They don't necessarily need to do something productive for society, but they can still 'create'. For example, my early math classes were designed around questions. When we came into the room we would break up into groups, and spend the first half of (the 90 minute) class trying to answer between 1 and 5 problems, after which their was a class discussion on the problems and any tangents they lead to, and they teacher may, or may not, point out things we missed.