Before exploring why creativity should be fostered within early years, it is important to first define what creativity is. Then, it will be possible to state how the Northern Ireland curriculum attempts to implement creativity within the early years to help children develop and grow. Thirdly, I aim to acknowledge the benefits of fostering creativity and how and why it is essential in helping a child to develop and learn life skills. My final task will be to highlight any potential negative outcomes that occur when creativity in the early years setting is not fostered or implemented effectively.
Initially, it is crucial to define what creativity is within the early years. Bruce (2004) says that ‘creativity bring new ideas into existence; it brings about original ways of doing things and new creations of all kinds.’ Similarly, creativity is defined by Wegerif (2003) ‘as the tendency to generate or recognize ideas and come up with different possibilities or alternatives when solving problems.’ For someone to be creative, they need to be able to view things in new ways or from another person’s perspective (Jeffrey and Craft, 2003). Creativity is the act of trying new things and bringing imaginative ideas into reality. Jeffrey (2001) reiterates this and claims that ‘it is seen as the ability to perceive the world in new ways’ by experimenting, questioning situations, making assumptions and using your imagination and synthesizing information. Francis - Gardner (1998) defines creativity as ‘the ability to make what you picture exist’ and says that to be creative one requires skills including passion and commitment. Csikszentmihalyi (1934), meanwhile, sums up creativity ‘as a central source of meaning in our life’. He believes that ‘most of the things that are interesting, important and human are the results of creativity and when we are involved in it, we feel that we are living more fully than the rest of life.’ As we can see, it is clear that many scholars are agreed on the definition of creativity - it can transform a child’s imagination and ideas and turn those ideas into a reality. When children are given well-structured creative learning experiences, they make connections which impact their holistic development.
Scholars have produced a plethora of definitions regarding creativity within the early years. Many believe that creativity has been undervalued as a skill throughout the curriculum for a long period of time (Pollard and Triggs, 2000). Indeed, historically many early year settings and schools have focused on more academic subjects due to a feeling that these would be more important for a child’s development and would make a bigger impact throughout the child’s life. In recent years, creative learning experiences have become more embedded in the curriculum and are now granted official recognition as one of the main areas that a child should explore and engage in (Craft, 2000). As such, practitioners have a duty to provide these creative experiences within early years settings.
Within the early years curriculum, creativity is relevant in all aspects and areas of learning, from art and design to ICT to the roleplay station. The Northern Ireland Curriculum (2007) has set out a clear requirement that within all settings creative practice should be taught in each individual key stage so practitioners have a duty to ensure its’ provision. Within the early years curriculum, the aim is to help children reach their full potential while also helping them make responsible decisions and choices for life. The curriculum promotes this development being nurtured through creative provision. In addition, the Northern Ireland Curriculum (2007) has identified a number of linked skills across the curriculum such as ‘communication, using technology, problem solving, making decisions and being creative’. Evidently, creativity has been outlined as a vital component in the early years curriculum, thus making it practitioners’ duty to ensure that effective creative learning experiences are fostered.
There are numerous benefits for children when creativity has been fostered and creative practice implemented effectively within the early years setting. Many researchers have found that children within the early years are creative and intrigued by nature, meaning that they can easily learn about the world around them by carrying out creative activities (Jeffrey, 2001, Beetlestone, 1998). In addition, Duffy (1998) acknowledges that often children can find it difficult expressing how they feel as they may experience new feelings and may not completely understand what these mean. By allowing a child to express how they are feeling through creative activities, a practitioner can help the child when discussing the meaning of each (potentially new) feeling they are experiencing. Encouraging creativity gives children experience in how to effectively cope with their feelings when a situation occurs. This will help each child’s confidence and self-belief to grow as it allows the child to see that they will be able to endure and thrive even when experiencing several new emotions (Duffy, 1998). Examples of creative activities that can help the child with their emotions include dressing up, painting and role-play. Fostering creativity in early years is essential for empowering children with a means to express their feelings.
