Creative Play.

Creative play is extremely important within the Foundation Phase as it gives children the opportunity to explore their world and provides opportunity for the development of the whole child including their social and emotional needs (Dixon, 2007). Play also allows children to  use creativity to develop their imaginations (Ginsberg, 2007). Creative play includes activities such as sticking and gluing areas, chalk boards, painting and colouring sessions. Resources such as scientific enquiry tables, construction play, technology, puppet theatres, role-play areas and outdoor equipment such as climbing frames, sand pits, water play, tricycles and doll prams could be used to promote creative play (Morrisey, 2013).

 

 

 

 

 

Children love to explore their environment and find creative ways of having fun together.

Experience within a nursery leads me to believe that all children should have opportunities to experience different forms of play no matter what their sex, ability, ethnicity or religion and therefore any bias or discrimination needs to be addressed to support creative play. In a study, Feldhusen and Hobson (1972) found that children showed substantial gains in a sense of psychological openness and freedom, increased ability to produce ideas and work together when encouraged to express themselves freely and enjoy the company of adults who joined in with their playfulness. For this reason and due to experience in childcare settings, I believe that a comfortable and non-threatening environment is needed to support both creative thinking and creative play. 

 

Fredrik Härén speaks about the seriousness and importance of play and creativity.

 

Creative play can support multi-ethnic and multi-cultural ethos within a setting where children can use familiar or unfamiliar materials in a spontaneous and self-directed way (PBS, 2014). Children can self-regulate their activity during creative play, whereby they can discharge energy or recharge when needed (Lieberman, 1977). Creative play assists in what Cropley (2001), describes as the development of cognitive structures that equip children to understand the external world around them. In agreement with Murray (1983), spontaneous play through the use of art helps children to distinguish, organise, develop understand ideas about the world in which they live.

Pretend play within the nursery.

 

Children have a natural inbuilt desire to explore through play in order to gain understanding of the world in which they live (Welsh Assembly Government, 2008). Children depict experiences from their own perspectives of social contexts which in agreement with Paley (2004), results in the extension of logical thinking due to the presence of emotions and the expressive responses during interactions. A strong foundation of knowledge and language acquisition through creative play supports the dynamic thinking skills needed to develop creatively within all curriculum areas in primary and secondary education. A basis for all learning including the ability to problem solve stems from social knowledge (Edwards, 1986) and therefore it is important that curriculum planners consider ways to enhance creative play within settings to support social knowledge acquisition. It is considered by Paley (2004) that pressure put on teachers regarding children’s attainment of skills in reading and writing cause stronger restrictions on children’s fantasy play compared to the experiences of children during the 1970’s and 1980’s.

The child's world of play is their reality. 

 

I believe it is important to acknowledge the relevance of creative play in its various forms within the Foundation Phase because creativity impacts not only on the work produced by children within the Foundation Phase but also in the Key Stage area of the school curriculum. Creative play can impact on the ability to produce creative writing, art, dance, music composition, drama and also make decisive independent decisions. Equally, these areas of learning equip children to be creative and develop their creative capacity. I conclude that educators could consider the relationship between play and entertainment in order to conduct lessons and enhance active learning experiences in order to empower older children to enjoy the fun in learning and to improve professional practice.

Girls as well as boys enjoy scientific enquiry in the early years.

 

 

Children enjoy using creative toys during creative play.

 

 

Practitioners empower children to explore their world.

 

 

Children love opportunities to be creative.

 

 

References:

Cropley, A. J (2001), Creativity in education and learning; a guide for teachers and educators. England: RoutledgeFalmer.

 

Dixon, E (2007) Importance of play in child development, http://www.child-development-guide.com/importance-of-play.html (Accessed 10:11:14)

 

 

Edwards, C. P. with Ramsey, P. G. (1986), Social and moral development in young children; Creative Approaches for the Classroom. New York: Teachers College Press.

 

Ginsburg, K.R., Committee on Communications and the Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health (2007) The Importance of play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong parent-child bonds, Pediatrics Vol. 119, (1) January, pp.182-191

 

Feldhusen, J.F. and Hobson, K. (1972) Freedom and Play: Catalysts for Creativity The Elementary School Journal, Vol. 73, (3) pp.148-155 The University of Chicago Press.

