What
is innovation? Why does being innovative
matter? How can we encourage children to
be innovative thinkers? These questions
were given thoughtful consideration at DuPage Children's Museum (DCM)
Innovation Summit held in Meiley-Swallow Hall on the North Central College campus early last month.
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| DCM's Farming for Fuels program |
Rich
Faron of Museum Explorer and
project manager on one of DCM’s newest exhibits, AWEsome Energy, stated that
innovation is “grown from the very beginning” and that an essential part of an innovation—engendering
culture is the opportunity to “try things out over and over again,
incrementally moving things forward.”
Innovation
matters because, as panelists at the summit stated, “It is important for
children to learn that taking risks is all right.” When it comes to being
innovative, taking risks for younger children might mean being encouraged to
make a prediction rather than saying, “I don’t know.” For older children this
may mean encouraging them to focus on their interests—even if it is out of the
ordinary.
In
her blog, Play. Fight. Repeat., Dr. Suzita Cochran writes about Encouraging
Innovation and Ingenuity—especially as it relates to following the interest of the child. Dr. Cochran offers some
valuable literature resources that touch on innovation, including Daniel Pink’s A Whole New
Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future and Why Not?
How to Use Everyday Ingenuity to Solve Problems Big and Small by Barry Nalebuff and Ian Ayres.
At
DCM, our mission speaks to innovation. We stimulate curiosity, creativity,
thinking and problem-solving through:
·
Self-directed,
open-ended experiences
·
Integration
of the arts, science and math
·
The
child-adult partnership
Come
by for innovative experience today!
Additional resources:
Creating Innovators: The Making of Young
People Who Will Change the World by Tony Wagner
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