Creative
CREATIVE
THINKING
Christine Faith E. Denosta
Introduction
Creative thinking is a crucial skills in early childhood
development, playing a key role in how children
understood the world, solve problems and express
themselves. Early childhood education provides an
ideal environment for fostering creativity, as its
emphasizes exploration, curiosity, and open-ended
play, which are essential components of creative
thinking.
Here are some ways creative thinking is
integrated to Early Childhood Education;
1. Play-Based
LearningPlay: Children engage is unstructured play,
•Open-Ended
using their imagination to explore and create scenarios,
which enhances their ability to think outside the box.
•Dramatic Play: Role-playing activities, such as
pretending to be different characters or acting out
stories, help children expirement with new ideas and
perspectives.
2. Art and Craft Activities
•Process Art: Focuses on the creative process
rather than the final product, allowing children to
experiment with different materials, colors and
techniques.
•Collaboration in Art: Working together on group
projects encourages teamwork and the sharing of
ideas, fostering creativity through social interaction.
3. Storytelling and Writing
•Inventive Storytelling: Teachers can encourage
the children to invent their own stories, using
prompts or pictures to inspire new narratives,
helping to develop creative thinking and language
skills.
•Interactive Story Creation: Using props or visual
aids, children can co create stories, making
decisions that shape the narrative.
4. Problem-Solving Activites
•Puzzle And Building Blocks: These activities
requires children to think critically and come up
with creative solutions to challenges.
•STEM Challenges: Simple expirements or
engineering tasks allow young learners to explore
cause and effect, fostering creative problem-solving
skills.
5. Music And Movement
•Exploration of sounds: Children can use
instruments or their bodies to create rhythms,
expirement with sounds, and explore musical
creativity.
•Dance and free movements: Improvising
movements to music helps children express
themselves creatively and explore their physical
abilities.
6. Outdoor
Exploration
•Nature-Based Learning: Exploring natural
environments sparks curiosity and creative thinking.
Activities like building with natural materials or
observing changes in nature allow children to
creatively engage with the world around them.
7. Flexible Classroom
Environment
•Reconfigurable Spaces: Providing adaptable spaces
and materials encourages children to explore
different ways to interact with their environment,
promoting creative problem solving.
•Loose Parts Play: Offering open-ended materials
such as stones, fabric or recycled objects lets
children create, construct, and imagine in various
ways.
8. Encouraging Curiosity
and Questioning
•Teachers should foster an environment where
children feel safe to ask questions, make
mistakes, and explore new ideas. This mindsets
supports creative risk-taking and innovation.
By integrating these elements into Early
Childhood Education, educators can
nurture creative thinking skills in young
learners, setting the stage for continous
curiosity, innovation, and problem-solving
throughout their lives.