 

Lieberman, J. N. (1977) Playfulness; Its relationship to imagination and creativity. London: Academic Press Inc. p.15-16

 

Morrisey, B. (2013) Enhancing development through play, http://www.kidsdevelopment.co.uk/EnhancingDevelopmentThroughPlay.html (Accessed: 10.11.14)

 

Murray, J.J. (1983) Art, Creativity, and the Quality of Education: Daedalus, Vol. 112, (3), pp.129-147 (Summer), pp. 129-147 JSTOR [Online] Available at:  http://www.jstor.org/stable/20024872. Accessed: 16/10/2014

 

Paley, V.G. (2004) A child’s work; the importance of fantasy play. London: The University of Chicago. P.12-13, P.31

 

PBS (2014) Creativity and play: Fostering Creativity, http://www.pbs.org/wholechild/providers/play.html (Accessed: 10.11.14)

 

 

Welsh Assembly Government (2008) Framework for Children’s Learning for 3 to 7 Year olds in Wales, Uk: Her Majesties Office.

 

 

 

Bibliography:

 

Amabile, T. M. (1993) What Does a Theory of Creativity Require? Psychological Inquiry, Vol. 4, (3) pp. 179-181 JSTOR [Online]. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1448959. (Accessed: 16/10/2014)

 

Banaji, S. and Burn, A. with Buckingham, D. (2006) The rhetoric’s of creativity: A literature review. England: Arts Council.

 

Coler M. A. (1968) Creativity in Technology and the Arts. Leonardo, Vol. 1 (3) pp. 265-272 (July), JSTOR [Online]. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1571870 . Accessed: 16/10/2014

 

Cropley, A. J (2001), Creativity in education and learning; a guide for teachers and educators. England: RoutledgeFalmer.

 

Dixon, E (2007) Importance of play in child development, http://www.child-development-guide.com/importance-of-play.html (Accessed 10:11:14)

 

 

Edwards, C. P. with Ramsey, P. G. (1986), Social and moral development in young children; Creative Approaches for the Classroom. New York: Teachers College Press.

 

Feldhusen, J.F. and Hobson, K. (1972) Freedom and Play: Catalysts for Creativity The Elementary School Journal, Vol. 73, (3) pp.148-155 The University of Chicago Press.

 

Ginsburg, K.R., Committee on Communications and the Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health (2007) The Importance of play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong parent-child bonds, Pediatrics Vol. 119, (1) January, pp.182-191

 

Harrison G. B. (1970-1971) Technological Creativity at School: Paedagogica Europaea, Vol. 6, pp. JSTOR [Online] Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1502504 . (Accessed: 16/10/2014)

 

Lawson, B. (2002) CAD and Creativity: Does the Computer Really Help? Leonardo, Vol. 35, (3) pp.372-331 (2002) JSTOR [Online] Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1577126 . (Accessed: 16/10/2014)

 

Lieberman, J. N. (1977) Playfulness; Its relationship to imagination and creativity. London: Academic Press Inc. p.15-16

 

Morrisey, B. (2013) Enhancing development through play, http://www.kidsdevelopment.co.uk/EnhancingDevelopmentThroughPlay.html (Accessed: 10.11.14)

 

Murray, J.J. (1983) Art, Creativity, and the Quality of Education: Daedalus, Vol. 112, (3), pp.129-147 (Summer), pp. 129-147 JSTOR [Online] Available at:  http://www.jstor.org/stable/20024872. Accessed: 16/10/2014

 

Paley, V.G. (2004) A child’s work; the importance of fantasy play. London: The University of Chicago. P.12-13, P.31

 

PBS (2014) Creativity and play: Fostering Creativity, http://www.pbs.org/wholechild/providers/play.html (Accessed: 10.11.14)

 

Reichling M. J. (1997) Music, Imagination, and Play: Journal of Aesthetic Education, Vol. 31, (1) pp. 41-55 (Spring) JSTOR [Online] Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3333470 (Accessed: 16/10/2014)

 

 

Welsh Assembly Government (2008) Framework for Children’s Learning for 3 to 7 Year olds in Wales, Uk: Her Majesties Office.

 

 

White J. P (1968) Creativity and Education: A Philosophical Analysis. British Journal of Educational Studies, Vol. 16, (2) pp. 123-137 (Jun), JSTOR [Online] Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3118455. (Accessed: 16/10/2014).