Children Learning Development Activity - Coursework Example

Creativity and Play: Children Learning Development Activity al Affiliation Table of Contents Rationale for the resource 3 2.The design and production of the Resource 4 3. Evaluation of the impact upon the development of creativity and play 5 3.1 An analysis of play and its relationship to creativity 5 3.2 The Activity Resource image 7 3.3 Application of Theory into Practice 7 3.4 Factors Affecting the Activity 9 Modeling 9 Disinterest 9 Interruption 10 3.5 An activity plan 10 4 Conclusion 12 References 14 Creativity and Play 1. Rationale for the resource Play is deemed as an interaction between children and their association with the environment they dwell in. Creativity and play is an important aspect related to the development and learning of children. There are a number of studies that support this idea of including play as a part of the learning process. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) keeps play as an important part of children’s development and learning environment and provides a set of guidelines to be included in order to speed up and strengthen the process of learning and bra development among children. Moreover, play is considered as a crucial part of children’s cognitive, physical, social and emotional development and health (Milteer, Ginsburg, Council on Communications and Media & Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health 2012). Keeping the importance of creativity and play in the learning environment, an activity or resource that engages children in thinking, communicating and interacting with each other can help in motivating a social, cognitive and psychological growth among them. Hence, the resource I proposed was to help children in learning and understanding the new vocabulary, thinking out of the box, interacting with each other, learning the correct use of language, enhancing their ability to communicate their ideas, helping them in developing their ability to put thoughts into words and to grab their attention to the learning material that they might have ignored or read passively for disinterest. I believe such activities are of greater interest to the children and they feel motivated to be a part of that learning process. They feel enthusiastic about the new materials, props and ideas proposed to them (Spodek, 1993). Activities that involve physical or mental exercise may be more productive with the use of distinct materials and props (Tassoni, 2002). Hence, I provided them with 3 cubes having 6 different words and one dice to be rolled. The physical part if this activity involved holding and rolling dice. This small activity involved their exposure to the size of the dice, its shape, the texture and different colors used. It, one way or the other, reiterates the concepts they learnt in the past as the children were 7-8 years old and have already grasped the concepts on shapes, sizes, texture and colors. Secondly, the words that were pasted on the cubes let them understand how their reading answers these questions. This part of the activity related to their cognitive development as it requires them to think about the story, recall the characters, imagine how the things were happening in the story and then respond to it in the most feasible language and choice of words they possibly can. Since the resource I made was helpful in their physical and mental growth, I believed it to be of importance for their learning and development. 2. The design and production of the Resource For the purpose of creating an opportunity to gain children’s response, invoke a creative instinct in them and grabbing their attention to the resource for enhancing their knowledge and supporting the learning process, I designed an activity consisting of 3 cubes and a dice. The resource is designed to aid the learning process in the classroom. The teachers may use the resource to help children understand the concepts of 6 chosen questioning words. These 6 words include 5 Ws and 1 H word i.e. “When”, “Where”,”Who”,”What”,”Why” and How”. The children will be provided with a reading material, a story or any other resource that may fulfill the requirement. They will then be given with a numbered sticker for the activity. Once they complete the reading, the participating individuals (preferably six students) will be given a chance to roll the dice. If the dice counts 3, the child with the sticker of 3 will roll the cube. If the cube would read one of the 6 words stick to it and will be asked a question starting that word, for instance, “How did the caterpillar start eating?” This question will then be answered by the child in any manner he wants and any description he made in his mind while reading. The resource is made with 2 main materials, sponge cubes and paper dice. 3 sponge cubes are taken to stick the 6 words such that each cube gets 2 words from the 5Ws and 1H list provided above. The remaining sides of the cubes are filled by sticking beautifully cut colorful shapes of pastel sheets. The paper dice is designed with wiggly eyes stick to each side of the cube in the usual dice structure. Tape is used to stick plastic cover over the paper dice and glue is used to stick shapes, wiggly eyes and paper tags respectively. The activity and resource is designed for children aged between 7-8 years. The activity can be performed and tested easily after taking consent from the teacher or respective authority in a school or home setting. The activity does not involve any harmful materials, hence, is easily usable. 