Kid’s Canvas

I spoke with an artist who shared that he is inspired by children. He described how children are not influenced by fixed ideas and concepts, but are able to express original creativity. This is something that is often lost in adulthood due to repeated exposure to themes and frameworks that define artistic design. We become familiar with popular styles, established techniques, and proven formulas. While this knowledge can help us develop skills, it can also create invisible boundaries around our thinking.

However, children approach the world differently. They are not yet constrained by established expectations. They do not worry about whether their art fits into a particular style or whether a they are using an appropriate color combination. Instead, they create from a place of curiosity and imagination rather than conformity.

The artist’s observation reminded me of a concept in psychology known as functional fixedness. Functional fixedness refers to our tendency to see objects, ideas, or systems in terms of their established purpose. For example, a spoon should be used for eating and not to build a sand castle. This cognitive bias can make it difficult to use a common object in a new way, because someone has become accustomed to its conventional function.

While this concept is regularly applied to problem-solving, it can also be used explain changes in creativity as we age. Instead of seeing endless possibilities, we begin to sort objects into familiar categories. A cloud is an indicator of rain rather than a dragon. A shirt is an article of clothing rather than a potential canvas. A blank page is a task to complete instead of a space for exploration.

As adults, we are exposed to countless artistic themes, design frameworks, and cultural patterns. Over time, these experiences become mental shortcuts that help us interpret the world around us. We learn what a tree should look like, how perspective works, what colors belong together, and what constitutes a “good” design. These frameworks are useful for design theory, but they also create a form of creative functional fixedness.

In this sense, children’s creativity can be viewed as the absence—or at least the reduced influence—of this functional fixedness. They approach objects, stories, colors, and concepts with an openness that allows for novel combinations and unexpected solutions. A child may draw a fish flying through space, a rainbow-colored elephant, or a house balanced on a flower. Their creations often reveal possibilities that adults overlook. They remind us that originality frequently comes from questioning assumptions rather than following them.

This may be one of the greatest challenges of adulthood: learning from experience without becoming limited by it.

There is something to be learned from children’s creative freedom. It offers a glimpse into a mindset that exists before functional fixedness takes hold, a mindset where possibility is greater than convention, and where creativity is limited only by imagination.