In the News: Puccio, Crayola Study Parents’ Role in Children's Creativity

Gerard J. Puccio, ’85, ’88, chair of Buffalo State University’s Creativity and Change Leadership Department and leader of the Center for Applied Imagination, recently served as a subject matter expert for Crayola’s recently launched Campaign for Creativity. The campaign aims to generate conversation about the importance and impact of creativity in children and underscore the critical role parents play in nurturing creativity. Crayola worked with Puccio to identify behaviors in children that constitute creativity.

Parents.Com’s story, “Most Parents Have the Wrong Idea About Their Kid’s Creativity, Study Finds,” by Mia Taylor, outlines the campaign and its findings, including statistics on the value of creativity.

“Parents strongly agree that creativity is a crucial skill for their children to develop, but a variety of factors limit parents’ ability to explicitly engage their children in practices that promote creativity,” said Puccio, who has been engaged with Crayola for nearly three years. “Crayola has taken this on as a serious challenge and are now engaged in a campaign to support parents. As a subject matter expert, I ensure that the conclusions and strategies reached by Crayola are supported by the body of knowledge in the field of creativity studies.”

The story also highlights and debunks common creativity myths and offers tips for boosting creativity in children. A widely held misconception is that creativity relates solely to artistic pursuits, but Crayola and Puccio said that creativity is a broader concept that means something more akin to “your imagination in action.”

“Creativity is more important today than it ever has been because the pace of innovation is accelerating faster than ever before,” said Crayola Chief Marketing Officer Victoria Lozano. “Creativity has been demonstrated to impact career success, enhance educational accomplishments, and contribute to overall well-being.”

Buffalo State’s Creativity and Change Leadership Department, and its Center for Applied Imagination, credential creativity through a diverse menu of programs that cultivate skills in creative thinking, innovative leadership practices, and problem-solving techniques. The department, through the process of creative thought, enhances an individual’s ability to imagine new ideas by learning how to envision that which cannot be immediately seen.

Puccio headshot by Buffalo State Marketing and Communications.