Creative Play

Creative Play

Introduction

‘Creativity is the freest form of self-expression’ (Bharadia, 2008) it should never be underestimated; it is vital to children in numerous ways. Giving the child the opportunity to create something from personal experiences and feelings can reflect and nurture their emotions and health. The opportunities children get during their early years of life can enhance their development of creativity considerably.

Creative Play

Creativity

Creativity is a social experience; role play, singing, dancing, the use of puppets all encourage children to communicate with each other and gain an understanding of the social rules such as sharing and co-operating. Creativity supports children’s physical development; use of paint brushes, pens, scissors all help in developing the fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. Language and literacy are developed during creative activities; class projects or plays they learn new vocabulary and word association. Creative activities aid children in developing their cognitive learning and attention skills. They use their imagination to its fullest which inspires them to create new ideas and think outside of the box.

A creative environment is one where there are many pieces of equipment for children to engage with and they are free to do whatever they please.

Creative Play

Creative play is articulated when children use resources in an unusual imaginative way. ‘Studies of the brain activity in preadolescent children offer empirical evidence that children do indeed have active imaginations’ (Diamond & Hopson, 1999). When children engage in creative play the rules are made by them, they are in control and not the adults. They put into practice their powers of choice and decision-making.  This unstructured self-directed play inspires mental development and allows them to express their emotions and feelings. ‘Play is important for building social competence and confidence in dealing with peers, a life skill that is essential for functioning in school’ (Howes, 1992; Howes & Mattheson, 1992; Raver, 2002; Singer and Singer, 2005) as well as in life. Creative play gives children the opportunity to enhance their social skills by communicating with others, in time  learning to take others views and needs into account and appreciate different perspectives and values. Play also provides a perfect opportunity for the teacher to integrate and include children with disabilities into the class activity. Furthermore, the opportunities that come from play provide every child with independence and control, and helps identify and acknowledge the uniqueness and diversity of every child.

http://youtu.be/HC5Lc3pmGD4 The link is a video to Red Jelly Creative Play. Red Jelly prides itself on providing a place for parents to go with their children to play with art, explore natural and recycled materials and just make a mess.

Creative Opportunities

Activities provided by the teacher could be the ideas that the children have come up with themselves. There is more to creativity than just painting and drawing, there are other methods of creativity such as music, photography and field trips. Time goes extremely fast when children are being creative, so it is imperative that there is enough time for them to explore and pursue any ideas they have.

Varieties of Experience

The more varied experiences that children have, the more expression of creativity there will be. Providing children with multi-cultural and multi-ethnic experiences provide them with a deeper understanding of those around them. School trips, celebrating different holidays and activities with the ethnic groups enhances the creative learning process.

The Primary school I attended believed in creative play which helped me immensely in terms of the skills I possess today. All children who attended the school were encouraged to use and develop their unique imaginative skills through a wide variety of exciting and challenging outdoor and indoor experiences, my favourite being investigating the outdoor world. Building and making objects from a range of odd and unusual materials enabled me to interact freely with my surrounding environment. Also to create imaginative games and models of objects derived from my creative play.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that creativity plays a vital role in the development of children. It is paramount to the development of cognitive skills, social and emotional skills and inspires children to be free, imaginative and unique.

References

Bharadia, R. (2008) Roots and Wings: A Handbook for Parents. New Delhi; Rupa Co.

Brittany. (30 October 2014) The Importance of Creativity and How to Foster It. www.loveplayandlearn.com/the-importance-of-creativity-and-how-to-foster-it/  (Accessed: 18         November 2014)

Diamond, M., & Hopson, J. (1999) Magic trees of the mind: How to nurture your child’s intelligence, creativity, and healthy emotions from birth through adolescence. New York: Penguin.

Dorothy, G.S., Golinkoff, M.R., Hirsh-Pasek, K. (2006) Play = Learning. How Play Motivates and Enhances Children’s Cognitive and Social-Emotional Growth. New York: Oxford University Press.

PBS (no date) Creativity and Play: Fostering Creativity. www.pbs.org/wholechild/providers/play.html (Accessed: 18 November 2014)

Red Jelly (2011) Redjam01: Red Jelly [Video]. UK: Youtube.