UNDERSTANDING

CREATIVITY
Overview
Creativity begins very early in life. Young babies explore the sounds made by a
rattle; a toddler makes marks with mud, crayons or even food. Preschoolers take
time making images that are meaningful to them, they become absorbed in
making music and singing and moving their bodies in new and wonderful ways.
Creativity is high during the early years and children will find many ways of
expressing it. The involvement of children in sensory experiences and the
creative arts during the early years increases sensory awareness and provides a
firm base for future creativity and learning.

Research into creativity has focused on the creative process and this unit
introduces you to the four steps in the creative process developed by Wallas in
1926. You will also discuss the four components of the creative process as they
relate to young children.

As early childhood education professionals, our understanding of young children,

the way they construct knowledge about their world, their development and
learning is based on a number of well-researched theories. Our theoretical
framework for understanding creative development is presented in unit. A
discussion of the theories of Piaget, Vygotsky, and Gardner give an insight into
creativity and its relationship to holistic development. We also touch on affective
development and aesthetic development.

Most early childhood teachers believe in providing creative activities for young
children. This course introduces you to the process approach to creative
expression. The process approach* emphasises the involvement, the movement
and the discovery involved in active hands-on doing, exploring and
experimenting with sensory activities, clarifying a problem and producing a
solution. As children become more skilled in using materials and in planning,
they may become more interested in the end product. This focus should come
from the child and not from a teacher imposing ideas on the child.
It is important for teachers to provide an environment that fosters creativity.
They must also include creative arts in their daily programme. The creative arts
include dance, drama, music, visual arts and literature. They offer an opportunity
for creative expression, for children to discover and express their own creativity.
However, they also offer opportunities for children to:

 develop holistically- cognitively, physically, socially, emotionally

and linguistically;
 explore and express their ideas;
 find out about themselves and others;
 work cooperatively with others; and
 communicate with others.

Module 1 Understanding Creativity p.2

Defining creativity and creative
expression
What or who do you think of when you think of creativity? Do you think of
famous painters or musicians or perhaps an outstanding weaver or song writer
from your area? Creative experiences range from cooking a special meal,
designing a new dance or producing a logo for the pacific games.

All children and adults have the potential to be creative. The process of
discovering this creative potential is on-going throughout life. The people,
places, objects and experiences we meet in life can enhance this potential and
keep the spirit of creativity alive. Alternatively, the people, places, objects and
experiences we encounter might also kill creativity. The way we express
creativity depends on the talents we are born with, the motivation to do
something or make something, having an interest in what we are doing and also
in having the opportunity to be creative.
In this unit we will focus on creativity and how it relates to you and the young
children you teach.

Discussions of creativity in early childhood education can be difficult because of

the lack of agreement on definitions. Creativity cannot always be observed and
does not always end up with a finished product. This makes it difficult to analyse
and measure creativity (Wright, 1991). Following are some examples of
definitions:
 the ability to see things in new ways;
 to make something no one has made before;
 to come up with new ideas or make discoveries; and
 a special and different way of doing things.

For the purpose of this module we will use the definition from your text.

Creativity is the ability to think in unique ways, produce unusual

ideas, or combine things in different ways
Isbell and Raines 2007, p.3.

For example, Kalina and Roy are playing in the sand and want to make a pen for
the pigs. They don’t have any blocks or pieces of wood to use. They look around
and come back with some pieces of coral and empty plastic bottles. They stack
the small pieces of coral on top of one another to make the fence and use the
bottles as rolling gates between one pen and the next. In this example, the
children have a problem with their plans and think of a way to solve it. They are
free to be flexible with the materials they have and take steps to solve the
problem by combining the junk materials in their own way.

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Much of the research into creativity has been done with adults. However, young
children possess many of the characteristics found in creative adults. Torrance, a
famous researcher in the area of creativity, believes creativity peaks at 4 years of
age. They will enjoy inventing songs and using new words, painting different
lines, shapes and colours, try building different structures, take on roles in
dramatic play and tell a story.

