Creative Activities for the Early Years

Stella Skinner

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Year: 2007
• ISBN:
  9781446225523
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Early Childhood Education

?An excellent resource for all those working with young children... jam-packed with exciting, inspirational activities that encourage young children to nurture their creativity and imagination while helping practitioners to facilitate what children do naturally... It is a book that celebrates and encourages original thought and action to support learning through exploration and investigation, recognising that creativity is about representing one?s own image and not reproducing someone else?s? - Early Years Educator

?[I]nspirational... This book is easy to read, refreshing and exciting, and I would recommend it to all those working with young children. It is also useful for students, clearly articulating the reasons for providing well-organised child-initiated creative opportunities rather than adult-directed activities? - Nursery World

It is an interesting and informative manual aimed at those who work with children in the 3-5 years age range, and is therefore most suited to anyone in a Pre-School or Day Nursery setting, and could also be valuable to a Reception Teacher...over all, I found this to be a very useful book?.

- National Childminding Association

Packed full of exciting ideas and powerful visual aids, this book will help those working with young children to encourage and nurture their creativity and imagination. The book takes examples of what has worked in an early years setting, and transfers these inspirational activities onto the page.

The book includes:

" practical activities in Art, Dance and Music and ideas on how to link them together;

" advice on how to make the most of music, lighting, space and nursery resources;

" showing how the work supports the Foundation Stage Curriculum;

" ideas for cross-curricular work;

" suggestions for recording children?s progress;

" advice on how to choose materials, and a list of specialist suppliers.

Everyone involved in working with young children should read this book. Nursery practitioners, early years teachers, Sure Start workers, play workers and Children?s Centre staff will find it an invaluable resource. It is also useful for specialist staff in hospitals and other areas of health.

CHAPTER 1

An approach to creative learning in the early years

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This chapter will give you ideas to consider concerning:

• The importance of developing creative activities in the early years.
• Developing an ethos and structure to support creative activities.
• Further reading.

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Creativity is about representing one’s own image, not reproducing someone else’s. (B. Duffy, Supporting Creativity and Imagination in the Early Years, p.10)

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Figure 1.1 This little boy explored a whole range of creative activities via his senses, culminating in the observation of the shadow of his hand in the water tray

The importance of developing creative skills

We have the evidence in archaeological remains and historical artefacts that humans have always commented on the world they live in, using available materials as well as their voices and bodies to record stories, songs and dance. The need to describe and share experiences seems to be very important to us. Studies of child development have revealed that children must have the opportunity to produce representations that reflect their own experiences, thoughts and feelings. Offering young children the opportunity to explore a rich range of creative experiences will help to develop a child who is able to:

■ Make connections with others by ‘speaking’ feelings in verbal/non-verbal ways.

■ Express thoughts and possibilities on a given subject.

■ Challenge ideas and problem solve in a variety of situations.

■ Develop a personal definition of aesthetic beauty.

■ Consider cultural issues.

■ Demonstrate good self-esteem.

■ Extend physical skills.

These are life skills that will enable young children not only to access all areas of learning but to develop their full potential as human beings.

How does creative development feature in the Early Years curriculum?

At the time of writing, the curriculum guidance for Early Years is undergoing a revision with the intention to bring together, in 2008, the Birth to Three Matters framework with the QCA Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage to create an Early Years Foundation Stage framework for services to children from birth to five.

The Early Years Foundation Stage framework for services to children from birth to five has Creative Development as one of its six areas of learning and development, dividing it into four concepts:

■ Being creative – responding to experiences and expressing and communicating ideas.

■ Exploring media and materials – 2D and 3D representations.

■ Creating music and dance.

■ Developing imagination and imaginative play.

Each concept describes the pathway that the children’s progress might take, illustrated by the ‘development matters’ section in the framework guidance, culminating in the Early Learning Goal which most children should achieve by the end of their Reception year.

Early Years practitioners will be aware of what a huge area of learning this is and how many important connections it can make to the other five areas of learning and development.

If a setting cultivates a creative approach to any area of learning, the practitioners will be encouraging children to:

■ Have the confidence to air new ideas and develop them as far as possible.

■ Learn from past experiences and relate this learning to new situations.

