In order to
help the public gain an understanding of the co-relation between
"Creativity" and "Problem-Solving Ability"
in children, the Children and Youth Centre-Based Service (Cheng
Zhang Fang) of HKCS orchestrated a press conference in July
7 this year to publicize the finding of a survey study on "A
Link between Creativity and Problem-Solving Ability in Children".
 Kwok
ga-yin, a seasoned social worker at HKCS specialized in the
Creativity Development in Early Childhood, reported that the
research study was conducted in March/April this year through
telephone interviews. One hundred children were invited to participate
in the study. The test was divided into two parts: Part 1, test
on creativity and Part 2, test on problem-solving ability. The
ages of the candidates ranged from 6 to 9-year-old and were
students from Primary one to three. Among the 100 children in
the survey study, there were 55 boys, 43 girls and 2 with unidentified
sex. Quantitative research format was used in the questionnaires.
Five major elements that had tested on the child's creativity
level were fluency, flexibility, originality, elaboration and
sensitivity. Kwok gave the following analysis based on the results
of the survey:-
-
The
more the creativity, the better the problem solving capability
 The
study shows a parallel direction of scores between the two
areas on each child tested, i.e., the higher the score a child
attains in the creativity section, the higher the score in
his/her problem-solving ability test; and vice versa.
-
Both creativity and
problem-solving ability tend to increase with age notwithstanding
exceptions
In spite
of the rather general phenomenon, we do see some exceptional
situations even from our surveyed group. Among the groups
of age 7.5 and 8.5, there is a decline in their creativity
level. The same trend is observed among the groups of age
8, 8.5 and 9 in their problem-solving ability with the age
9 group being the worst in comparison to even those in the
7.5 age group.
-
Results from all girls
group are more even than those in the all boys group where
diverse results are seen
In general,
creativity and problem-solving ability are more prominent
among girls than boys. However, among the highest score achievers
in both areas, five out of the eight are boys in problem-solving
ability section; whereas in the creativity section, only boys
are among the highest score achievers. Overall, the development
in both areas for girls are seen to be faster and more evenly
across the board than those for boys albeit a few exceptional
cases.
According
to Ms Viola Tsang, the Centre-in-Charge of Cheng Zhang Fang,
the best time to start cultivating creativity in children is
during the primary school years. Creativity enhances ones learning,
analytical and problem-solving abilities with a resulting sense
of accomplishment. Children are our future; hence, as their
parents, we ought to give our very best efforts in nurturing
creativity in them.
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