTea™ brand name. Yes, Mirecle CreativiTea™ brand tea has proven certain blends of herbs positively affect creative performance in artists, writers, engineers, scientists, and other creators. This proprietary recipe is now available to you exclusively through Creativity-Portal.com.
Writer's Prompts
Open to possibilities and allow this inspirational instrument to help you play in the world of imagination. Manifest beautiful music and works of art through your thoughts and words. Remember, the unique element you bring to LIFE, and in this context, the writing table, is YOU. The prompts are here as a beginning, but what you bring through your unique perspective, experience, gifts, and imagination brings completeness to the creative process you are about to engage in. What a gift to treasure and share! Are you ready?
