Encouraging Creativity

Why is getting messy and creating those lovely works of art that you can't quite give a name to important?  One of the strengths of our country has always been being creative and resourceful.  As we move more and more towards testing and product based projects and worksheet education in young children's programs we are creating rote learners instead of creative thinkers.  If you doubted the value of process based hands on learning and the value of getting messy read this post.  It is a great article by Cindy Rzasa Bess, Ph.D. a Professional Speaker/Trainer, Developmental Psychologist, Education Consultant in her November Newsletter 

Art Smart from the Start

Back when I was a little girl, I always believed that giving my parents a hand made gift was the ultimate expression of love.  I made kiddie-loomed pot holders and clay animals; original paintings worthy of a popsicle stick frame; and, even the ever popular orange juice can converted into a pencil holder.  When we were going through my dad’s things after his passing I was stunned to find a drawer containing fifteen OJ can pencil holders!  He kept everyone!  Apparently my belief about the ultimate expression of love went both ways!  It was a very touching moment for me, to say the least!

Encouraging and supporting the flow of personal creative self-expression in a young child is one of the greatest gifts an adult can give him or her. Providing the chance for a preschooler to dabble in the arts and try new experiences is priceless and precious.  Unleashing his or her inner creativity, which ultimately follows its own path to self-expression, is a precious present.  Acknowledging that he or she is a wonderful and creative individual, capable of making great things that beautify the world is a meaningful message.

Hands-on learning through individual creativity should be highly prized in the education process.  Refraining from demanding conformity from these young hearts and minds is only fair at this tender age.  Imagination should be given a chance to grow, blossom, and flourish before the shackles of compliance are clapped shut.  It is okay for bears to be pink or green; and its fine for bunnies to have five ears.  It is alright for the wheels on the bus to be square; it makes for an interesting ride. Children have a whole lifetime to conform to societal expectations and to eventually admit that bears are black, brown and white.  Why force them to give up their innocent, inventive, and innovative perspective in favor of the old boring one adults share?  Teachers who are in touch with their own inner child know this truth, and do not squelch individual creative self-expression, but instead honor it and give it space to thrive.

Children learn best through doing.  They are by nature curious little beings.  They love to try new things and explore and experience the world, and their place in it. Jean Piaget said that young children construct their own knowledge by interacting with their environment.  They learn by doing solving problems and experiencing their options.  There are so many places in the Early Childhood Classroom where they can explore and experience their creative and inventive self:  The music center, the dramatic play area, the science center and the art center.  Even the block area and the fine motor small building toys allow for the child to create new structures and discover their ability to change the world through their action.  There is nothing greater than seeing the smile of accomplishment as it crosses a child’s face.  They know they have done something valuable and often show you their work with pride, with the accompanying announcement of “I did it!”

How can Artistic Self-expression be included in the ECE classroom?

· Incorporate Visual arts - drawing, painting, sculpting (play dough), making textiles (weaving), creating collages

· Encourage Language Arts - Discuss rhyming and create a group poem, write stories as a class, write a book of tales as a group and add it to the book nook

· Enjoy Performing Arts – Theater (putting on a puppet show, re-enacting a fairy tale);

       Singing (to the group or leading the group in song);

       Dance (music and movement)

Why offer Art?

Creative Art enables:  Self-expression

                                                   Communication of ideas -- without words

                                                   The discovery of one’s self

                                                   Exploration of the physical world and its properties

                                                   Learning to follow directions

                                                   Acquiring new skills, mastering and redefining them

                                                   Thinking “Out of the Box”

                                                   Cooperation and collaboration

                                                   Demonstration of persistence and tenacity

   Expansion of vocabulary

   Extension of experience

But most important of all it says to a child, you do not need someone else to provide toys and produce special things for you, for you are capable of making them yourself to use, play with and enjoy!

Process versus Product Art

Believe it or not there is a place for both in the early childhood classroom.   However the rule of thumb should be Process Art always available, Product Art occasionally incorporated.  Children can benefit from having an activity that requires active listening and following directions.  Examples can be replicated every one in a long while. But, these projects should be done rarely and be used as a means for assessment. Although parents like to see the standard choo-choo train made from colorful pre-cut paper shapes, or the duck made of glued yellow feathers come home, it is not the best way to teach a child about art and the true creative experience.  Real art comes from within.  Children should be encouraged to be the artists that they are within their own being.  Art should not be a method for assessment. Refrain from doing “product art” too often, after all they have a whole life time to bend to society’s will.  This is the time for active, unencumbered fun, and self-expression.

Whenever you work with a child, encourage imagination and creativity wherever you can. Refrain from asking young children to conform to a preconceived idea of who they should be, what they should be doing and encourage freedom of expression in language, in art and in play (Of course, within limits.)  When a child is allowed to produce original work there is a greater process going on.  They are able to define their own area of interest and way of interacting with the materials.  They are able to define and develop their own plan of action and are able to solve problems in unique ways as they happen.

When children are encouraged to be creative in their pursuits they:

· Learn to work through events                     

· Recreate things they know or situations they have encountered

· Make sense of the bigger world                 

· Grasp the importance and value of symbols through representation

· Enhance their self-esteem                           

· Increase motor skill development and refinement

· Become more independent                         

· Develop new cognitive skills and learn new concepts

· Feel more competent                                   

· Develop stronger social skills

· Understand qualities or properties of materials (sticky glue, runny paint, etc.)

Also, when they are encouraged to try new things and create something that comes from their own brain, we are encouraging innovation and invention in later development.  When they are forced to conform to predetermined and preconceived patterns, their own creativity is squelched.

However, children can make their own space ships and cars from simple classroom materials, and these can be constant reminders that they can make significant contributions to their own world.  By making children aware of their potential as creators and producers, we empower them to break free of the consumer role that the business community would gladly have them fill.

Please be respectful of a child’s art work and realize the value it holds for him or her.  There is nothing sadder than to see a child deflate as a teacher writes directly on his or her picture.  If you as an adult really NEED to note it is a picture of a house and of Mommy, do so on a post it note that can be peeled off, rather than on the child’s actual art work.  Just because you are bigger than him or her, doesn’t mean you don’t have the right to “graffiti” his or her work.  Showing respect for a child’s efforts is vital and also considerate. Encourage, acknowledge, and offer the chance to be creative, constructive and productive.

Please also realize that there are many children who are dissuaded from painting and using messy materials in the home.  If they don’t have time in the early childhood setting to discover the different textures and tactile experiences that come with messy art, a whole part of the self-to-be might never come to fruition.  Doing is the key to learning.  Being with the materials is the key to understanding them in relation to the self.

Hopefully when the beautiful masterpieces come home, they are given a prized place for display and are not relegated to the 3” deep with artwork refrigerator museum.   Nothing sends a stronger message to a young child than to see his or her parents frame a piece of artwork and display it prominently in the home.