You don't really "teach" creativity. You can only create circumstances in which it can thrive. Children will automatically become more creative if you give them proper stimulus. For that, first off the entire school system needs an overhaul. Everyone seems to forget that ALL life's complicated lessons need to be passed on again and again, each generation. That makes it a FUNDAMENTAL pillar for societies' success, and hence should be ridiculously overspent on - esp compared to, say, Sweet Sixteen parties.
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Limit the max number of students in a class to 15. Only then can a teacher give enough attention. Guidance - giving little prods, ideas, new directions in which to think - is VERY powerful if you just give it in the right amount.
- teach proper use of "mind modes":and means of getting into them:
- - daydreaming (gods, I can't understate how powerful this is and how stupidly underappreciated it is; this IS the creative process!)
- - focus / "flow"
- - narrow vs. wide view thinking
- - learning to "point" creativity north without trying to force its path (most people fail because they try to focus, rather than daydream)
- - language, language, language! Expand language use, word comprehension, emotional expression and recognition, speak multiple tongues. Teach them to create new words that help them express whatever is on their minds.
- - remember, frustration is the mother of invention. Challenge kids to find things that irritate them, and come up with ways to fix them.
Some more specific mind tricks:
- - ludicrously awesome brainhacks like that Japanese multiplication / division visualization thing, or telling yourself stories to memorize sequences in your creative memory
- - the power of taking long walks to loosen up your mind when you're troubled
- - meditation; learning to calm the mind, to such a degree that you can instantly "shut it up" as necessary and jump into any other mind mode as needed (that type of thing becomes hard-wired with practice)
- - emotional control - everything they need to keep their mind in harness, now and especially later when life starts tossing its little challenges, like puberty whilst having to make some of the toughest decisions and plans of your life
General teaching tricks:
- create puzzles based on practical problems with interesting low-tech solutions. Let them dream up robot plastic cleaner-uppers, homework writing machines, whatever - as long as they have to seriously come up with ways to make it work. Then just let them run with it, provide Guidance here and there, watch, and be amazed.
- Blocks, Lego, Mecano and K'Nect.
- Take time studying the Great Apes. It is THE best way to understand humanity, exactly because so much of their communication is subconscious / poise / gestures. This can also really help autists get a slightly better feel for people around them.
- Music and art. Polymaths tend to have a wide distribution of activities.
- Try to make them be - and stay - interested in absolutely everything, even if that raises difficult questions. Ever-burning curiosity is vital to create a desire and habit for life-long learning. Teach them to become addicted to it.
That's all I could come up with off the bat, but all of these have helped me one way or another. Hope it helps =)
