Photo by cottonbro studio from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/girl-holding-wooden-toys-3662894/
This guide to creative play for kids sticks to everyday things like cardboard, playdough and whatever you can find outside. A cardboard box can become a boat. A story can start at bath time.
Through play, children get to investigate, experiment, imagine and explore ideas. And creativity isn't only about art. Dance counts. So does drama.
Here are seven simple ways to nurture it, at home and in early learning.
1. Offer Open-Ended Materials
Boxes, pegs, shells, pinecones, fabric scraps, wooden blocks. Your child gets to decide what they become. That box might be a car before lunch and a dog kennel for afternoon tea.
To get started, fill a basket with loose parts. Cardboard tubes, scarves and clean, empty containers can go in too. If you have a baby or toddler, stick to items too big to fit in their mouth, and stay close while they play.
Keep the basket somewhere your child can reach. Every few weeks, swap a few things out and ask your child what they'd like to add.
2. Make Room for Messy, Sensory Play
Messy play can make some of us a bit hesitant. Fair enough. But children learn about the world through touch, and that often involves a bit of mess.
Water, sand, dirt, mud, paint, playdough and clay all count as messy play materials. You can also add containers, scoops or spoons.
Then there's playdough. When children shape it into a ball or a snake, they're thinking creatively. All that squeezing, pinching and pulling helps strengthen their hand muscles and develop fine motor skills, too.
Let them experiment first. After that, you can show them how to roll, stretch and flatten the dough, and chat about how it feels and what they're making. A fork, a seashell or a toy car pressed into it makes patterns and tracks. Worried about the mess? Sit them at a table with a plastic placemat.
3. Look for Learning Spaces That Invite Play
In Australia, early learning services that operate under the National Quality Framework have to base their educational program on an approved learning framework. For children from birth to five, the national one is the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF). Victoria also has its own approved framework. Play-based learning and intentionality is one of the framework's practices, and creativity, curiosity and persistence are among the learning dispositions it describes.
So what does that look like in practice? You might see flexible, open-ended learning spaces where children start to play from their own ideas and revisit earlier learning experiences.
If you're comparing options for childcare in Carrum Downs or nearby suburbs, keep an eye out for these details when you visit. It's also worth asking educators how they build on children's interests.
4. Follow Your Child's Curiosity
Pay attention to what catches your child's eye. A snail on the path. A passing truck. The shape of a cloud.
Say your toddler is fascinated by spiders. You could draw them together, stretch a string web between two chair legs, or make up a story about a spider who's scared of the dark.
When children follow and extend their own interests, you may notice enthusiasm, energy and concentration.
Try open questions like "What do you think it's doing?" or "How could we find out?" Then step back and let your child lead.
5. Tell Stories Together
Try telling stories in the car. Take turns adding a sentence each. Or hand the job over to a sock puppet. You can also pick up a wordless picture book and let your child tell the story.
Pretend play is another option. Playing café, vet clinic or rocket ship under the kitchen table gives children a chance to imagine and explore their own ideas. Afterwards, why not draw the best part of the story together?
6. Take Creativity Outdoors
Try taking creative play for kids outside, into the backyard or a local park.
Fallen leaves, sticks and stones, along with flowers from your own garden, can turn into nature collages, patterns or tiny fairy houses. Check local rules before collecting anything from public spaces. Give your child a patch of dirt, a few old pots, scoops and spoons, and you've got a mud kitchen for pretend cooking. Sand and water play can head outside too, with close supervision around water.
Rainy day? Pull on the gumboots and go puddle exploring together.
7. Celebrate the Process, Not the Finished Product
Next time your child shows you a painting, try describing what you see instead of a quick "That's beautiful!" Something like "You used so many colours" or "Tell me about this part."
The learning framework describes educators commenting on children's learning dispositions, such as curiosity and persistence, and offering encouragement and additional ideas. You can try the same at home by pointing out when your child keeps trying after their tower falls. Or ask what they plan to add next.
Making Creative Play Part of Every Day
You don't have to try all seven at once. Pick one for this week, maybe a basket of loose parts or a bedtime story you make up together, and see where your child takes it.
Creative play for kids can start with something as simple as a box, a story or a puddle.
Post a Comment