3. Evaluation of the impact upon the development of creativity and play 3.1 An analysis of play and its relationship to creativity Play, in usual circumstances, is seen as an act of taking part in a game or acting in a specific manner or even behaving in a certain manner so as to be a ‘winner’ or a ‘loser’ in the activity. On the other hand, when we relate the concept of creativity with play the entire focus shifts from winning/losing perspective to a more productive approach of moving in a light, friendly and free flowing manner (Ferlic, 2006). Froebel, a German philosopher, believed that children learn and develop knowledge when they take active part in the play, are given with the materials for hands-on experience and have the liberty to use their own imagination and creativity to grow. The role of parents and teachers, as per Froebel, is confined to the boundaries of a facilitator and a guide. He denies interruptions in play on the use of a tool, toy or any physical object that a child uses. He believes that a child can explore, imagine and learn through his insight by using things differently. They can only be given guidance for more ways to use the object but not to be ordered on using in one specific way confining their ability to grow and develop (Saracho, 2012). The chosen resource gave the participating children an ability to answer the questions in the way they want. However, their ability to roll the dice or cubes in any different manner was confined by modeling the activity which was imitated by them. Research reveals that a human brain is 90% developed by the time a person reaches 6 years of age. This signifies that the brain’s development is nearly completed in adolescence or when the child jumps to the young adulthood. Hence, to develop skills and to keep our brain in touch with the activities we expect it to perform in our later life, play provides a way out. Over time, we are expected to make decisions, think critically, and imagine things that do not exist, differentiate, socialize and so on. Play helps children to develop these skills in the early stages of brain development. Creativity appears with the idea of play and supports the core concept of getting the brain enough space to develop (Kanani, 2014). Creativity in play leads to active involvement of children in the process of learning. They feel compelled to think, imagine, interact and communicate. Creativity provides a way to determine the level of testing or involvement of certain aspects of cognitive, social, physical or mental development more than others in the play. For instance, a challenging play of solving a riddle would require mental abilities to be used, while making a sand castle would need their physical as well as mental exercise. Hence, the idea of creativity is to enhance and support the core concept of play in children’s development and learning arena. 3.2 The Activity Resource image 3.3 Application of Theory into Practice Bandura’s Social learning theory can be related to the play as the children were imitating their teacher, parents or siblings as they were telling the story. They were using their cognitive abilities in recalling how the story was and in answering the six W’s and one H question as it relates to the story. Vygotsky’s theory, on the other hand, suggests that the learning process and disposition depends on the child’s relationship with others involved in the activity. This seems to be true when it comes to enjoying the activity with other children of their age group but seems absurd when they still enjoy the activity and take immense interest in the entire process with a stranger or an outsider who started the activity for them or demonstrated them the way to do so. The proponent of dramatic play, Smilansky, provides that a pretend play can give greater potentials for the development of the child in terms of using creativity, imagination and in a hidden but certain manner promote interactions with ideas and meanings proposed by others. With the recourse I provided, children id not only participate actively in performing it but rather listened carefully to other children’s answers to the questioning words they were given to answer. This way, children were involved in learning the vocabulary by their active participation as well as by listening to the answers relating them back to the question proposed. Vygotsky and Smilansky provide adult tutoring the play through training, modeling or guiding (Sayeed & Guerin, 2000). In our case, I modeled the activity which was later imitated by the children in the same manner and sequence as I did. Moreover, I provided them with verbal guidance on the activity which was later followed by the children as guided. Hence, the adult tutoring concept relates and applies to the activity designed for the children. Piaget’s theory denies the cognitive development concept through play but rather provides an idea of changing the perspective of reality as per their previously learnt concepts and knowledge about the concepts, ideas or situation they are in. The resource used, as per Piaget’s theory, may end up revealing that children would simply