To foster creativity and divergent thinking in children, children must experiment, feel, touch, get excited and be engaged. From birth to two years, children are in the preoperational stage of development. During this time, it is best to provide them with multi-sensory experiences which engage all their senses. Providing open-ended materials which engage all the senses like play dough, water, and sand, enables children to explore, be engaged with the activity, and be creative with what they produce with the materials.

Play starts “primitively” as sensorimotor play before the first to second year, with an exploration of properties and functions of objects, and imitation. Towards the end of this stage, children may imitate actions they observe in adults. Action toys can facilitate this play. Between the ages of one and two, symbolic or pretend play replaces sensorimotor play.

Symbolic play has sparked the interest of cognitive scientists because of its potential importance in children’s cognitive development, such as in the development of cognitive flexibility and creativity.

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.

Hence, caregivers who give children time to explore novel objects, or expose them to familiar environments with some changes, can help develop their creativity and problem-solving abilities.

Read more at AL-CRE-C01 & AL-CRE-C02.