Reprinted from Early Childhood News - May/June 1996 Issue
The actual article was in color and was illustrated.

Fostering Creativity in Children's Art
by Sandra Duncan

Creativity is the ability to make something original, to imagine things that don't exist, and to come up with new ideas. Creativity is the ability to look at everyday items and events in new ways. Creativity can make common things special and special things more common!

When you do the same task in different ways you are being creative. For example, you may drive to work following the same route each day. But how many routes could you take to get to work? One? Two? Twenty? The result is the same - arriving at work. Creativity is in the process of how you get to work. In trying to find alternate routes to work you might drive down streets you haven't been on before. You might even get lost. There's risk in being creative - but you learn through the process of driving to work - not by arriving at work.

The same is true for children. The process of art is more important than the final product. If you force all children to create identical art pieces using the same process and materials, the children will not experience the opportunity to drive the side streets. In allowing children to explore you run the risk that some children will get lost in the art project and may not reach their destination. But is it a bad thing for a child to get so involved in mixing paint colors that he or she doesn't complete his or her painting? The answer is no. The child may learn more from the exploration of paint colors than from having a "nice finished project."

Create an environment that encourages children to explore and investigate. Art activities offer great opportunities for creativity. Here are four ways you can foster creativity in children's art.

* Provide open-ended art activities. Creativity is about the process of creating - not the product. By giving children product-oriented activities you limit their ability to exercise creativity. Ditto sheets, coloring book pages, connect-the-dots, and activity sheets all limit creativity because they force children's artworks to look alike. Rather than display a model of the art project for children to replicate, encourage children to use their imagination. Instead of passing out coloring book pages, all with the same line drawings, turn on some music and have the children draw what they hear!

* Provide significant blocks of free time for children to work in a relaxed and encouraging atmosphere. Create a classroom that invigorates the five senses. Don't simply draw or paint - feel the texture of the paper, smell the crayons, listen to the sound of a crayon being sharpened, and watch the colors change as paints are mixed!

* Encourage spontaneous exploration. Place puppets, musical instruments, and other objects around the classroom. Provide a constant, easily accessible supply of basic materials such as chalk, markers, paste, construction paper, brushes, and paints. Allow children to discover the properties of these items and how to use them. Can the children use their fingers as a paint brush? Draw a picture in the dirt using a stick? Make their bodies the same shape as a tree? Describe what the color purple feels like? March around the room in a happy, sad, or funny way?

* Respect children's creativity. Share children's work with others. Display artwork in the classroom, the center's foyer, or in local libraries and pediatricians' offices. Don't criticize children's work. Ask open-ended questions about a child's creation. Rather than asking, "What is your picture of?" ask the child to tell you about his or her work. Foster creativity in children's art!

Sandra Duncan is Associate Publisher of Early Childhood News.