Creativity: Process or product?

When we look closely at the definition of creativity, we find that it is something
active, it is making something happen. It is not accidental, it is purposeful. It
involves exploring and playing with tools and materials. Children have a sense
of purpose as they extend beyond what is presently there to something that is new
and imaginative.

An on-going debate exists over what is more important, is it the process how
children do something or the finished product? The process is seen as a series of
stages or steps used in clarifying a problem, working on it and producing a
solution. The creative product is what is produced- a painting, a dance, a drama
or a new weaving pattern.

The creative process may result in a product; a beautiful painting, a decorated

sand castle or a new dance. However, there may be times when the creation is
not finished. A child may decide to break down the sand castle before it is
finished and build something different, an adult may decide that the song needs
more work before they can sing it for the competition.

Stages in the creative process

When we are creating there are four stages through which we proceed. These
stages, developed by Wallas in 1926 are:
─ Preparation - children gather all the materials they need to make a
puppet or a teacher looks at the information she has about a child to
work out the problem.
─ Incubation - this is a time to let things develop without really
working on the problem or project.
─ Illumination - when the new idea comes, the child works out how to
stick the puppets legs on.
─ Verification - the solution is tried out, the puppet is used to tell the
story to others.

The creative process has certain characteristics that make it different. Looking at
something in an original way; Kalina and Roy used plastic bottles for gates. It
involves a free flow of many ideas and thoughts - children writing a story have
many ideas that seem to bubble up freely. Another characteristic is flexibility-
looking at problems from different perspectives and coming up with something

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that is new, different or unique. The final characteristic is elaboration- extending
something or decorating it so it’s even more interesting.

Theoretical perspectives on
creativity and development
In this section we look at how learning and development theorists have discussed
creative thinking. We begin by looking briefly at humanist theories and the
psychologically safe environment. This will be followed by cognitive
development and the theories of Piaget (1969) and Vygotsky (1978) and the
multiple intelligence theory of Gardner (1993).

Psychologically safe environment

This concept of the psychologically safe environment was identified by Rogers
(1962) and Maslow (1970). They believe that children thrive in an environment
that respects, trusts and empowers them to act independently. In such an
environment they feel free to take risks and to think creatively.
Feeling safe and secure to be creative and try new things requires certain
conditions. These conditions are summarised below

Unconditional love from significant adults

Acceptance, Encouragement,
and Nurturance
+
Autonomy and Freedom
↓
Competence and Self Esteem
↓
Risk-taking and Creativity

Adapted from Schirrmacher 2006

Young children need unconditional love and acceptance from important people in
their lives. This includes family members, relatives, friends and teachers
showing active interest in what children are doing, encouraging them to try new
experiences and giving children responsibility for making choices.

Young children will be creative on their own. They will find things to explore
and ways of expressing themselves. However, creative development will flourish
and children will reach higher levels of personal fulfillment and thinking when
creativity is nurtured. Creative arts offer children the chance to make something
on their own, to share the experience with others and to feel good about
themselves and what they have accomplished. This in turn motivates children to
keep trying new things.

Module 1 Understanding Creativity p.5

Cognitive theories and creative development
The constructivist theory of Piaget focuses on the stages of cognitive
development. Each of these stages is characterised by particular developmental
processes. During the sensory motor stage, infants come to know objects and
people through exploration and direct sensorimotor experiences. They know the
sound of their mother’s voice, the touch of the bath water, the coolness of the
breeze. Their early experiences of the arts are through the pleasure of movement
and sound as they are rocked on someone’s knee, singing songs or reading a
favourite story.

Between 18 months and 3 years children begin to explore drawing, moving to

music, humming simple songs and listening to stories. The preoperational child
becomes very involved in symbolic play and objects and events are represented
in play, language, drawing and music and movement. At this stage children can
use a number of visual concepts such as line, space, shape and colour. As their
ability to explore sound increases, children enjoy making music in a variety of
forms.

