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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