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 Being Creative - Responding to Experiences, Expressing and Communicating Ideas Exploring Media and Materials Creating Music and Dance Developing Imagination and Imaginative Play
Birth-11 Months
 
  • Make available resources such as soft feathers, silk squares and pom-poms which offer sensory interest to young babies.
 
  • Make a basket of things each baby likes to explore. One may prefer all the squashy things such as sponges, soft toys or balls, another may prefer crinkly, noisy things.
 
  • Select toys that will make different sounds, such as a wooden cylinder with a little bell or a small toy that squeaks, and talk about the sounds babies hear when they mouth or hold them.
 
  • Have a variety of familiar toys and playthings that babies enjoy looking at, listening to, touching, grasping and squeezing.
8-20 Months
 
  • Vary sensory experiences by placing herbs such as basil, parsley or sage in muslin bags for babies to squeeze or catch with their fingers.
 
  • Place big sheets of plastic or paper on the floor so that babies can be near or crawl on to it to make marks, or add materials using large motor movements, sprinkling, throwing or spreading paint, glue, torn paper or other materials.
 
  • Have a range of puppets that can glide along the table, or dance around on the end of a fist in time to some lively music.
 
  • Use your face as a resource when you play pretend games.
16-26 Months
 
  • Introduce young children to light fabric curtains, full-length mirrors and soft play cubes for hiding in, peeping at and crawling through.
 
  • Make notes detailing the processes involved in a child's creations, to share with parents.
 
  • Make a sound line using a variety of objects strung safely, that will make different sounds, such as wood, pans and plastic bottles filled with different things.
 
  • Provide a variety of familiar resources reflecting everyday life, such as magazines, fabric shopping bags, telephones or washing materials.
22-36 Months
 
  • 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.
 
  • Choose unusual or interesting materials and resources that inspire exploration such as textured wall coverings, raffia, string, translucent paper or water-based glues with colour added.
 
  • Invite dancers and musicians from theatre groups, the locality or a nearby school so that children begin to experience live performances.
  • Draw on a wide range of musicians and story-tellers from a variety of cultural backgrounds to extend children's experiences and to reflect their cultural heritages.
 
  • Offer additional resources reflecting interests such as tunics, cloaks and bags.
30-50 Months
 
  • 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.
 
  • Introduce vocabulary to enable children to talk about their observations and experiences, for example, 'smooth', 'shiny', 'rough', 'prickly', 'flat', 'patterned', 'jagged', 'bumpy', 'soft' and 'hard'.
  • Provide a wide range of materials, resources and sensory experiences to enable children to explore colour, texture and space. Document the processes children go through to create their own 'work'.
  • Provide a place where work in progress can be kept safely. Talk to children about where they can see models and plans in the environment, such as at the local planning office, in the town square, or at the new apartments down the road.
 
  • Provide experiences that involve all the senses and movement.
 
  • Offer a story stimulus by suggesting an imaginary event or set of circumstances, for example, "This bear has arrived in the post. He has a letter pinned to his jacket. It says 'Please look after this bear'. We should look after him in our room. How can we do that?".
40-60+ Months
 
  • 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.
 
  • Provide resources for mixing colours, joining things together and combining materials, demonstrating where appropriate.
  • Introduce pieces of wood, stone, rock or seaweed for children to feel and discover.
  • Provide children with opportunities to use their skills and explore concepts and ideas through their representations.
  • Have a 'holding bay' where 2D and 3D models and works can be retained for a period for children to enjoy, develop, or refer to.

Block play - In a nursery school, a small group of children work together on a large construction, and afterwards their work-in-progress is cordoned off, showing that their achievement is respected. [transcript]

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Video

 
  • Extend children's experience and expand their imagination through the provision of pictures, paintings, poems, music, dance and story.
  • Provide a stimulus for imaginative recreation and composition by introducing atmospheric features in the role-play area, such as the sounds of rain beating on a roof, or placing a spotlight to suggest a stage set. Provide curtains and place dressing-up materials and instruments close by.
 
  • Make materials accessible so that children are able to imagine and bring to fruition their projects and ideas while they are still fresh in their minds and important to them.
  • Provide opportunities indoors and outdoors and support the different interests of children, for example, in role-play of a builder's yard, encourage narratives to do with building and mending.