Caregivers play a large role in either promoting or stifling children’s creativity. Children who have secure relationships with caring and creative adult models who facilitate their exploration, without over interfering, develop habits to build creativity. To promote creativity, caregivers can model divergent thinking, create a secure environment for exploration, allow time and opportunity for children to explore whatthey are interested in without interfering too quickly, create novel and surprising experiences, and encourage and talk to children about their discoveries.
CAREGIVERS PLAY A LARGE ROLE IN EITHER PROMOTING OR STIFLING CHILDREN'S CREATIVITY. CHILDREN WHO HAVE SECURE RELATIONSHIPS WITH CARING AND CREATIVE ADULT MODELS WHO FACILITATE THEIR EXPLORATION, WITHOUT INTERFERING, DEVELOP HABITS THAT FOSTER CREATIVITY. TO PROMOTE CREATIVITY, CAREGIVERS CAN MODEL DIVERGENT THINKING, CREATE A SECURE ENVIRONMENT FOR EXPLORATION, ALLOW TIME AND OPPORTUNITY FOR CHILDREN TO EXPLORE THEIR INTERESTS WITHOUT INTERFERING TOO QUICKLY, CREATE NOVEL AND SURPRISING EXPERIENCES, AND ENCOURAGE AND TALK TO CHILDREN ABOUT THEIR DISCOVERIES.
How adults create an environment to expose children to stimuli and interact with children throughout the day can either stifle or stimulate creativity.
Studies have shown that children learn to think divergently and develop creativity by watching other people around them. Children are very good imitators beginning from their first year,
Another series of experiments by the same researchers, showed that even one-year-olds could display divergent thinking, and that children with better divergent thinking were correlated to parents who modelled more divergent thinking themselves.
Toddlers learn divergent thinking through social learning (i.e. learning from another person). Toddlers created novel jokes of a similar type after copying an experimenter’s jokes.
Therefore, if caregivers interact with the world in a divergent way by coming up with many different uses for things around the house, toddlers might imitate this style and interact with the world in a divergent way. For example, caregivers can use towels not just for drying or wiping but also to bunch up as a pillow, use as a blanket, or even wear as a cape.
However, suppose toddlers have parents who interact with the world in a non-divergent way, for example, using towels only to dry their bodies. In that case, toddlers may be less keen to try new ideas, leading to low divergent thinking. This makes sense because one-year-olds are keen social learners who copy others with ease. Hoicka, E., Mowat, R., Kirkwood, J., Kerr, T., Carberry, M., & Bijvoet-van den Berg, S. (2016). One-Year-Olds Think Creatively, Just Like Their Parents. Child Development, 87(4), 1099–1105. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12531 Hilbrink, E. E., Sakkalou, E., Ellis-Davies, K., Fowler, N. C., & Gattis, M. (2013). Selective and faithful imitation at 12 and 15 months. Developmental Science, 16(6), 828–840. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12070
Emotional validation encourages creative exploration. When learning about divergent thinking, children need to realise that there isn’t just one single answer to anything. Divergent thinking generates multiple solutions to a single problem. Caregivers who sanction children’s ideas often and label them as “incorrect” or “wrong” may demotivate them to think differently, or lower their confidence to try new ideas and say what they’re truly thinking.
To enhance divergent thinking in children, it’s necessary for them to feel emotionally validated. Feeling like they’re accepted, respected, valued, and loved will help children gain the confidence to explore. Additionally, when children know they won’t be criticised, they feel free to discover new interests, answers, ideas, and original reasoning.
Private speech has an impact on creativity. Children frequently talk out loud as they play and explore the environment. This self-directed talk is known as ‘private speech’ and is a way for them to regulate their thoughts and actions.
Research on 32 children in a Headstart Programme that supported lower-income children in the USA found that those who used private speech to regulate themselves could plan, describe, and find solutions to problems, and were more creative problem-solvers. Talking to babies about their actions when they are exploring and helping them use speech to regulate their feelings may help build the language abilities for private speech when they are older.
While encouragement and support from responsive caregivers help a child explore, caregivers may also want to be mindful not to overwhelm the child with too much stimulus. Giving them time and simple but open-ended things to explore, without interfering when they are exploring, may better help build creativity.
Research affirms that it is best to follow children’s lead and engage in what they are interested in to promote creativity. Creativity involves both cognitive and emotional elements. One researcher found that the most effective training for stimulating creativity involves both cognitive and affective (emotional) attributes.
Curiosity and creative exploration are fuelled when children encounter new things that behave in unexpected ways. Studies with infants and preschoolers also demonstrate that children’s curiosity is fuelled by uncertainty and conflicting evidence. Stahl, A. E., & Feigenson, L. (2015). Observing the unexpected enhances infants’ learning and exploration. Science, 348(6230), 91–94. van Schijndel, T. J., Visser, I., van Bers, B. M., & Raijmakers, M. E. (2015). Preschoolers perform more informative experiments after observing theory-violating evidence. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 131, 104–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2014.11.008
A researcher found that when infants see something surprising, such as a ball passing through a solid wall, they focus more on that object and learn more about it by testing relevant hypotheses about the object’s surprising behaviour, such as by banging the ball to test if it was solid. Stahl, A. E., & Feigenson, L. (2015). Observing the unexpected enhances infants’ learning and exploration. Science, 348(6230), 91–94. van Schijndel, T. J., Visser, I., van Bers, B. M., & Raijmakers, M. E. (2015). Preschoolers perform more informative experiments after observing theory-violating evidence. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 131, 104–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2014.11.008
Encouraging some ambiguity and uncertainty, and encouraging the child to do things in new ways also facilitates creative thinking and problem-solving. Daugherty, M., & White, C. S. (2008). Relationships among private speech and creativity in head start and low-socioeconomic status preschool children. The Gifted Child Quarterly, 52(1), 30-39. Malaguzzi, L. (1993). History, ideas, and basic philosophy: an interview with Lella Gandini. In Edwards, C., Gandini, L. and Forman, G. (Eds.), The Hundred Languages of Children: The Reggio Emilia Approach – Advanced Reflections (2nd Ed.). Greenwich, CT: Ablex Publishing.