Walk into most afterschool clubs and you'll see them - rows of identical craft projects lined up like soldiers. Twelve paper sculptures that look exactly the same. Ten painted canvases with exactly the same designs with embellishments in precisely the same spots. A dozen Mother's Day cards that could have been made by the same child.
This is what passes for "creativity" in many children's programs today. But here's the uncomfortable truth: these perfectly uniform results aren't signs of successful teaching - they're evidence that we're failing our kids.
The Assembly Line Approach to "Art"
Most afterschool clubs have fallen into a trap that prioritises efficiency over creativity. It's easier to have every child follow the same steps, use the same materials, and produce the same result. Teachers can prepare one set of instructions, parents get a predictable outcome, and everyone goes home with something that looks "finished."
It's easier to have every child follow the same steps, use the same materials, and produce the same result.
But what are children actually learning from this approach? They're learning to follow instructions without questioning. They're learning that there's only one "right" way to be creative. They're learning that their own ideas and interpretations don't matter.
Worse still, they're learning that creativity has limits - and those limits are pretty narrow.
The Weekly Throwaway Culture
Here's what typically happens: Monday comes around and children dutifully create their assigned project. By Tuesday, it's forgotten. By Wednesday, it's probably in the bin. These aren't meaningful creations that children treasure - they're just activities to fill time.
We've created a culture of creative consumption rather than creative expression. Children consume the activity, produce the expected result, and move on. There's no investment, no personal connection, no sense of accomplishment that comes from working through challenges or developing ideas over time.
What Kids Are Really Learning
When every project looks the same, children learn some troubling lessons:
Conformity Over Creativity: The message is clear - your job is to replicate, not create. Don't deviate from the plan. Don't add your own ideas. Just follow the steps.
Speed Over Skill: Most afterschool projects are designed to be completed in a single session. There's no time to develop techniques, experiment with materials, or refine ideas. It's all about getting to a finished product quickly.
"We should give children the 0pportunities to experiment with different tools and techniques without predetermined outcomes."
Product Over Process: The focus is entirely on having something to take home, not on what was learned or experienced during the making. The journey doesn't matter - only the destination.
Fear of Mistakes: When there's only one acceptable outcome, any deviation feels like failure. Children learn to be anxious about making mistakes rather than curious about what might happen.
The Confidence Killer
Perhaps most damaging is what this approach does to children's creative confidence. When a child's natural instinct is to add extra colors, change the design, or try something different, they're often redirected back to the "correct" way.
Over time, children stop suggesting alternatives. They stop experimenting. They start asking "Is this right?" instead of "What if I try this?" They learn that creativity is about following rules rather than exploring possibilities.
We've seen 6 year olds "told off" for wasting their parents money for not painting their animal ceramic pieces with realistic colours. This should worry us all.
The Parent Trap
Parents often unknowingly contribute to this problem. When they see other children's identical projects, they expect their child's work to look the same. If little Emma's painting looks different from the example, some parents worry she "didn't do it right" or "wasn't paying attention."
This creates pressure on teachers and club leaders to ensure uniformity. It's easier to have every project look identical than to explain to concerned parents why their child's work looks different - even when different means more creative, more personal, or more adventurous.
The Real Cost
What are we losing when we prioritise perfection and uniformity over genuine creativity?
Individual Expression: Every child has a unique way of seeing and interpreting the world. Cookie-cutter projects ignore this individuality entirely.
Problem-Solving Skills: When there's only one way to complete a project, children don't develop the ability to think through challenges or find alternative solutions.
Resilience: Real creativity involves trying things that might not work. When failure isn't an option, children don't learn to bounce back from setbacks.
Innovation: Future innovators are people who learned early that there are always multiple ways to approach a problem. We're not nurturing that mindset.
Joy in Creating: The pure pleasure of making something with your hands, of seeing your ideas come to life, gets lost when the focus is on replication rather than creation.
What we think a Good Creative Education Looks Like
Real creative education is messier, more unpredictable, and infinitely more valuable. It involves:
Open-Ended Projects: Activities where there are multiple successful outcomes, not just one "correct" result.
Time to Develop Ideas: Projects that unfold over several sessions, allowing children to refine, adapt, and improve their work.
Material Exploration: Opportunities to experiment with different tools and techniques without predetermined outcomes.
Individual Choice: Chances for children to make decisions about their work - what colors to use, what elements to include, how to solve problems that arise.
Celebration of Differences: Recognition that variety in outcomes is a sign of success, not failure.
The Questions We Should Be Asking
Instead of "Did everyone finish?" we should ask:
- What did each child discover today?
- How did they solve problems that came up?
- What choices did they make about their work?
- What would they do differently next time?
- What are they excited to try in future sessions?
Instead of comparing the products to the example we should ask:
- What makes this uniquely yours?
- What part are you most proud of?
- What was challenging about this project?
- What surprised you while you were making it?
The Ripple Effect
Children who experience genuine creative freedom in art classes carry that confidence into other areas. They're more likely to:
- Suggest creative solutions to problems at school
- Take on challenges without fear of failure
- Express their ideas confidently
- Approach new situations with curiosity rather than anxiety
- Develop their own interests and passions
Conversely, children who learn that creativity means following instructions often struggle to think independently in other contexts.
Making the Change
The shift from cookie-cutter crafts to genuine creative education requires courage from educators and parents alike. It means:
Embracing Mess: Real creativity is messy, unpredictable, and sometimes chaotic.
Valuing Process: Focusing on what children learn and experience rather than just what they produce.
Accepting Imperfection: Understanding that "wonky" often means wonderful, and different doesn't mean wrong.
Taking Time: Allowing projects to develop over multiple sessions rather than rushing to completion.
Trusting Children: Believing that given the right environment and materials, children will create meaningful work.
The Choice We Face
We're at a crossroads in children's creative education. We can continue down the path of identical outcomes and missed opportunities, or we can choose to nurture the natural creativity that every child possesses.
The children sitting in afterschool clubs today will be tomorrow's innovators, problem-solvers, and creative thinkers - if we give them the chance. But if we keep asking them to color inside lines that someone else drew, follow steps that someone else designed, and create things that look like everyone else's, we're not preparing them for a future that will demand original thinking.
The problem with perfect isn't just that it's impossible to achieve - it's that pursuing it kills the very thing we're trying to nurture. Real creativity is messy, personal, surprising, and beautifully imperfect.
It's time we started celebrating that instead of trying to eliminate it.