Fostering Creativity in

Young Children

Every human child is creative,

for childrens minds develop
not just by learning new facts,
but also by coming to have
ideas which they simply could
not have had before

Wilma and Cecilia were

playing
a star apple tree. They were
dressing up a paper doll.
Dolly
needs an earring, said Wilma.
Cecilia looked up the tree
and grabbed some leaves.
Here are
your earrings Dolly, she said
as
she pressed a leaf on each of
Dollys
ears. Then both girls put
Dolly on
A shoe box and prepared her
around
the yard complete with sound
effects.

Creativity has been defined in many ways:

Bruner (1979) defines creativity as an act that
effective surprise.

produces

Boden (1992) states that creativity is doing something

beyond the acceptable rules or thinking the impossible in a
way that is understandable and acceptable to a wider
audience.
Gardner (1992) consider creativity not as a general
characteristic but as a specific to each of the multiple
intelligences.
Lucas (2001) creativity is a state of mind in which all of our
intelligences are working together. It involves seeing, thinking
and innovating.
Mostar ( 2006) defines creativity s the ability of all living
beings to transform and solve problems to live.
Herrmann (2007) defines creativity as among other things, as
the ability to challenge, assumptions, recognize patterns, see
in new ways, make connections, take risks and seize upon a
chance.

According to him creative people are those who are flexible,

can connect ideas, are unorthodox, show aesthetic taste, are
curious and inquisitive, see similarities and differences, and
question accepted ways of doing things.
Fisher (2004) thought that a good definition of creativity will
help us to identify what it is we are talking about and why
certain things are clearly creative and others are not.

Creativity as
as practice
practice by
by young
young children
children is
is
Creativity
dynamic, changing,
changing, adaptable
adaptable experience
experience that
that
dynamic,
derives its
its satisfaction
satisfaction from
from the
the process
process and
and
derives
not the
the product.
product. It
It is
is an
an intensely
intensely personal
personal
not
process, since
since the
the source
source of
of creativity
creativity is
is within
within
process,
the child.
child.
the
The main function of creativity is self- expression.
Through the creative process the child sinks into
her reservoir of prior knowledge and puts together
selected prior experiences into new patterns, new
ideas, and new products. Childrens creativity
reflects heir feelings, emotions, and imaginations.
In preschool children, this putting together of new
ideas and products based on past experiences is
expressed through the use of self-expressive
materials, through imaginative play, and through
creative thought. Through the creative arts,
music, and dramatic play, young children express
their ideas and feelings about themselves and the
world around them.

CREATIVE PROCESS
Knowledge
Incubation
And
Production

Immersion

Motivation

Skill

KNOWLEDGE

To help children broaden their knowledgebase,

teachers must provide them time to explore and
observe materials around them, talk with hem
using a rich vocabulary o name and describe things
and ideas, present he work of others so that the
child will know what others have done and use
them as a basis from which they can create their
own.

MOTIVATION

It is the inner drive that causes an

individual to want to do something.
It is the drive that
propels the creative process.

SKILLS

To help children develop the skills required

to accomplish creative activities, the teachers must plan or
design activities that are appropriate to the level of the children.
They must be within the physical and mental capabilities of the
child .These skills need to be present in a structured ways.
First, select materials that are aesthetically
interesting and are within the range that children can handle.
Second, supervise the children closely and make
sure that they are comfortable and that they
understand what they will use and how to use it safety.
Third, set the activity carefully so that after knowing the
new media or technique, the children can continue
exploring and practicing with the materials or tools
on their own.

IMMERSION

Three year- old Mohammed took a tube of pas

his fingers and begun to rub I across his paper
swirling pattern. He paid no attention to the o
children working beside him. Open- mouthed, his
followed the movement of his hand. He is so foc
on what he is doing that he didnt hear what h
classmate was saying. He has become immersed
process of creation even if it is only a simple a
spreading the paste in a new way.

INCUBATION AND PRODUCION

During the incubation stage, children are

actively engaged in trying out ideas, asking
themselves questions, self-evaluating heir
actions. Outwardly, one may see hem
studying the materials or experimenting with
an idea. They may stare off into space or
concentrate on what they are creating. They
may be asking themselves, what will happen
if I do this? How will this look like if I bend
it? I never thought this would happen, is
there another way of doing this?

Defining Creative Behavior

Goal : Your goal is to determine whether certain behaviors hat
children show are creative or not. You will also decide what
actions you will take in each situation, if any, to change or
control that behavior.
1. A child rolls on the floor because he is bowling ball.
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2. A child pretends that he is a barber and uses a scissors to cut the hair of
another child.
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3. A child runs around the room biting everyone with his clay snake
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4. A child eats a piece of play dough because It look like a cookie.
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5. A child glues paper on the table because he doesnt want it to slide off
the table.
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Read each statement and identify which element of

the creative process it describes. Then write your
own description of that process.
1. Giving the child opportunities to create constantly with the
knowledge he currently has is the best preparation for future
creative action.
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2. When a child is being creative he is fluent, flexible, original,

confident, and adventuresome. He can redefine situations, is willing
to work a things for a long time, will work hard, and can produce
many possible answers to a single question.
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3. Children more naturally than adults enter that ultimate state of

creativity called flow, in which total absorption can engender peak
pleasure and creativity.
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4. Spontaneous interest follows neither the curriculum nor the clock
but rather, the timetable of the childs own growth schedule.
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5. By selecting challenging, yet appropriate materials and by

helping when necessary, the teacher can lead children into the
development of skills that can serve rather than dictate their
creative work.
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