One of the roles of educators is to prepare their students for future success; this means preparing them to be creative thinkers capable of solving problems that do not yet exist. In order to teach children to be more creative, teachers need to be aware of barriers to creativity and minimize these in their classrooms. Some roadblocks to encouraging creativity include excessive use of rewards, highly structured materials and instructions, as well as "correct answer fixation." In order to develop children's creative thinking abilities, teachers need to examine their own attitudes, curriculum, instructional strategies, and the educational environment itself. A child is more likely to try new ideas when he or she is in a safe environment that encourages risk taking. Teachers need to be accepting of children's ideas, no matter how "off the wall" they may be. It is also important for teachers to show genuine excitement and enthusiasm for children's discoveries to reinforce children's exploratory attempts. (Contains 3 resources and 2 online resources.)