Creativity is also effective in encouraging physical development in children. For example, dancing and physical education activities such as obstacle courses help children with their gross motor skills including balance and awareness. Creative activities like carrying out craft within a setting helps children’s fine motor skills and their hand and eye co-ordination. Hand and finger strength helps children carry out everyday tasks such as dressing themselves, writing, using scissors, brushing their teeth and many other essential activities that need to be carried out day to day. This creative practice is particularly vital when teaching in SEN schools as children’s fine motor skills are often underdeveloped. While a child is painting or colouring, it allows the child to learn how to hold, grip and control the paintbrush or pencil as well as define which hand they prefer using to carry out these activities.
Additionally, research has shown that creativity plays a major part in both the child’s intellectual and cognitive development. Carrying out creative activities helps develop the child’s thinking skills. Loris Malaguzzi of Reggio Emilia (1920) wrote, ‘Young children are active learners who gain new skills and insights best through hands-on experience’. As such, offering children a choice of activities and materials strengthens their decision-making ability and encourages child-led learning. The skills that they will gain from creative practice include problem solving, an increased independence, critical thinking and developing the child’s imagination (Craft, 2002). Albert Einstein (1879) famously said that the use of the ‘imagination is more important than knowledge.’ By their essence, child-led creative activities allow a child to explore and discover new concepts, develop their own ideas and expand their understanding of the world.
Creative activities are also effective in fostering the development of science and mathematical skills. If the child continues to practice and learn through open-ended, child-led exploratory activities, it will help them as they grow older to transfer these skills into other areas of life. Thus, creativity should be fostered in the early years setting and practitioners have a duty to implement creative provision to enhance children’s holistic development.
In addition, effective creative practice encourages social development as children build friendships and strengthen bonds with their peers and adults close to them. This could be fostered through activities such as sports. Duffy (1998) explains that practitioners are vital in modelling the creative process and demonstrating how to be creative and take risks. Jeffrey and Wood (2003) state that it is vital that children at a young age learn that all people are different and they can all carry out activities differently, even when using the same materials and resources, for example in art. This demonstrates to the child that it is perfectly acceptable to be different from others and to use individual ways of thinking.
Although there are myriad advantages of fostering creativity in schools, some would argue that there are also disadvantages to it. Often, during creative activities, adults can limit learning. Plume (1993) claims that simple acts such as telling a child exactly how to do something or being overly controlling can limit a child’s creativity and make them feel like they cannot explore. Furthermore, Skinner (2007) states that ‘the practitioner should ensure they have and use the correct attitude, training and reflection when fostering creativity.’ This suggests that fostering creativity within early years can be difficult and a child may feel discouraged if they are not properly given the space to be creative - or if a practitioner does not implement creativity effectively. Crucially, many practitioners may not be trained in implementing learning creatively.
Although most educators within early years claim to value creativity, they do not always make time for it within the children’s schedule. Settings fear that promoting creative activities in the classroom may be disruptive to academic teaching. For example, some have stated that creativity can be difficult for adults to encourage as it does not follow basic academic rules and many even feel like it is a waste of time (Craft, 2000, Duffy, 1998). Therefore, some settings will not promote creative attributes such as independence or risk taking. This means the children’s growth and development may be inhibited as the setting is not fostering and implementing creativity effectively.
Pablo Picasso (1881) stated, ‘that all children are born artists. The problem is to remain an artist as we grow up. I believe passionately that we do not grow into creativity, we grow out of it. We are educated out of it.’ This indicates that practitioners have a crucial role in fostering creativity and providing learning experiences which in turn aid holistic development. They must ensure that time is made for creativity, that creative learning is child-led rather than solely adult-led and that training is provided to ensure that educators are aware of what effective creative practice looks like.
The necessity of creativity being implemented and fostered within early years in order to enhance a child’s holistic development has repeatedly been highlighted. We have seen that creativity can be an essential part of learning when implemented correctly within early years. Interestingly, however, Westby and Dawson’s study (2010) found that teachers and staff on the ground typically favoured more academic children over those who were more creative. If this is indeed the case, then there is a real danger that creative activities may be neglected, with children potentially missing out on learning essential skills and the many other benefits of creativity.