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Why Childhood Creativity Fades and How We Can Reclaim It

Imagine this: you're in a hot air balloon that you've built over the years. The basket feels cozy and familiar as if made just for you. But here's the thing: this isn't a single, big balloon holding you up. It's a collection of smaller balloons that you've carefully tied together one by one. Some of these balloons were added by your parents, teachers, and the adults around you who helped you take that first leap. As you grew, you added more balloons to it yourself. Each represents a new experience, a lesson, or something you discovered along the way.

You're flying high now, free to explore. But you're not floating weightlessly, are you? There are weights tied to your basket—sandbags that steady your flight. They were added over time, not all at once. A rule here. An expectation there. Warnings to be careful. To stay close. They help keep things manageable and predictable. And for the most part, it feels normal. You feel secure. You see others nearby, drifting at the same height. Some are friends, some familiar. You nod and float together. It feels normal. It feels enough.

Then you notice a balloon—much higher, almost out of view. It's not following the usual pattern. How did it get there? What has lifted it so far? You feel something stir: not envy, exactly. Something softer. A quiet wonder. A question that won't quite go away.

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When Creativity Comes Easily

In early childhood, that soaring balloon is our natural state.

Children draw purple suns, invent stories mid-sentence, and ask questions that startle even the wisest adult. They don't need to be taught how to think differently; they already do. In fact, a study originally designed by NASA found that 98% of 5-year-olds scored in the creative genius range. That's not a typo. Nearly every child they tested showed the kind of divergent thinking that fuels innovation.

But the numbers fall sharply after that.

By age 10, only 30% scored the same.

By age 15, just 12%.

By adulthood? Only 2% remain.

What changed?

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The Slow Weight of Indoctrination

It's not just age; it's what comes with it.

We start tying more sandbags: rules, routines, standard answers. Schools begin to reward speed over depth and correctness over curiosity. We unconsciously teach children to fit in, perform, and seek approval rather than look for possibilities.

This isn't anyone's fault, not a teacher's or a parent's. It's the design of the system we've inherited—one that prizes order and efficiency over exploration, one where colouring inside the lines is safer than asking why the lines are there at all.

As Professor Jeremy Ghez notes, systems of power tend to produce sameness. The more influence a structure has, the more it rewards those who adapt to its expectations. This is where indoctrination quietly takes root, not through loud instruction but through invisible limits on what is acceptable to think, say, or try.

The result? Children grow up learning to soar just enough—high enough to succeed but not so high that they break the pattern.

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Creativity Is Not a Trait, It's a Climate

The good news is this: creativity doesn't vanish. It retreats.

It waits for conditions to change.

In her landmark research on the "Creativity Crisis," Dr. Kyung Hee Kim shows that creativity can be nurtured. But it needs space, safety, time to tinker, and a willingness to let children (and adults) fail without fear.

That doesn't mean abandoning structure. It means creating environments where structure supports exploration, not suppresses it.

• In the classroom, this might look like open-ended projects, questions without correct answers, or time for unstructured play.

• At home, it might mean fewer corrections and more curiosity: "Tell me more about this creature you've drawn with four eyes."

• In policy, it means valuing the long-term power of creative problem-solving over short-term performance scores.

The most powerful shift begins not in curriculum but in mindset.

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Letting Go, a Little at a Time

Releasing a sandbag doesn't mean losing control. It means regaining lift.

When we make space for creativity, we aren't just helping children draw or dance; we're helping them think. Imagine. Adapt. Question. These are life skills, not luxuries. In a world of uncertainty, they are the skills most worth protecting.

And here's the thing: creativity isn't just a child's gift. It's yours, too. The balloons are still with you. Maybe the sandbags outnumber them. Perhaps the ropes got entangled with time, but they have not disappeared.

You can slowly start untying the knots. Or losing some weight.

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A Quiet Invitation

We don't need every balloon to fly to the stratosphere. But we do need more of them to rise. And we do need to shed some weight. Not just for the sake of innovation but for joy. For fulfilment. For the simple human right to imagine differently.

And that begins with a quiet shift.

A teacher who says, "What else could this be?"

A parent who listens without rushing in.

A child who is allowed to wonder, and wander.

Because when we let go of some of the sandbags today, we create a sky vast enough for everyone to rise.

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References

• Dr. Kyung Hee Kim's 2011 study on the creativity crisis underscores how creative thinking scores have declined across ages.

• Land, G. (1968). The Genesis of Creativity. NASA.

• Ghez, J. (n.d.). Systems Thinking and Strategic Foresight. HEC Paris.

Further Reading

• The Creativity Crisis – Child Creativity Lab

• NASA Study & Educational Impact – YourStory

• TEDx Talk – How to Reclaim Creativity at Any Age