Children's learning

          “Creativity is a natural extension of our enthusiasm”- Carl Nightingale

A certain level of intelligence is needed to be creative. Now I believe this is a very strong statement. I agree to this to a certain degree that when someone is creative they have certain intelligence because they are interested, motivated and inspired but anyone can be creative and who decided who is intelligent and who is not?

This statement is viewed by many learning theorists who argue that creativity is seen through a high level of achievement that involves high abilities, knowledge and practical skills within the area. This is usually how creativity seems to be identified in children (Duchnesne, McMaugh, Bochner & Krause, 2013).

Having a creative process involves imagination and play. Play encourages flexibility and problem-solving skills which supports a child who is creative. Through creativity children would be able to:

•  Communicate their feelings through verbal and nonverbal way
•  Express their thoughts
•  Express their cultural background
• Understand, respond and signify  their views of the world
•  Experience beauty and value
• Create and think about new meanings and
• Gain self esteem and trust in themselves (Duffy, 2006)

The Early Childhood Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 1996) states that “children experience an environment where they discover and develop different ways to be creative and expressive” (p.80). Some learning outcomes for this goal include:

•  An ability to be creative and expressive through a range of activities such as carpentry, drama, pretend play, making music and storytelling
•  Belief that music, drama, dance and art can amuse, comfort, inform and excite
• Awareness of the materials and technology used with creative and expressive arts
• Awareness of the many types of music, arts, drama and dance used as expression of moods, feelings, occasions and culture

References:

Duchesne, S., McMaugh, A., Bochner, S., &Krause, K-L. (2013). Educational psychology for   

       learning and teaching (4th ed.). Auckland, New Zealand: Cengage.

Duffy, B. (2006). Supporting Creativity and Imagination in the Early Years. Open University

       Press, Buckingham Philadelphia.

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki. He Whāriki matauranga mo ngā mokopuna o 

       Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media. 

Picture: Google images. Retrieved from: 
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRz0hjp750vC3DwAP8cD20CsdzJXHHSbykTBslBchJ07a3CnvU3