Creativity can include learning
Drawing, building, pretending and arranging objects give children opportunities to make choices and explain ideas.
A creative activity does not need a perfect finished product. The conversation and decisions made during the activity can be just as valuable.
Try a picture-and-story activity
- Give your child paper and drawing materials.
- Ask the child to draw a place, animal or imaginary character.
- Ask what is happening in the picture.
- Write down a sentence the child says about it.
- Read the sentence back together.
Build and describe
Use blocks or other age-appropriate building materials to make a simple structure. Ask your child to describe what was built and how different pieces were used.
Words such as tall, short, beside, above, under and between can appear naturally during building play.
Keep the result open-ended
When there is more than one possible result, children can make decisions and experiment. A cardboard box might become a house, a bus or something completely unexpected.
Ask about the child's idea before suggesting your own. Their explanation may be more interesting than the finished creation.
Creative play can support language and thinking while giving children freedom to develop their own ideas.
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