The concrete operational child is faced with the challenge of communicating their
mental representations in academically and culturally appropriate ways - learning
to communicate through the written word. In the visual arts, children show a
strong desire to achieve accuracy. There is often a decrease in drawing activity
and an increased interest in what others think of their drawing or other artistic
endeavors (Wright, 1991). The creative arts offer ways for children to
symbolically represent their thoughts and ideas thus promoting intellectual
development.

The social constructivist theory of Vygotsky is based on the belief that learning is
embedded in the social context. Through talking, discussion, listening and
problem solving children develop new concepts and skills. The creative arts offer
children socially meaningful activities with opportunities to talk, discuss, listen
and gain new insights into their world and the thoughts and ideas of others.
Teachers who realise the importance of socially shared learning in cognitive
development will ensure children are able to work together on activities and
projects that are within their zone of proximal development.

Over their life time children become competent in using symbol systems of their
culture and of others. They learn to read and make pictures, to move and dance,
to be involved in socio dramatic play and music making. Young children use
these symbol systems to understand themselves and their world. High quality
learning experiences help to shape this development.

Gardener’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Not all researchers view intelligence as a single concept. Howard Gardner (1993)
defines intelligence as the capacity to solve problems and the ability to make
things that are valued by one’s culture. He believes everyone has multiple
intelligences. Everyone can be characterised as smart in at least one intelligence.
Module 1 Understanding Creativity p.6
Below is a summary of his nine intelligences and the strengths and interests that
characterise each intelligence.

Intelligence Strengths and Interests

Sports, movement, dance, acting, dramatics, large motor and
Bodily-kinesthetic
playground activities.
Musical-rhythmic Singing, dancing, playing, musical instruments, listening to
music.

Interpersonal Making friends, socialising, cooperative projects, being a

leader, resolving peer conflicts.

Visual-spatial Art, looking at pictures, daydreaming, puzzles, maps, charts.

Verbal-linguistic Speaking, reading, writing, listening, telling stories, thinking in

words, discussions, memorising, word puzzles, word games.

Logical-mathematical Math, reasoning, logical and abstract thinking, problem

solving, patterns, working with numbers, computers.

Intrapersonal Understands self, knows strengths and accepts limits, works

alone, pursues own interests, reflective, self-paced learner.

Naturalist Recognises plants, minerals, animals, clouds, rocks, flora,

fauna and other natural phenomena.

Existential Thinking about life and death, contemplating why we are here
and what is true.

Schirrmacher, 2006 p. 16.

The theory of multiple intelligences offers a wider view of intelligence and has
implications for the way we work with children.

All children are different and they come to us with different intelligences
developed - some may be verbally or mathematically inclined while others may
be musically or visually developed. We must respect their differences and
encourage children to use their individual strengths by planning experiences that
include different intelligences.

The more intelligences included in an activity, the greater the chance that children
will have success. We must also offer children choices of activities that fit with
their interests and their learning styles. As teachers try new ideas and approaches
to curriculum they will ensure that a variety of intelligences are supported
through appropriate activities.

Module 1 Understanding Creativity p.7

Brain development and creativity
During the early years of a child’s life, the connections between neurons are
being made at a rapid rate. Many of young children’s play activities are naturally
creative – exploring sand and water, singing, dancing, drawing. These activities
engage all of the senses and wire the brain for success in learning (Sousa 2006).

The human brain is made up of two hemispheres, the left hemisphere and the
right hemisphere, connected by the corpus callosum*, a thick branch of nerves
that provides communication between them. These two hemispheres are
specialised and process information differently – the right specialises in spatial
relationships, shapes and patterns, singing, music and movement, art and
creativity. The left brain specialises in handwriting, language, reading, following
directions, listening and maths.

Schirrmacher (2006) believes that left-brained oriented classrooms, where class

schedules are rigidly followed, where children sit at desks set out in rows and
reading, writing and maths form the core of the curriculum. In most classrooms
in the Pacific right brain activities are seen as add-ons or time fillers. Children
miss out on important right brain activities and creativity and learning suffer.
Brain research supports the inclusion of active hands on experiences for holistic
development of young children.

