Inspiring
Creativity in Young Children
A Sometimes,
as I showed my 4-year-old students some new materials to work with, they would
ask me: “What does it do?” This question would make me think twice about what
people give children to play with: Too often it’s toys and manipulatives
that are designed to “do” something interesting, but not to require the child
to “do” very much at all! My favourite choices for manipulatives have always
been materials that teachers call “open-ended”.
These are materials that require children to think and construct for
themselves.
B For
example, my class and I once read the story of the laziness of Cuckoo, who
wanted to look beautiful and sing but would not stoop to help other animals of the rainforest – until a fire
threatened their seeds. This book features beautiful folk art and vivid colours.
We could have followed up this story with a “follow-the-directions” type of
assignment, in which the children cut out birds from printables .
Instead, I gave the children a collection of geometric shapes of many colours
and asked them to design their own cuckoo. Then we did a mini-lesson on
geometric shapes, colours and how birds have certain body parts. The children
created amazing birds! None of the resulting original works of art looked the
same. The children were proud of their creations.
C The lesson
here is that the open-ended materials selected did not “do” anything, but they
could be used in a creative way to inspire the child to “do”. In the end, the
students experienced a wonderful piece of children’s literature. They also
discovered some science content that was made more interesting and relevant to
them by its relationship to that story: how birds look, what they do, what they
eat, where they live and how they can be represented. On top of that, they
learned more about the names and characteristics of basic geometric shapes.
D What can
you learn from this as a parent? Look for toys and think of projects that allow
children to be creative and to construct, even though they might be a slightly
messy endeavour. And try to think
about the things that are already in your household as inspirations for
creativity. While you are cooking, for example, your child can arrange macaroni
into interesting patterns. Multi-coloured lentils and beans can lead to
interesting designs, and a little bit of glue turns those designs into
something that they can hang on a wall.
E And sometimes, the best
manipulatives aren’t inside the home or classroom at all – they’re outside,
provided by nature. I believe that my own creativity was originally encouraged
and inspired by my ability to make absolutely awesome mud cakes, decorated with
leaves from our backyard tree. The ability to be creative may be your child’s
most important future asset. So the next time you’re at the toy store, ask
yourself: What will inspire my child
to “do”?
Adjusted to (1)
stoop –
snížit se
endeavour –
snažení
1) Read the
article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.
1 Inspiration
is all around us
2 Creative
activities at home
3 Extra
activities
4 A lot of toys
aren’t creative
5 Cuckoo
story and activity
2) Read the
article and answer the questions.
1 What is
the majority of toys in toyshops like?
2 Who is the
story teller? What is she speaking about?
3 How was
the lesson improved?
4 What
should the parents think about more?
5 Where can
they find inspiration for the creative activities?
3) Explain
the following words and phrases.
1 manipulatives
2 “follow-the-directions”
type of assignment
3 printables
4 basic
geometric shapes
5 child’s
most important future asset
4) Answer
the following questions.
What creative activities
do children learn in preschool institutions? What kind of toys are found there?
How does a preschool teacher support children’s creativity? What knowledge
should children acquire before they start primary school?
Video:
Tips, sources of information:
Source:
(1)
PALACIOS,
Rebecca. Inspiring Creativity in Young Children. The Huffington Post [online].
2012 [cit. 2015-09-21]. Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rebecca-palacios/inspiring-creativity-in-y_b_1391400.html
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