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Being Creative - Responding to Experiences, Expressing and Communicating Ideas

 
 Development matters Look, listen and note Effective practice Planning and resourcing
Birth-11 Months
 
  • Use movement and sensory exploration to connect with their immediate environment.
 
  • Expressions of emotion shown through the movements of fingers, arms and bodies.
 
  • Use gentle touch to trace 'Round and Round the Garden' or to pat hands for 'Pat-a-Cake' with young babies.
 
  • Make available resources such as soft feathers, silk squares and pom-poms which offer sensory interest to young babies.
8-20 Months
 
  • Respond to what they see, hear, smell, touch and feel.
 
  • Young children's favourite materials, music, lights and aromas.
 
  • Maintain the calm atmosphere of a light room or area by playing quiet music so that young children can rest from stimulation for short periods.
 
  • Vary sensory experiences by placing herbs such as basil, parsley or sage in muslin bags for babies to squeeze or catch with their fingers.
16-26 Months
 
  • Express themselves through physical action and sound.
  • Explore by repeating patterns of play.
 
  • The ways that young children may repeat actions or make tuneful sounds as they climb steps, or step up and down from a stool.
 
  • Support children's patterns of play in different activities, for example, transporting blocks to the sand area.
 
  • Introduce young children to light fabric curtains, full-length mirrors and soft play cubes for hiding in, peeping at and crawling through.
22-36 Months
 
  • Seek to make sense of what they see, hear, smell, touch and feel.
  • Begin to use representation as a form of communication.
 
  • Word plays, signs, body language and gestures that young children use in response to their experiences, for example, a child may jump up and down or whirr around when they are excited, or eagerly engaged.
 
  • Help children to value their creative responses by your interest in the way they move, represent or express their mood.
 
  • Provide props such as streamers for children to wave to make swirling lines, or place shiny mobiles, made from unwanted CDs, in the trees to whirl around in the wind.
30-50 Months
 
  • Use language and other forms of communication to share the things they create, or to indicate personal satisfaction or frustration.
  • Explore and experience using a range of senses and movement.
  • Capture experiences and responses with music, dance, paint and other materials or words.
  • Develop preferences for forms of expression.
 
  • The ways children capture their experiences by, for example, finding materials to make wings from large pieces of red paper after watching some ladybirds in the garden.
  • The ways in which children explore materials and the effects they can create, for example, making swirling lines with scarves and streamers by twirling round.
 
  • Provide appropriate materials and extend children's thinking through involvement in their play, using questions thoughtfully and appropriately.
  • Encourage children to describe their experiences.
  • Be interested in children's responses, observing their actions and listening carefully.
 
  • Ensure that there is enough time for children to express their thoughts, ideas and feelings in a variety of ways, such as in role-play, by painting and by responding to music.
  • Encourage children to discuss and appreciate the beauty around them in nature and the environment.
40-60+ Months
 
  • Talk about personal intentions, describing what they were trying to do.
  • Respond to comments and questions, entering into dialogue about their creations.
  • Make comparisons and create new connections.
  • Respond in a variety of ways to what they see, hear, smell, touch and feel.
  • Express and communicate their ideas, thoughts and feelings by using a widening range of materials, suitable tools, imaginative and role-play, movement, designing and making, and a variety of songs and musical instruments.
 
  • The connections children make as they respond to different experiences, for example, remembering being cold at Diwali and seeing the cheery lights may inspire one child to begin to dance like the flames of the Diwali lamps.
  • How children respond to new experiences and how they respond differently to similar experiences, for example, a child may run around moving their arms rhythmically when they see or hear a train, or run along calling "train, train" as if they are trying to catch up with it, while another day they may want to draw, paint or represent the power of the train.
  • How children design and create, either using their own ideas or developing those of others.
 
  • Support children in expressing opinions and introduce language such as 'like', 'dislike', 'prefer' and 'disagree'.
  • Be alert to children's changing interest and the way they respond to experiences differently when they are in a happy, sad or reflective mood.
 
  • Introduce language that enables children to talk about their experiences in greater depth and detail.
  • Provide children with examples of how other people have responded to experiences, engage them in discussions of these examples and help them to make links and connections.
  • Provide and organise resources and materials so children can make their own choices in order to express their ideas.
  • Be sensitive to the needs of children who may not be able to express themselves easily in English, using interpreter support from known adults, or strategies such as picture cards to enable children to express preferences.