Y oung children need time and space to develop the flair of creativity - an open-ended confidence that lets them wonder, 'What might I do with all these boxes and cardboard tubes?' Creativity is not all about an end product, although children can be immensely proud of something they have made themselves. Genuinely helpful adults will show interest in a child's trial-and-error exploration along the way. You will notice the buzz of creativity when children puzzle over the question, 'Why do the tubes keep falling off?'
There are many types of creative experiences you can provide. There is no rush - let children repeat experiences they have enjoyed.
* Steadily share with children different tools they can use to make marks in paint or using a cornflour and water mix. Children need good brushes, but they'll like experimenting with foam wedges, shower scrunchies or the wheels of a toy car.
* Work with children's parents to have a generous store of paper on hand - some may be specially bought, but much can be recycled. Have a permanent store of mark-making materials like wax crayons, chunky chalks, crayons and pencils, once children are capable of manipulating them.
* Outdoor art is exciting. Let children work with plenty of leaves, stones and twigs. See what they make and leave it to be admired later, maybe taking a photograph.
* Introduce even young children to crafts - many can be simplified for little hands. They can be enthused by collage, different ways to do printing and pattern-making, sewing and weaving (get big hole rug canvas and then binca to start) and patchwork.
Creativity is not only about arts and crafts. Children enjoy singing nursery rhymes and chants with you and singing along to tapes. They will benefit from singing old favourites and learning new songs from you. It is a good sign if they burst into song just for the sheer joy of it.
Children also relish all kinds of sound and music-making with very simple instruments. Making rhythms and holding a beat provides good practice for listening skills and physical movement.
Make plenty of opportunities for dancing together. Move in time to favourite songs and music, as well as trying some steps back and forth.
Explore different movements fitting the mood of a piece of music.
You will encourage children by having a go at performing yourself - lose your self-consciousness, if this is an issue. Too many adults have emerged from their own childhood convinced that 'I can't paint' or 'I've got a rubbish singing voice'. If you have similar feelings, do not let the children hear such put-downs. Children will not judge you harshly; to them you are great at telling stories with a puppet, a nice singer and a fun dancer.
Find different ways to share with parents how their children are showing a creative flair. Often the best way will be to talk about what you did, inviting the children to add their views. Avoid the trap of thinking that you must always have something tangible to show, such as a painting. Taking photos during an activity or work in progress, even if nothing survives of it, can help you to share the process of creativity with a child's family.
Sometimes there will be important end products that have to be viewed in place, for example the big spaceship that the children spent the entire afternoon constructing from old cardboard boxes.
Children love to explore materials in a hands-on way. They are likely to be intrigued to watch glue drip on to paper. They may spread some on their hands, watch it dry and then peel off the dried strips. There is no hurry for them to use the glue to stick strips of paper, cloth or other resources on to the base you have provided.
Valuable creative activities for children do not all involve paint, glue or a batch of play dough, but when they do, some parents are very edgy about 'mess'. Can you negotiate a particular space where the wetter, stickier fun happens - perhaps a kitchen table with a tough PVC tablecloth, or a sheltered spot in the garden? Some parents, too, are not only house-proud, but sensitive about how their children look. Then you need to find a set of less smart clothes from the wardrobe for the young artists, as well as reassuring parents that you will take care of the creative workspace.
Another possibility is to find a local drop-in or other group session specially set up for hands-on artistic endeavours.
