[danenania]

I have to strongly disagree. Humans are innately creative--just watch any child play if you doubt this.

What many people lack is not creativity, but the confidence and skills to creatively express themselves. The majority of people do not have that spark they were born with nurtured, they have it squashed.

[mercer]

Childhood is my go-to argument in favor of 'everyone is creative'. I've not talked to a single person who wasn't highly creative as a child, and just realizing that makes me sad sometimes.

[consz]

I've never been convinced by that argument. Looking back on my memories as a child, I wouldn't call myself creative -- I think that's something that I've developed as I've grown older, not something I was born with. Certainly, to a degree, children are curious, but that seems largely out of necessity (to learn e.g. language so you can express anything, not necessarily something creative).

[goodJobWalrus]

Are you a guy?

As a girl, every girl I knew created imaginary worlds for her dolls, drew, and made things (for the dolls mostly).

Is there anything like that, that little boys create (before they get into computers and video games)?. I'm pregnant with a boy right now actually, would love to know what I can do to encourage creativity from the earliest age.

[selllikesybok]

Absolutely! Boys do the same with their dolls. :) I spent countless hours crafting physical things (block forts, mostly) and fantastical backdrops for different generations of "action figures". From 9-10 my go to was an elaborate mythology developed around Micro Machines and dinosaur figurines. Something about dead race drivers reincarnating as sentient dinos in an alternate universe, IIRC.

I was never very good at drawing, but evidence shows I did scribble a lot.

My son loved to draw, and is still pretty good but seems less interested since his early teens. He, too, spent long hours with his different dolls, in addition to the video games.

I'd say so the same things as for a girl, honestly. Provide opportunities to draw/paint/sculpt/make noise. They will do so. :)

I think it's more around school ages that things change more. And puberty, or course.

[eli_gottlieb]

My brother and I had an elaborately worked-out story and setting for our Nintendo-themed plush dolls that mostly reflected our exposure to Dragonball Z in afternoon/early-morning cartoon blocks.

In fact, it was slightly more aware of its own genre conventions than DBZ ever achieved.

Of course, we had loads and loads of free time back then. Why, I had so much free time back then, I could spend time trying to write my own pathetically hand-crafted D3D8 game engine and play with dolls with my brother, all in the same week!

Compare to adulthood, in which I'm lucky to combine going to the gym, basic household tasks, and accomplishing 5 hours of hobby-stuff in a single week of outside-work time.

[TeMPOraL]

Look back at your teenage memories too. Personally, I was more consciously creative then.