Imagination Fair

I love the fearlessness of children’s imaginations.  Kids aren’t burdened with the boundaries of reality, logic, and self consciousness that hinder our adult minds.

Mealworms at the Imagination Fair

When I helped judge the Twin Cities Regional Science Fair and attended my own kids’ Imagination Fair (a creativity fair with no rules) at school, a few things jumped out at me.

First of all, many of the most interesting projects I saw were the ones created with the least use of expensive resources and components.  It made me wonder whether technology can actually hinder creativity.

Imagination Fair Lego Project

Secondly, I was shocked how “white” the science fair was.  I recently read in the paper that some minority groups are lagging far behind in science education (as are American kids in general.)  The science fair seemed to be a giant experiment confirming the hypothesis that we need to do more to foster science education for non-white students.

I did have to suppress a smile when a male judge commented to me that there seemed to be “mostly girls” at the science fair.  I’m not sure that was true, but I look forward to the day when the science fair is an even mix of boys, girls, and kids with skin of all colors from all economic backgrounds.

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