■ Invent individual methods of problem solving.

■ Create something that is unique and original.

Current research which supports this approach to learning

The ethos of the CreatAbility Project has been heavily influenced by the interesting results emerging from the Reggio Emilia approach to pre-school education in Italy. In essence, the young child is considered to be already capable, strong, possessing curiosity and the ability to construct his/her own learning. The importance of the child’s collaborative skills and relationships with family, peers and community is given a high profile. The children are stimulated to communicate in many different forms, such as symbolic representation, word, movement, building, sculpture, dramatic play, shadow play, music. The environment the child plays in is considered to be the third teacher, with much thought being given to the use of space and light. The practitioners take the role of partner, nurturer, friend and facilitator of the children’s exploration of themes. (See further reading suggestions.)

This approach is further supported by the Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) report, which focused on the effectiveness of Early Years education and was able to identify elements of effective practice, including the importance of the quality of the adult–child verbal interactions and the balance of child- and adult-initiated activity. An environment in which play was valued alongside new skills being introduced was seen to be very beneficial to the child, as was the active engagement of parents in their children’s learning.

Thirdly, the Government’s Green Paper Every Child Matters, produced in 2003, outlined five outcomes for children, one of which was that children should be able to enjoy and achieve. This has had a big impact on the quality of children’s learning, particularly in the way in which children’s views are being taken into account and developed.

Figure 1.2 A monoprinting session which entailed much more than just making a print

Definition of Early Years

The focus of the book is about working with children in the Foundation Stage (3–5) range, although some of the ideas could easily be adapted to suit the needs of older or younger children. In terms of curriculum planning the book refers to possible learning outcomes relating to the appropriate Creative Early Learning Goals and potential links to other areas of the curriculum.

What do we need in place to support an imaginative delivery of the creative arts?

This section will look at factors that will support the planning and delivery of the creative area of learning and give the practitioner some questions to consider within individual settings.

The ethos of the setting

Process over product

Observations of children at play clearly reveal that young children are fascinated by the exploration of materials and tools and we know that children learn as much from the ‘doing’ as from the potential end product. Figure 1.2 illustrates the child’s fascination with the experience of using paint and a roller. The planned creative activity was to explore mono-printing but practitioners were amazed at how long some children spent investigating the properties of the materials and using them in unexpected ways. This illustrates that the sensitive interaction between the child and practitioner is an important part of this discovery process and it is not just a question of the adult standing back and supervising the activity. The child will be watching the practitioner’s reaction to their investigation and needing reassurance that they are not doing something wrong. If there is an end product, and sometimes there has to be, it should be unique and meaningful to the child. The understanding of this ethos should be clear and carried out positively throughout the setting.

Routines

Young children really need the time to play, to discover the possibilities and potential of the world around them. If this time is given sparingly within the confines of too rigid a routine, the learning outcomes for the child will be limited. This has big implications for planning because practitioners need to ensure that there have been planned opportunities for children simply to explore materials before a specific skills activity takes place. Settings also need to consider their daily structures and observe whether, as far as possible, these allow for freedom of exploration. If this exploration is facilitated in a sensitive way with a balance of adult-led and child-initiated play and the opportunity to return to an activity, the children’s emotional and communication skills will flourish and the practitioner will be able to observe a wealth of important steps in the child’s development.

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Points to consider

1. Do we have an agreed ethos within our setting, which describes the way in which creative learning will be facilitated? Do all practitioners understand and deliver it or is further training needed?
2. If we offer flexible sessions are we sure that all children can access a wide and varied range of activities?
3. Does our daily routine allow time for children to explore materials? Are there opportunities for children to revisit an experience?
4. Does our assessment process complement the learning which is taking place through play?
5. Are the children currently producing their own unique creations?

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The learning environment (inside and outside)

Physical space

Whatever the type of setting, this should be maximised to allow real potential for exploration and creativity. Young children naturally move about a great deal when taking part in activities, operating at different levels, and ...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Author’s acknowledgement
• The CreatAbility project
• How to use this book
• 1 An approach to creative learning in the early years
• 2 Starting from the visual arts
• 3 Starting from music
• 4 Starting from movement and dance
• Appendix: Integrated arts planning format
• Resources
• Index