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Sorry that this is just getting up here.  Somehow my original post was lost...

This Thanksgiving break, I was given the opportunity to reflect on what my experience was in encouraging creativity in the class room (and out) while I was growing up.  I thought that I engaged in a good amount of art-related activities, cooking, sewing, etc that would indicate the my creativity was fostered yet, I never felt that I was particularly good at any of them, with the exception of cooking.  I looked at my sisters' education for similarities and differences and found that we were all the same type of mediocre at exhibiting our artistic abilities. with the exception of cooking.  Over the break, I looked at many of my young cousins (most of whom are under the age of 10) to see how their creative abilities exhibited themselves while we were interacting in the kitchen, playing card games, and even just sitting around and talking.  What was striking to me was that, although each of them were more or less brought up in the same familial environment and went to the same schools, some of their artistic talents were markedly different.  For example, three of the particularly young cousins wanted ice cream on Thanksgiving evening (because they obviously had not had enough sugar already!) and I decided to indulge them with chocolate syrup and an assortment of colored sprinkles.  One of them just dumped both onto his ice cream while the other two methodically layered specific colors on top of each other to make a certain design or picture.  Although their creative displays were quickly devoured, it struck me that genetics ought to play some sort of role in predisposition or inherent creative ability of children.  How, I am not exactly sure, but it does make sense to me that if your parents are innately creative and have spent time honing these skills over time, that their child would inherit their interest in the arts and creativity (at the very least) as well as a predisposition to being skilled at them.  This child would benefit in an educational environment which fostered this creativity and, more so, would benefit from growing up in a household where creative activities are continuously available.  Just like me and cooking or an athlete playing their sport, practice makes perfect.  Although there is perhaps a genetic predisposition for being more a creative thinker, without practicing and honing this skill, it would deteriorate and go unexercised in practice.