Children are naturally creative. Yet certain activities encourage that creativity more than others. According to Dr Rebecca Palacios, it is important to encourage creativity in children by presenting them with open-ended materials where their ultimate use is created by the child. Objects with specific functions, however, such as a toy that is designed to illicit a certain fixed response promote entertainment but not necessarily creativity.
Sometimes, as I showed my 4-year-old students some new materials to work with (which teachers call manipulatives), they would ask me, “What does it DO?” This question would make me think twice about what people give children to play with: Too often it’s toys and manipulatives that are designed to “do” something interesting, but do not require the child to “do” very much at all!
My favorite choices for manipulatives have always been materials that teachers call open-ended. These are materials that require children to think and construct for themselves. Examples are blocks, geometric shapes, play dough, paint and other materials that allow for creating or building without a lot of instructions or guidance.
Click here for the full article, “Inspiring Creativity In Young Children.”