Why Kid’s Imaginations Might Help Us Create A Better Future

Okay, real talk: have you ever watched a six-year-old paint a horse purple, give it seven legs, and name it "Steve"? That kid is basically a genius. Nobody told them a horse has to be brown. Nobody told them four legs was a rule. They just looked at reality and said "nah, I've got a better idea" and honestly? That is exactly the kind of thinking we need more of in this world.

 

In the past I have been a guest art teacher.  It was always chaos but always fun.  Glorious, glittery, paint-on-the-ceiling chaos.  I taught at Montessori schools in Tampa and Durham, and at a kids' shelter in Tampa called A Kid's Place. Every classroom was a little different, each always has it’s own personality.  But the vibe was always the same: give a kid some paint and get out of the way, because magic is about to happen.  They always teach me something more about letting go. 

I loved giving back to them so much. There's nothing like watching a kid who's had a really hard week pick up a paintbrush and just... light up. Forget everything else for an hour. Make something weird and wonderful just because they felt like it. Giggling and laughing.  It was so gratifying to hold that space for them to have some fun.  At the Montessori schools, the whole idea is basically "trust the kid" let their imagination lead the way instead of telling them exactly what to draw and how. Turns out, when you stop bossing kids around artistically, incredible things happen.

Why We Need More Purple Horses Named Steve

Here's the thing nobody tells you about the future: it's going to need a LOT of weird, different, unconventional ideas. Robots, climate change, jobs that don't even exist, yet these grown-ups of tomorrow are going to have to solve problems none of us have even thought of. You can't Google your way out of a problem that's never happened before. You must imagine your way out.

 

And guess what builds that muscle? Art class. Fingerpaint. Glitter glue. A blank piece of paper and permission to create whatever you want.  Employers everywhere are already saying creativity is one of the top skills people will need in the future not just for artists, but for literally everybody. Doctors, engineers, astronauts, the person who invents the next big thing. Every single one of them needs to be able to look at a blank page and imagine something new.

 

A kid who's allowed to make the sun purple grows into a grown-up who isn't scared of change whether that page is a canvas, a business plan, or a rocket ship design. That's what’s important.

 

What Every Kid Deserves

Every single kid deserves what they learn in art class: permission.  Permission to make the sky green. Permission to mess up big time and try again anyway.  Permission to trust that weird little idea bouncing around in their head, even before they have the words for it.

 

That kind of permission, given early and often, is basically a superpower. It builds grown-ups who don't just repeat what already exists, they dream up the stuff that doesn't exist yet, and then go make it real.

 

I carry every one of those classes and special stories from the kids with me into the studio. Every painting I make still feels a little bit like teaching like I'm still saying "yes, make it purple, make it weird, make it yours.”.  Me, the teacher will forever be the proverbial student. 

 

Hand a kid a paintbrush. You might just be handing them the future, one purple horse at a time.