5 Picture Books That Encourage Creativity in Kindergarten

Kindergarten is the perfect time to teach problem-solving and creativity skills. At this age, students are bursting with imagination. They’re naturally inclined to explore, question, and experiment. They don’t need to be told how to be creative—they simply need space to practice creativity with intention.

By pairing carefully chosen picture books with the Creative Problem Solving (CPS) framework, teachers can support students as they deepen their creative thinking skills. CPS is more than a strategy—it’s a mindset that blends divergent and convergent thinking. It also builds four essential creativity skills in a structured setting, allowing for student voice and choice:

• Fluency: generating lots of ideas
• Flexibility: thinking in new and different ways
• Elaboration: adding useful, detailed improvements
• Originality: producing new ideas that stand out

The beauty of picture books is that they present problems in context; a character faces a challenge, wrestles with possibilities, and reaches a solution. With the right scaffolding, students can examine that problem, explore it from different angles, and generate ideas of their own.

Encouraging Creativity Through Picture Books

Each of the five books below is a doorway not just to literacy, but to creative thinking and growth.

Not a Box, by Antoinette Portis. In Portis’s Not a Box, a rabbit uses his creativity to imagine a cardboard box as something else: a car, a rocket ship, etc. After reading, I lead a discussion where students brainstorm a dozen new uses for a cardboard box. This is a playful way to practice fluency and to reframe everyday objects as springboards for invention. I then provide pairs of students with one box and art supplies, and then let their imaginations soar. Previous inventions in my classroom include a cardboard castle and a cardboard train.

If I Built a Car, by Chris Van Dusen. The first and best-known picture book in Van Dusen’s four-part If I Built… series, this classic tale inspires students to dream up inventive vehicles. I love using this book because students get to see how a little boy can tap into his imagination in all sorts of ways. They realize that wild and silly ideas can lead to something truly original.

After reading, I ask students to design their own imaginative vehicle, just like the main character does in the story. They sketch their creation, label its unique features (whether it flies, floats, digs, or zooms), and explain how their invention improves life or solves a problem. This activity nurtures original thinking while encouraging students to consider the purpose behind their creative ideas.

What If..., by Samantha Berger, illustrated by Michael Curato. Berger’s What If… encourages students to explore how creativity persists even when traditional tools are taken away. It reaffirms the importance of flexibility and using unexpected materials to solve artistic problems. After reading the picture book, students are given a playful constraint like “You can’t use crayons” or “You can’t use paper.” They’re asked to create a picture, character, or design using only alternative tools. They might draw with yarn, build pictures with stickers, or “paint” using tissue paper and glue.

The Most Magnificent Thing, by Ashley Spires. The plot of The Most Magnificent Thing centers on a girl’s frustration—how to take a deep breath and try again. It thoughtfully relays the concept of elaboration, instilling in students the idea that they can revise and refine their creations through persistence.

After reading the book, I challenge my students to imagine and construct their own “magnificent thing” using a variety of building materials. They first sketch their idea, then gather supplies like cardboard tubes, buttons, string, tape, and foil so they can bring their vision to life. When things don’t go as planned—just like in the book—I reiterate to them that they can reflect, revise, and try again. This process models how creativity isn’t just about having a great idea, but about adding details, making improvements, and sticking with a project through frustrations. I tell students to name their invention, explain what it does, and highlight the changes they made along the way.

The Koala Who Could, by Rachel Bright, illustrated by Jim Field. The Koala Who Could is one of my favorite picture books because it serves as a CPS mini-unit that naturally integrates the four creative thinking skills: fluency, flexibility, elaboration, and originality. As we read, students are engaged with helping Kevin the Koala solve his fundamental problem: He is afraid to climb down from a tree!

Students first define Kevin’s fear and then brainstorm possible ways he might safely reach the ground (fluency). They consider different perspectives and adjust their ideas based on practicality and fun (flexibility). Next, students elaborate on their favorite solutions by drawing or building models using classroom materials like blocks, craft sticks, or paper (elaboration). And some students even design soft landings like “koala trampolines” (originality).

Additional Tools and Takeaways for Teachers

It’s vitally important for kindergarten teachers to treat creativity as a skill to be nurtured, not a talent reserved for a few. Classroom-wide nurturing doesn’t require a complete curriculum overhaul—just a few intentional shifts. In addition to the integration of picture books and related activities, all of the following help normalize creativity and build students’ creative confidence:

• Post a creativity anchor chart that defines the four thinking skills in kid-friendly language. I reference the targeted creative thinking skill at both the beginning and end of each lesson. It’s important that my students not only use these skills, but also understand the language that defines creativity.
• Use simple “think sheets” that walk students through the CPS process. An example think sheet might say: “Think about what’s wrong or what needs fixing. Can you think of lots of different ways to solve the problem? Pick your favorite idea, and show it with a picture and a sentence.”
• Offer time for reflection: “What else could we try?” or “How could we make this idea better?” For example, after students build a bridge with blocks, ask them how they might improve its strength or design. Generating new ideas is a process, and students need time to reflect.