Here is one of many articles that The Creativity
Institute has reviewed and reprinted on nurturing creativity in
children and on educational toys. Infants, toddlers, preschoolers
and school age children can all benefit from the right educational
toys at the right ages, to help them learn that creative choices
are good choices.
Creative Play Helps Children
Grow
Marilyn Lopes
Extension Specialist, Family Life Education
Cape Cod Cooperative Extension
University of Massachusetts
Every child is born with creative
potential, but this potential may be stifled if care is not taken
to nurture and stimulate creativity. Creativity shows one's uniqueness.
It is the individual saying: "I can be; I can do." Isn't
this what we want for our children? Creativity is the ability
to see things in a new and unusual light, to see problems that
no one else may even realize exist, and then come up with new,
unusual, and effective solutions to these problems.
WAYS TO STRENGTHEN A
CHILD'S CREATIVITY
Relax the controls. Adults who constantly exert supervision
and control diminish the spontaneity and self-confidence that
are essential to the creative spirit.
Inspire perseverence. All the creative energy in the world is
useless if the product is not seen through to completion. Show
appreciation for a child's efforts. Suppress the impulse to accomplish
tasks for children.
Tolerate the "offbeat." Let children know that it is not always
critical to have the "correct" answer to the problem
- that novel, innovative, and unique approaches are valued as
well.
Provide a creative atmosphere. Creative materials should be available
to the young child for his use. Some of the basic equipment includes
books, records, drawing materials, objects to make sounds with,
clay, and blocks. Toys for imagining: Supply preschoolers with
unstructured toys and materials. Provide the child with toys that
can become a variety of things. Be careful about discouraging
daydreaming. Daydreaming is really an imagery process. Some of
what goes on in the name of daydreaming is really problem solving.
Planning and problem-solving. Encourage creative problem solving in
a variety of ways. Teach a youngster to look at alternatives,
evaluate them, and then decide how to carry them out successfully.
Offer - but do not pressure. Resist the temptation to overcrowd children
with organized activities in an attempt to cultivate their creativity.
Allow the child time to be alone to develop the creativity that
is innate in all of us.
CREATIVE GAMES
OBJECT CREATION
Have the children create a "machine" piece by piece.
Some players become parts that move and make noise, while other
players operate the machine. Others can then guess what it is.
Try making a lawnmower with people as wheels, body, and handle,
and have another player push it. Everyone can join in the sound
effects as it tackles the lawn. More good objects to role play:
eggbeater, record player, garbage disposal, toaster, pencil sharpener,
and water fountain.
CONTINUING STORY
Someone starts a story and each person adds a part.
CREATIVE DRAMATIC PLAY
One of the best ways children have to express themselves is through
creative dramatic play. Here they feel free to express their inner
feelings. It occurs daily in the lives of young children, as they
constantly imitate the people, animals, and machines in their
world. It helps them understand and deal with the world. Stimulate
this spontaneous kind of drama by providing simple props and encouragement.
Animal Cracker Game - Child chooses one cracker; looks at
it; then eats it. Then the child becomes that animal for 1-2 minutes.
Read a story and then act it out.
CREATIVE MOVEMENT
A child can develop and express
his or her personality in his own way - pretending to be animals,
snowflakes, fairies, giants, snails, mice, etc.
Role playing family happenings,
everyday activities such as a visit to the doctor, store or bank,
day care situations, etc., stimulates creative thinking and is
a good way to help children see the viewpoints of others, help
them explore their own feelings, and handle their emotions.
The following are some creative
play activities that require the use of
large muscles and help in the development of those muscles:
Follow the Leader - The leader child moves freely about.
He or she may
imitate animals, hop, skip, or whatever. The others must follow
the
leader and act as the leader does.
Guess What I Am? - Without saying a word, a child tries
to act out the
movements of some object. Suggestions include an airplane making
a
landing, a rooster strutting around the barnyard, a cement truck
dumping
its load, a clock telling the time of day. The child may think
up
things to do, or the teacher may whisper suggestions.
Building with Sand, Mud and
Clay - Children use large
muscles to build
sand mounds with moats around them. Sand pies and sand forts can
be
built in a sandbox, on a sand table, or at the beach. Children
use mud
to make large structures. Clay is also used to create structures
and
shapes.
CREATIVE QUESTIONING
Ask open-ended questions: Show the child a picture, then ask questions
to stimulate and create a thinking atmosphere, for example: What
are the people in the picture doing? What are the people saying?
What would happen if ...?
Ask children to use their senses:
Young children may often
have their creative talents stretched by asking them to use their
senses in an unusual way.
* Have children close their eyes
and then guess what you have placed in their hands - a piece of
foam rubber, a small rock, etc.
* Have children close their eyes and guess at what they hear -
use such sounds as shuffling cards, jingling coins, rubbing sandpaper,
ripping paper, etc.
Ask children about changes:
One way to help children
to think more creatively is to ask them to change things to make
them the way they would like them to be, for example:
* What would taste better if it
were sweeter?
* What would be nicer if it were smaller?
* What would be more fun if it were faster?
* What would be better if it were quieter?
* What would be happier if it were bigger?
* What could be more exciting if it went backwards?
Ask questions with lots of
answers. Any time you
ask a child a question which requires a variety of answers, you
are aiding creative thinking skills. Here are some examples using
the concept of water:
* What are some of the uses of
water?
* What floats in water?
* How does water help us?
* Why is cold water cold?
* What always stays underwater?
* What are the different colors that water can be?
Other concepts: fire, sand, cars,
smoke, ice
Ask "What would happen
if..." questions.
These questions are fun to ask and allow the children to really
use their imaginations. Here are some:
* What would happen if all the
trees in the world were blue?
* What would happen if all the cars were gone?
* What would happen if everybody wore the same clothes?
* What would happen if you could fly?
* What would happen if no one cleaned the house?
Ask "In how many different
ways..." questions.
These questions also extend a child's creative thinking.
* In how many different ways could
a spoon be used?
* In how many different ways could a button be used?
* In how many different ways could a string be used?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
DOCUMENT USE/COPYRIGHT
National Network for Child Care - NNCC. Part of CYFERNET, the
National Extension Service Children Youth and Family Educational
Research Network. Permission is granted to reproduce these materials
in whole or in part for educational purposes only(not for profit
beyond the cost of reproduction) provided that the author and
Network receive acknowledgment and this notice is included:
Reprinted with permission
from the National Network for Child Care -
NNCC. (1993). Creative play helps children grow. In M. Lopes (Ed.)
CareGiver News
(October, p. 3). Amherst, MA: University of
Massachusetts Cooperative Extension.
MORE ON CHILD CREATIVITY
Make
your child
more creative for life.
Every child has creative
ability just waiting to be tapped. Even infants have budding creative
potential. The right educational toys can bring it out. and let
children enjoy the benefits of creative pursuits at many levels.
Infants,
toddlers,
preschoolers,
early
school age and older
school age children all delight in opportunities for creative
expression through colors, shapes and sounds.
At The Creativity Institute, we handpick each infant educational
toy, every creative plaything, each piece of furniture and every
toy musical instrument based on its potential for developing vital
creative resources in your child.
Toy
pianos, oversized
foam building blocks, puppet
theaters and puppet stages and people
and animal hand puppets, art
supplies and children's
easels, play
tents and more. The scale and durability of many of these
toys make them perfect for classrooms, homeschool,
day care centers and waiting rooms, too. The benefits of nurturing
creativity can be profound, offering children tools for success
in all endeavors athletic, artistic or academic. Let your baby
begin now.