Jj is for Jottings 159.  Creativity in Children, Part 1.

Walk into any preschool/kindergarten and you see that they provide many opportunities for creativity in children.  Why is that?  Because arts and crafts are one of the most important ways to help children develop and grow between ages 3-8.  Here is a chart of communication milestones as a point of reference.  Creativity isn’t just about art and crafts, but they are major avenues for growth and development at these ages.

Children are naturally curious.  They explore, observe and imitate to try and work out how things operate and how to control their environment and themselves.  This exploration helps children form connections in their brains – to learn – and it’s also fun.

Art and crafts are natural activities to support this free play in children.  They are free to manipulate different materials in any way they choose, allowing for exploration and experimentation.  All the while they are learning about life, and are learning to learn.

CREATIVITY IN CHILDREN LEADS TO SIX AREAS OF DEVELOPMENT.

You may wish to relate this to the 8 types of intelligence.

1. Fine Motor Skills.

As they use the small muscles in their hands to manipulate art and craft materials, children develop their fine motor skills.  As they learn to use both hands together they improve their bilateral (2-sided) coordination skills.  This all happens when they paint, draw, glue, colour and cut.  The more quickly their fine motor skills develop, the more they can do on their own.  From eating on their own, to tying their shoelaces and doing up buttons, their fine motor skills are leading them to independence.

Tying their shoelaces was one of the prerequisites for starting school for my children.  These days, either it isn’t a prerequisite or it isn’t enforced.  Tying shoelaces for umpteen children on a daily basis uses a lot of a teacher’s time.

I have noticed in recent years that the level of children’s fine motor skills has deteriorated – a generalisation, of course.  A surprising number of children have no pencils, textas or crayons at home, nor safety scissors to do any cutting.  One suspects that much of their free time is spent with a screen. Children have said to me that they are not allowed to use scissors because they are dangerous.  They can’t do much harm with children’s safety scissors, and we must let them take reasonable risks in order to learn.

At the other end of the scale, I remember going into a staff room to discover a blind child with a big sharp knife.  His aide was teaching him to cut up oranges.  She was teaching him fine motor skills, independence and safety in one activity.  It was in early secondary school, not primary level, but even so it was very impressive.

The Results of Poor Fine Motor Skills.

Many children with poor fine motor skills have difficulty with their pencil grip.  Generally these children find the act of writing difficult, and the result if often not very readable. It’s a vicious circle: poor fine motor skills lead to poor handwriting.  Avoiding writing reduces the opportunity to develop fine motor skills.  And so on.

Seeing how poor some children’s fine motor skills are these days, it concerns me that they will have fewer options for work and play as they grow older.  Will they be able to knit?  To play the piano?  There are many activities which have the potential to become full-blown passions in life.  Wouldn’t it be dreadful to have these options closed due to poor fine motor skill development?

2. Language and Literacy.

Art and crafts can involve speaking and reading, listening and understanding.  Children talk about their work and answer questions about it. It’s often hard to decipher a child’s drawings.  They know what they’ve drawn but it may not be obvious to us.  Rather than asking “What is it?”, keep questions open-ended. “Tell me what you have drawn/made.”  “Why did you choose that colour?”   They develop listening skills when you talk about what they are doing.  And they learn vocabulary at the same time.  You might introduce words like “texture” and names of less common colours.  Talking about a child’s creative project in this open-ended way is rather like interactive reading.  Just asking “What is it?” and leaving it at that is like reading to a child rather than reading with a child.

3. Maths Concepts and General Cognitive Development.

In art and craft activities children begin to understand concepts like size, shape, counting, making comparisons and spatial reasoning.  They develop problem-solving skills in all these areas.  Think of a child constructing a space ship from boxes, sticky tape, and various other odds and ends.  They will have to create a mental picture, work out how to get various aspects to fit together, relative sizes and shapes etc.  They might need to measure lengths of craft materials.  Perhaps they need to decide whether glue or sticky tape is more appropriate for each aspect.  They need to organise their thoughts and the materials.  Persistence and resilience will develop if something doesn’t go as planned.  Then they will have to experiment with a different strategy, using their critical thinking skills. These activities also help children learn and practise skills like sequencing, and cause and effect.  (“If I push harder with the crayon the colour gets darker.”)

There’s a lot of learning to be had from this one craft activity – in addition to fine motor skills.

4. Creating Things Leads to Creativity.

Doing something creative allows for self-expression.  This helps children express and deal with their feelings.  It provides opportunities for trying out new ideas, new ways of thinking and problem-solving.  The creativity is coming from experiences with the process, rather than from concern for the finished product.  Creativity is not about doing something better than others, but about thinking, exploring, discovering and imagining.  We shouldn’t confuse creativity with talent, skill or intelligence.

5. Self Esteem.

Art and craft activities give children a sense of achievement, allowing them to take pride in their work.  This builds confidence.  These activities are a wonderful safe way to discover that it’s okay to make mistakes.  In fact, getting things ‘wrong’ can lead to a whole new idea.  They get to try new things and also learn to develop patience, an important self-regulation skill.  They find that they must wait for glue and paint to dry, otherwise they will compromise their idea.

6. Quality Time with Parents.

Just like reading with your children, doing art and craft is wonderful bonding time for parents and children.  While you’re crafting together you can talk about what you are making and discuss various aspects and possible variations.  And you can talk about any other subject under the sun – what you and your child think, feel and care about.  This is precious time which creates lifelong memories.

HOW TO FOSTER CREATIVITY IN CHILDREN: GENERAL PRINCIPLES.

Here are some things to keep in mind when encouraging your child’s creativity:

1. Imitate Your Child.

Rather than drawing your own picture, sit down with the child and imitate their actions.  Draw lines, make big scribbles, practise drawing circles.  If you were to draw your own picture as they are drawing theirs, they are likely to focus on your drawing and how ’good’ it is (although that wouldn’t apply in my case).

2. Provide Choices.

Inside the house, gather a wide range of materials for your child to use.  Paint, coloured pencils, felt tip markers, oil pastels, chalk, play dough, scissors, stamps, dried pasta, beans, cotton buds – the list is limited only by your imagination.

We will deal with outdoor activities and further types of activities in Part 2.

3. Support, Don’t Lead.

When activities are dictated by someone else, it’s not as much fun.  It’s the child who needs to decide on what materials to choose and how to use them.  If the adult leads the activity, creativity flies out the window and the child is just following instructions and copying.  Let the child explore, experiment and use their imagination.  They might change their mind a few times or make a mess.  It’s all part of the creative process.

4. Focus On The Process, Not The Product.

Focus on the process rather than the end result, and children learn they can express themselves freely, without worrying about what others think.  They become motivated by the activity itself, rather than doing things to gain your approval.   Encourage effort rather than the result.

5. Let Them Explore.

Children learn through playing, exploring and trial and error.  They may not use materials in the way you would, but it’s all part of experimenting in new and innovative ways.  And they may just open our eyes to new ways of thinking in the process.

IN PART 2

We will go into ideas to spark creativity in children in more detail.

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