EARLY SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN
It is vitally important to
continue your efforts to nurture creativity in your child at the
early school age. As children start elementary school and begin
spending more and more time with a wider circle of people, it
is not uncommon for them to lose interest in certain activities.
By nudging your child toward creative play and the use of his
or her imagination, you offer a child of this early school age
a significant resource for excellence in everything he or she
pursues. Educational toys to consider at this level include puppets,
dollhouses, costumes and other pretend items, toy pianos and musical
instruments; more comprehensive building block and construction
sets offering more complex structure opportunities, and as always,
lots of writing and art supplies, so that expressing feelings
creatively is as simple as picking up a pencil.
TOYS
FOR
EARLY SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN
Appropriate playthings for early
school age children include:
board games
marbles
jacks
electric trains (UL approved)
construction sets
science kits
craft kits
larger bicycles prop boxes and costumes
puppets
fashion and career dolls
doll house and furniture
jump ropes
art materials of all kinds
work bench with real tools
roller and ice skates
How you can help
1. Play games with children and
help them practice sport activities that interest them.
2. Play table games with children.
Remember that early school-age children tend to take rules seriously.
3. Ask children about their toys
and play. "Tell me about it," and "What did it
feel like?" are good questions. Show an interest in their
hobbies and collections.
4. Children this age feel big
and important when they can do things with you. Let them be a
real part of what you are doing. Be careful not to do things for
them that they can do themselves.
5. Read *Good Times with Play*
and *Good Times Being Creative* for more ideas.
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PLAY
FOR
EARLY SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN
Children enter elementary school
at 5 or 6. At this time, play may be directed more toward specific
goals like learning to reador add. Word games, clay, puzzles,
and games designed to make learning fun are used extensively in
schools.
For the first time, these children
may want to read favorite stories to you. Their need to dream
and pretend can be met with comic books and fairy tales. They
want to try to do things, but may give up before a project is
completed. Kits and models must be simple, and take only a short
time to complete.
Card games are fun and provide
chances to learn rules and develop more complex thinking skills.
If the Old Maid isn't there, then he must have it! Checkers also
help the child think ahead.
A lot of children this age enjoy
play with small pets, but they need help in training and caring
for them. By this time children are probably choosing their own
playthings and playmates.
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MUSICAL
FUN
WITH EARLY SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN
Remember, like toddlers, the
attention span of preschool children is short. They should not
be urged to continue singing or to participate in dancing or rhythmic
activities after they have lost interest. Let the child's interest
be your guide.
Most 6- to 9-year-olds like songs
about everyday happenings. Songs that involve counting, spelling,
or remembering a sequence of events are popular. Songs and musical
activities with other school subjects also are effective during
this developmental stage. Words that tell stories about athletic
games, other countries, famous men and women, or scientific discoveries
are well-liked and easily remembered. Verses still should be fairly
short and limited to one thought.
Early school-age children are
able to establish firm relationships with their companions and
may use musical experiences to form friendships. They may have
a strong interest in taking music lessons or playing in a band.
They
also may want to listen to records after school with a group
of friends or sing in a church or community choir. They are conscientious
about practicing and especially like percussion instruments. This
age group likes rhythm and can dance or clap in time to the music.
Rhythm is important and fun to them!
If you are the caregiver for
an early school-age child, you may not have to initiate musical
activities. Children, ages 6 to 9, can choose their own friends
and activities and organize their own experiences. Listen to the
music they may want to play foryou.
Suggest that everyone sing and
play musical instruments together as a group. If you let the children
take turns directing this "jam session" and join in
as an enthusiastic member, their interest will surely last longer.
More about Children and Music and Rhythm.
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STORIES AND POEMS
FOR EARLY SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN
Six- to 9-year-olds have longer
attention spans. They love to solve puzzles and mysteries and
enjoy stories about adventures. The younger children in this age
group are learning to read while the older ones may already be
reading well. Most children this age have large vocabularies and
become good thinkers and problem solvers.
Unlike younger children, 6- to
9-year-olds understand that others may think and feel differently
than they do. This is the age that children really want to please
adults and caregivers by completing jobs they have been asked
to do. They enjoy trying to read more books than their friends,
and often compete with their friends in "reading races."
Maybe you can get one started while you are involved with this
age group.
Children this age also are curious
about other people and places. They want to hear about other lands
and what life was like a long time ago. They are beginning to
recognize their own values and are interested in comparing themselves
with others. Usually, they see behavior as either right or wrong
and often demand that rules be followed, no matter what!
Children in early elementary
school have a terrific sense of humor. They enjoy unlikely situations,
stories about triumphs of others, and slapstick comedy. Often
these children are sensitive to criticism and their feelings are
easily hurt. It is important to them to be accepted by their friends.
You can help them feel accepted by reading books about new subjects
they can share with their friends.
Favorite topics for this age
to read include stories about other lands, outer space, famous
people, humor, family relationships, feelings, hobbies, mysteries,
spooks and ghosts, sharks, and fast-moving adventures.
How you can help:
School-age children are not only
able to tell stories, but also write them down and illustrate
the stories themselves. Early school-age children enjoy reading
these and other stories to you.
By this age, many children may
be taking classes in gymnastics. Early school-age children often
try to imitate the current dance craze in movement and may be
learning to play a real musical instrument.
The fantasy play of early school-age
children contains some make-believe. By this age, fantasy usually
includes action-oriented games like "superheroes" or
"horses." Much of the school-age child's time also deals
with daydreaming. Some daydreams become real as children start
to act out stories and plays.
1. Provide early school-age children
with art and craft materials based on their interests. It is still
important to allow children to be original and use materials as
they wish.
2. Early school-age children
enjoy simple needlework activities. They can draw a design on
plastic needlepoint canvas with permanent markers and then use
yarn to sew the design.
3. Be a receptive audience when
children want to read to you from either a story they have written
or a book.
4. Allow children to show you
the skills they have been learning in dance and gymnastics classes.
Teach them dances and movements you know.
5. Be a producer, and help early
school-age children put on a play. Organize props, and help at
rehearsal, but be careful not to stifle creativity and the children's
input and ideas.
More about Children and Stories and Poems
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Reprinted with permission from
the National Network for Child Care - NNCC. Lagoni, L. S., Martin,
D. H., Maslin-Cole, C., Cook, A., MacIsaac, K., Parrill, G., Bigner,
J., Coker, E., & Sheie, S. (1989). Good times being creative.
In *Good times with child care* (pp. 239-253). Fort Collins,
CO: Colorado State University 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.