ure of keeping up with the school curriculum, meeting with parents

and running daily classes, it can be hard to make time for creativity in
the classroom. With such little time to spare, it can be easy to think –
does it really make a difference?
The short answer is: absolutely. Creative classrooms don’t just look
different, they feel different. They provide an environment where
students are more likely to express their ideas, think outside the box,
challenge problems with innovative solutions and most importantly –
learn faster and more effectively.

Here at Canva we speak to hundreds of schools every day and are

constantly amazed by the ways they incorporate creative thinking and
learning into their classrooms. To help share some of these lessons, we
put together this list of 19 unique ways to add more color, creativity
and passion to your classroom.

01. Make room for visual reflection

Reflective activities provide students with an opportunity to absorb
information more deeply – enhancing their creative and contextual
understanding of the content. When reflective learning exercises are
displayed visually in the classroom, they become of benefit not only to
those who share them, but to every student in your class.
This board of mindset moments is one example of this principle in
action. By encouraging students to pin their learnings or “shifted
mindsets” to the board, this provides a great opportunity for guided
reflection.
Even outside of the classroom this technique is well as a creative
learning technique. Pictured above is the bulletin board from a
TEDxSummit.
Try this technique today using the Learn something new
today and Learning adventure templates you’ll find below. Adjust
them to your liking, pin them on the wall and let us know how it goes.
02. Integrate more hands-on
learning
Benjamin Franklin once said: “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I
may remember, involve me and I learn.” Hands-on learning is a great
way to apply a creative twist to traditional course content and engage
students on a deeper level.

Try this Black and Green Inspirational Quote Poster template on

Canva.
Here are three ideas for inspiration:

 English: Rather than asking students to read class texts at

home, incorporate a group reading session into each class.
Ensure that every student is selected as the daily reader at least
once.
 Media/design: If students are learning about a “real world
application” wherever possible skip the theory and get them to
dive into the real thing. For example, rather than teaching
students about the basics of web design in a media class,
encourage them to create a site for something they’re
passionate about.
If your students are fashion addicts, our College fashion field guide
presentation will put them to work in a breeze.
In Canva, you can export your presentation as an interactive website in
2 clicks.

 Maths: Taken from this list of excellent practical maths ideas,

one way to teach velocity is to ask students to build paper
airplanes and use calculations to predict their speed. What
better way to iterate on their calculations by testing them out
in real life?

03. Keep your classroom layout

flexible
Within your school term, your students will be working between group
projects, completing solo assessments, listening to presentations as
well as many other activities. In order to keep the creativity flowing
between these learning set ups, the key is to keep your classroom
layout adaptable and allow it to be easily reorganized.
Teach Thought provides an interesting solution to support this
flexibility while still maintaining an area for focus. All four layouts are
designing for either group or independent work, but they all have an
interesting common element: a group table. This table would allow
students to meet on a need basis without disruptions other students in
the class.
Feel free to experiment with different arrangements, but always make
sure that your classroom is setup to accommodate for a range of
learning activities and work styles.

04. Introduce unconventional

learning materials
Text books and timeless lesson plans are a great staple in your teacher
tool kit, but introducing more unconventional learning materials can
help your students think outside the box and engage more deeply with
the lesson.

Get inspiration from the ideas below, or check out this list of

interesting ideas you can start using today.

 Ted talks: Leaders and role models play an important role in

the creative development of your students. What better way to
bring some of the world’s most inspiring leaders right into
your classroom than by incorporating TED talks into your
curriculum. On the TED website you’ll find thousands of
videos on a range of topics – making them suitable for all
classes.
 Innovative lesson plans: In the world of the Internet and
social media, teaching visual communication is as important
as any other type of literacy. Graphic design platform Canva
has created lesson plans on various topics which enhance
students understanding of a topic through visual
communication on their platform.

 Podcasts: Think of just about any subject or topic and chances

are there’ll be a podcast covering it. As a starting point,
browse through this list of 50 educational podcasts filled with
ideas and inspiration for lesson plans.
05. Encourage discussion
Avoiding chatter and meaningless conversation can be a difficult task
as a teacher. But on the other hand, channeling meaningful discussions
can provide students with an arena to express new ideas and voice their
opinions.

Some other reasons why discussion can be productive include:

 It gets students thinking more critically about the material.

 It challenges them to listen to other students’ opinions and

think critically about their contributions and ideas.

 It gives them the opportunity to challenge each other

intelligently and build off of each other’s ideas.
This could take the shape of a reflective session 10 minutes before the
end of a session, or by asking one member of a group to present their
ideas to the class. Download the useful list below and place it in your
classroom to help guide meaningful conversation:
06. Replace hierarchy with
collaborative learning spaces
Collaborative working spaces help students see themselves as co-
constructors of knowledge, rather than “subjects” of teachers. Without
hierarchical front to back row seating, every seat is the best seat in the
class, and students are always at the center of learning.

Maintain structure in less traditional ways by creating “zones” for

different parts of the learning process, such as reflection and
brainstorming. For ideas and inspiration for your classroom, watch the
video Flexible Learning Environments as several teachers who have
tried this mode of learning share their challenges and triumphs.

07. Encourage more color

Color in the classroom doesn’t only need to be for early primary
school. Challenge yourself to use color in creative and unconventional
ways, such as displaying inspiration posters or creating themed
“mood” corners.

