When did you last play the cloud game?

by Matthew Worwood

One day when Lucas was two years old, we sat back on a tiny hill outside our house and looked up at the clouds in the sky. I introduced him to the concept that clouds take on different shapes, and that with our imagination these shapes can become objects or animals floating in the sky. Two years later this has become one of his favorite games in the car whenever we’re on a long drive (which for Lucas is classified as anything longer than five-minutes).

As I’ve referenced many times, the ability to produce and consider many alternatives is considered a characteristic of creativity, or more specifically one of the creative thinking skills identified by E. Paul Torrance. Below is a list of seven items that I remember Lucas coming up with for the cloud below. Unfortunately, he had to scream for me to look at the crocodile head before I realized he was even playing the game.

  • Dragon
  • Skeleton Dinosaur
  • Turtle
  • Snow Mountain
  • Crocodile Head
  • Spaceship

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Matthew Worwood
Matthew Worwood is an educator, Creative Studies scholar-practitioner, and co-host of the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast. He is a professor of Digital Media Design at the University of Connecticut and a husband and proud father to three young boys.

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2 comments

jeff smithson May 15, 2015 - 10:07 am

i was just introduced to your blog by my creative friend kali quinn. The overlap between creativity and parenting is such a fertile space. (I have a 6 year old named Oliver.)

Thank you for sharing this rich perspective.

Reply
Matthew Worwood May 21, 2015 - 1:24 am

Hello Jeff,

Thank you for the feedback. Enjoyed our conversation today and hopefully we can expect some content from you and to learn more about your work in play.

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