Affective development
Learning and meaning come to us through three main sources:

 Cognition;
 Affect (emotion); and
 Physical skills and movement.

The combination of thought, feelings and action form the basis of our holistic
approach to learning and development. The creative arts in particular foster the

Module 1 Understanding Creativity p.8

development of our thoughts, emotions, actions and imagination. Thus ensuring
children grow cognitively and affectively. Affective development* involves
feelings and emotions; the emotional aspect of experiencing and learning,
including our wishes, desires, joys, fears, concerns, values and attitudes as
influenced by our memories, perceptions of events and people and our ideals
(Edwards, 2006).

The creative arts offer many opportunities for children to express feelings, they
are able to look inwards and get in touch with emotions. In this way they are able
to recognise, experience and express emotions in safety– beating a drum when
you feel angry, smiling with joy as you move to music.

Children need cognitive, social, and affective skills to operate in the world. The
arts and creative experiences nurture all areas of development.

Creative expression and the Arts

Creative expression, whether through art, language, music or movement,
encourages the development of the whole child. For example, Jane and Liku
want to use the blocks to make a boat for their dolls to go fishing. Socially, they
work together co-operatively, they take turns and share the blocks. They use
physical skills as they lift the blocks and carry them, placing them in the correct
position. Eyes and hands work together as they place blocks beside each other
and on top. As they build they talk and listen to each other, using language skills.
They plan together how big they want the boat, where they will put the seats and
what they will use for a motor. They think of different solutions to the problem
of what to use for a motor and are pleased when they find a solution and proudly
invite other children to join them fishing.

In this example, Jane and Liku are expressing their creativity in block play.
There are many ways that children express their creativity. These include play,
thinking, language, music and movement as well as the visual arts. Edwards
(2006) refers to these experiences as the “Arts”. She breaks the arts into the
following categories:

Dance: body awareness, movement and creative expression - moving different

parts of the body to music, doing dances from different cultures.

Drama: creative dramatics, pantomime, improvisation, characterisation,

producing plays- acting out a favourite story book or a local legend, acting out an
activity without using words, such as going away in an aeroplane.

Music: sound, pitch, rhythm, singing, playing, musical games, listening, creative
movements - singing new songs, creating their own songs, following the beat,
discussing different pieces of music with children.

Visual Arts: self-expression, visual and tactile art, print and craft media, artistic
analysis and interpretation, two dimensional (drawing, painting, printing,
weaving) and three dimensional (modeling, sculpting, construction) - discussing

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how painting make you feel, the use of different colours, shape and space in art
works.

Literature: poetry, illustrations, writing, storytelling, reading and speaking -

writing and illustrating their own books, telling stories, use story telling props
such as puppets, masks and felt figures.

Aesthetic development and the creative arts

Edwards (2006) defines aesthetics* as an area of the arts concerned with feelings
and responses to colour, form and design. An aesthetic sense is important aspect
of child development, enabling children to enjoy the beauty of the world around
them and to appreciate the beauty of letters, words, books, numbers, stories,
symbols and people of other cultures. Children with aesthetic sense will grow
into adults who know and value beauty and good design and will be able to use
this in planning cities and towns and in solving environmental problems of
pollution, poverty and urban over crowding.

Parsons (1987) considers that aesthetic sensitivity depends on a person’s

experience with art, their familiarity with art works and their willingness to
understand a variety of paintings. Parson’s discovered some age related
characteristics in the way children responded to art works: almost all preschoolers
had favourites based on colour, most school aged children made selections based
on subject- matter and realistic qualities and teenagers began to make comments
based on the feelings the work evoked (Piscitelli, 1991).

Children’s involvement in the creative process will be encouraged by adults who

value and enjoy creative experiences themselves. The next unit looks at how
attitudes and experiences can affect our attitudes towards the creative process.
First, take the time to do the reading in your text and answer the journal
questions.

Module 1 Understanding Creativity p.10

Summary
The early childhood period can turn children on to the creative arts and set the
stage for future involvement in creative expression. The creative arts - music and
movement, visual arts, language experiences, dance and drama offer children
opportunities for holistic development.

They enhance cognitive development through expanding basic concepts,

memory, problem solving skills and language. The process of expressing and
representing feelings, listening to the ideas and thoughts of others and increasing
awareness of self and others involved in painting, drawing, constructing or role
playing develops emotional and social skills. Children who experience success in
creative arts experiences will build confidence and self- esteem.

Recent developmental research challenges us to broaden our view of intelligence.

Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences supports the need to move
away from a narrow curriculum focusing on reading, math and logical thinking.
He proposes recognition and respect for the many different intelligences and a
broad curriculum offering creative learning experiences for all children. He also
urges teachers to use approaches that offer children opportunities for affective or
emotional expression.

In the last section of the unit we looked at creative arts and brain development. It
has been found that curriculums with an integrated approach to the arts have a
profound effect on children’s engagement in learning, their motivation,
cooperative skills and the development of thinking skills.

In the next unit we will look more closely at the creative teacher and how you can
provide an interesting and challenging curriculum to support creative
development.

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Glossary
Product-oriented approach The approach that emphasises the
importance of making something
specific, a finished product
demanded by the teacher.

Process approach Emphasises the involvement, the

movement and the discovery
involved in active hands-on doing,
exploring and experimenting with
sensory activities.

Creativity This is the ability to think in unique

ways, produce unusual ideas, or
combine things in different ways.

Corpus callosum A thick branch of nerves that

provides communication between
the two hemispheres of the brain.

Affective development The emotional aspect of

experiencing and learning, including
our wishes, desires, joys, fears,
concerns, values and attitudes as
influenced by our memories,
perceptions of events and people and
our ideals.

Aesthetics This is defined as an area of the arts

concerned with feelings and
responses to colour, form and
design.

Module 1 Understanding Creativity p.12

Discussion questions
1. Define creativity.
2. What is the difference between personal creativity and cultural creativity?
3. What are the components of creativity described by Torrance.
4. List three characteristics of the creative arts in the preoperational child
and the concrete operational child.
5. What conditions do children need to take risks and be creative?
6. Define aesthetics and give 3 example of how you can encourage aesthetic
development in the classroom.
7. List four elements of an environment to foster creativity.
8. What are three things parents can do at home to enhance creativity?
9. What is the link between holistic development and creative arts?
10. List the nine multiple intelligences and give examples of each.

Module 1 Understanding Creativity p.13

References
Edwards , L. C. (2006). The Creative Arts: A process Approach for Teachers and
Children. New Jersey: Pearson.

Gardner, H. (1993). Frames of Mind. (10th Ed.) New York: Basic Books.

Isbell, R. T. and Raines, S. C. (2007) Creativity and the Arts with Young
Children. Canada: Thomson Delmar: Learning.

Maslow, A. (1970). Motivation and Personality. New York: Harper and Row.

Parsons, M. (1987). How We Understand Art: A Cognitive Developmental

Account of Aesthetic Experience . New York: Cambridge University Press.

Piaget, J. & Inhelder, B. (1969). The Psychology of the Child. New York: Basic
Books.

Piscitelli, B. (1991). “Children in Museums” in Wright, S. (ed.) The Arts in Early

Childhood. Australia: Prentice Hall.

Rogers, C.R. (1962). “Towards a Theory of Creativity” in Parnes S.Jand H.F.

Harding (Eds). A source book for creative thinking New York: Scribner.

Schirrmacher, R. (2006). Art and Creative Development for Young Children 5th.
New York: Thomson Delmar Learning.

Sousa, D.A. (2006). “ How the Arts Develop the Young Brain”, The School
Administrator, December 2006.

Torrance, E. P. (1963). Creativity. Washington D.C.: National Education

Association.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher

psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Wright, S. (1991). “Beyond a developmental approach to the arts” in Wright, S.

(ed.) The Arts in Early Childhood. Australia: Prentice Hall.

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