As you can see in the examples below, anyone can get creative, even
when it comes to displaying the class rules or teaching students about
triangles.
Color can also be an incredibly powerful tool to aid students with
absorbing information and learning new content. Encourage your
students to use more color as a staple when taking notes. You’ll be
surprised at how quickly they start absorbing new information.
08. Don’t limit assignments to one
format
Allowing students to choose the format of their own assignments
allows them to explore the task using a format they enjoy the most,
making them more naturally inclined to draw on their creativity.

For example, imagine students were required to read the book “No
Sugar” as part of a social studies curriculum. Rather than taking the
typical approach of writing an essay, provide students with a range of
formats they can use to explore the concept of racism and social
acceptance, such as a presentation, documentary or speech.

Getting your students to create a poster on sensible topics can be

helpful to open a discussion. Try this Human Rights Poster.
Ask your students to create a menu for a special occasion. Working on
both the content and the design makes the assignment more
entertaining (and instructive). Have a go with this Thanksgiving
Menu.
Keep your students happy by speaking their language. Add some flair
to your worksheets using this Pet Writing Prompt Worksheet.
Want them to learn astronomy? Get them to create an infographic
about planets like this Solar System Statistics Infographic.
09. Incorporate humour into your
classroom
Humour is an important part of creating a positive environment in
which creativity can flourish. Draw on pop culture references, use puns
and find relevant jokes that make light of the learning process.

If you want to decorate your Arts or English classroom, get a head

start with these two templates: Earth without art and Let’s eat
grandma.
In this blog article, Laura Davis also talks about how you can use
humour in a team building environment to encourage students to laugh
with each other, not at each other, and make light of small failures.

10. Rewards & recognition are key

to motivating your students
Having achievements recognized is an important part of the creative
learning process. Rewarding achievement visually in your classroom
gives students an incentive to continue doing great work as well as
gaining a sense of pride.

Give it a go with our Yellow Bordered Appreciation Certificate.

11. Film a classroom video diary
A key creativity mindset is that the learning process is never ending.
Help students look retrospectively on their own learning processes by
filming a video diary throughout the course or year.

Some ideas for questions you could ask your students in the video are:

 What are you most excited about right now?

 What seems like the most challenging thing you need to do

right now?

 Who has helped you learn something this week?

This also adds an emotional element to the process – allowing them to
become more invested and connected with their learning journey.

12. Visualize goals with timelines

Empowering students to set their own goals is an incredible motivator.
Goals can be decided on a project or term basis and should always be
achievable. By giving students a clear vision for where they want their
learning to take them, they become naturally more inclined to find
creative solutions to get them there.
13. Pin up motivational posters
Using inspiration quotes and posters around your classroom is a great
way encourage your students to unleash their creative potential.
Browse this awesome list of 50 inspirational posters and print them out
for your classroom today, or simply edit one of the templates
below: Celebrate learning or Put mistakes in perspective.
14. Team building exercises
The most important thing about team building exercises is that there
aren’t right or wrong answers – just strategies. Cooperative games
allow students to work together to make decisions based on creative
thinking, communication, and collaboration.

Throughout the process, students build better relationships with other

team members as they struggle, deal with failure, and eventually work
to master the problem presented. Check out this list of 10 team
building games that can be used for students of all ages.

15. Use design thinking

The Design Thinking process is a framework for creativity and
innovation taught in schools and universities all around the world. It
allows students to break down complex problems based on various
stages.

Try incorporating design thinking into any project or exercise. Some

useful points of reflection after the exercise might be to ask students
where the biggest challenges or difficulties were, and at what point
they achieved the most process or success.
Encouraging students to think critically about their work enhances their
creative thinking abilities, making them ready to understand and solve
complex problems later in life.

16. Explore different cultures.

Developing students’ ability to consider multiple perspectives is an
important part of thinking outside the box.

Some ideas to incorporate cultural awareness into your classroom are:

 Label things in your classroom in different language.

  Celebrate different cultural holidays and the original behind
them.

 Provide reading materials that explain cultural differences.

If you’re interested in exploring this idea further, this list of resources
for teaching cultural diversity should be your first stop.

17. Pair struggling learners with

students who excel
Empowering creativity through leadership is an extremely effective
learning strategy. For students who have mastered the content, being
tasked with teaching a peer encourages them to come up with creative
ways to reframe the content.

18. Challenge advanced students

with extension projects
Allowing advanced students to participate in more creative extension
projects helps them to:

 Learn at faster rates.

 Find, solve and act on problems more readily.

 Manipulate abstract ideas and make connections to an

advanced degree.
Extension tasks are more open ended than regular tasks, meaning the
project task sheet will include the goal, but relies of the students’
creative and critical thinking ability to come up with a process.
Consider this example from the New South Wales (Australia)
curriculum:
Students know what they need to achieve, but by allowing them the
freedom to manage their own timeline, decide on their book genre, and
essentially self publish a book, the sense of achievement and creative
reward for students who complete the task is immense.

19. Celebrate wins with ceremonies

Allowing students to feel a great pride in their achievements will
encourage them to learn faster and more rigorously in the future.
Rather than simply use report cards or certificates to celebrate their
wins, allow students to plan a victory ceremony when they plan their
goals.

Think outside the box – you could snap a crazy photo and put it in your
yearbook in a special awards section, try a Greek style smashing of the
plates ritual, a dress up or anything in between.
Make your classroom more
creative today.
The classroom is the centre of every student’s learning journey.
Ensuring that it is brimming with creativity – both physically and
through the activities taught in it – is one of the many privileges of
being a teacher.

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Anna Guerrero
Anna heads up several of Canva's content marketing projects, including her favourite: