Painting with Wax
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Spending time in museums, craft fairs, and other creative venues creates an opportunity for educators to learn new innovative techniques that can be brought back to the classroom and shared.
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Garden Drawing
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In our program, we take nature walks with the children. During our walks, we explore trees and climb a few. We look at plants and search for bugs. During one of our walks, we visited the community garden. This was the beginning of a wonderful new creative exploration.
Read MoreExploring Pokemon
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Each year the children bring new games and toys in the program. How can educators support the children’s interest in new toys and characters and inspire the children to express their own creativity?
Read MoreMaking Pillows
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Every project has challenges. This is a part of the learning journey. Talking with the children about the challenges of their work helps them discover new ideas and solutions. When we support children through conversation then challenges become opportunities.
Read MorePens and Lines
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Having educators on the team who enjoy and want to share a special skill with the children is a benefit to the learning community. In this work the children gained skills and confidence in artistic techniques that carried over into their own creative work.
Read MoreSuperhero Masks
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How did an idea for utilizing recycled materials change into a project that united children together? A project that transformed one type of creativity into another with super outcomes.
Read MoreCreating With Cotton
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In our continuing exploration of dough, we made some new discoveries about the scientific process. At the same time the educators made some discoveries about our work with young children. What were the takeaways from our cotton dough experience?
Read MoreI'm Not Good At Art
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As educators, we influence how children view creativity. Our words, thoughts, and actions in relation to the creative process has lasting effects on how young children view artistic endeavors and the possibilities that lie within.
Read MoreMaker Spaces
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The ethos of the maker movement aligns well with constructivist practices. Children in maker spaces are invited to create something from the available materials and to experiment, construct, and iterate, as the work becomes the vehicle for learning.
Read MoreSpirograph
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What are the origins of children’s creative work? Does all creative work start from scratch? This story is about the introduction of a classic material and how the children explored, adapted, and expanded their creative work.
Read MoreA Story about Chess
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This is a story about how the children surprised me with a newfound interest in chess. The surprise was not about the game itself but how the game inspired others in the learning community.
Read MoreMarble Painting
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Are all children’s projects detailed and documented investigations? This is a story about another type of work. Important work that nurtures the learning community.
Read MoreMagic Wands
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When educators observe children and stay in the moment, their actions and words give us clues about their interests and provide the direction our explorations will go.
Read MoreShape Shifter
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Not all of the work we do together needs to originate from the children to be fun and beneficial. Process art benefits the children by teaching techniques they can use in future creative work.
Read MoreThe Greatest of Them All
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The children love to create with cardboard and recycled materials. The amount of creativity and concentration the children display when creating with cardboard continues to amaze me. When the material appears to have reached the limit of creative license, the children invent a new way to explore the possibilities of this wonderful material.
Read MoreDrawing Animated Characters
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An act like drawing, that adults may see as a form of play or entertainment has a deeper meaning to children. Drawing and other activities children choose contain elements of both work and pleasure. Children’s work has a higher purpose and deeper meaning.
Read MoreReflecting on the Role of Play in Early Childhood, Fostering Creativity in Ourselves and Children
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The theme of creativity and play cannot be separated demonstrates the importance of integration of arts and science. We should embrace the concepts of scaffolding our own creativity in the classroom to support children’s engagement in creative thinking.
Read MoreThe Role of Play in Adult Lives and Fostering Creativity in Ourselves and Children
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How does the lack of play affect us? As we think about the role of play in adult lives, we often wonder, who has time to play. Research shows that adults are often play deprived. Why is play important for healthy relationships with children?
Read MoreFostering Creativity in Ourselves and Children
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To scaffold and extend children’s natural abilities as theory builders, we must reflect on our own experiences as builders of our own theory. How do we connect and deepen our own thinking in a world that is often hectic and fast-paced?
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