reiterate the story they previously heard or read rather than adding an imaginative thought into it. This seems to be a remarkable finding as children were observed to use the same words as they read and told the story in the same manner as they were told. Hence, the idea of cognitive development seems to be lost if Piaget’s perspective is taken into consideration. However, Lev Vygotsky’s theory proposes an altered reality. Vygotsky’s theory suggests that children construct their ideas and gain new knowledge while they are involved in creativity and lay activities (Mayesky and Mayesky, 2015). For instance, when the children were asked about “what happened when the hungry caterpillar stopped eating?” They used their own idea of how he acted immediately afterwards. They used the term ‘growled’ for his stomach which was a new and imaginative idea that was created by that particular child and transferred to others enhancing the learning process. In this manner, Vygotsky’s theory overrule Piaget’s concept of play and creativity. With the activity proposed, children learnt newer concepts of equivalence for instance, as the three equivalent cubes could be joined to make a rectangular shape. 3.4 Factors Affecting the Activity Modeling As previously discussed, the modeling of the activity and guidance thereof can confine the children from acting otherwise (Nilsen, 2008). They were only allowed to imitate the activity as demonstrated, putting a restriction on them to behave otherwise. Similarly, a modeled answer before the activity started, was observed to be taken as the only possible truth or correct response for the children to that specific question. They seemed to follow the same pattern, words and way of expression when asked that particular question which showed no development, creativity or thoughtfulness at all. Hence, modeling or guidance should never be used to suppress creativity and emphasis should be placed on providing a guidelines rather than a specific rule of thumb to follow. Disinterest Montessori provides that “Nature does not merely give the power of imitation, but that of transforming oneself to become what the example demonstrates” (Montessori 2012). She reflects on the unjustifiable act of parents and elders to force a child on becoming something that he does not have the potential or interest in. The resource and activity chosen may or may not be of interest to the children. Some children are interested in speaking their heart out while others believe in keeping their views hidden; some enjoy physical work while others like mental work; some feel comfortable in arts, while others do not fancy artistic activities. In simple words, being distinct all children have a different reality of themselves (Montessori, 2002), their surrounding and the environment. They may or may not feel comfortable with the story telling or answering requirement of the activity. Hence, the resource may backfire putting them in an awkward and uncomfortable position. If they are not good at words and feel humiliated or discouraged by the fact that they cannot answer the W’s and H questions as was required, the activity might have a negative effect on their development and learning. Hence, the choice of activity and selection of students for that activity may hinder the process if there is a mismatch. Interruption External noise and interruptions may hinder the purpose of the resource i.e. learning process. Complications and interruptions can be off-putting to the memorization practice and discouraging for the participants. The children felt discomfort with the overall noise and interruptions that existed in the environment. Had the place been more calm and quiet, the activity could bring out more fruitful results. The participants felt confused and carried away when their thoughts and storytelling activity was interrupted numerous times in a go. Hence, their expression of the story, words and use of vocabulary was flawed with a less clear sequence of their understanding of the story. 3.5 An activity plan Students name: Date: Duration of activity: 35minuets Activity Title: Questioning Cubes Permission sought from: School Teacher Age of children:7-8years old Number of children/adult-child ratio Current learning re participating children: Proposed Learning Outcomes: (What do you hope the children will learn during the activity?) You could make links to the EYFS-areas of learning/National Curriculum. To be able to discuss their story further by using the five W’s and one H words. to understand the difference between the six words and be able to use it correctly. Brief description of the activity: The activity will include three creative designed cubes and a dice .On the cubes I have stuck six words, “When”, “Where”,”Who”,”What”,”Why” and How”. Six children have participated in this activity; each child has a numbered sticker given to him. Whenever the dice is rolled the child will take turn according to their number. For instance, If the dice is rolled on number five the child with number five sticker will get to roll the cube with the six above words. The word they get will be extended by the teacher to make a question which will then be answered by the child. The child will talk about their reading book to answer the question. Resource(s) Used: Cube Sponge Glue Wiggly eyes Paper dice Stencil Coloured sponge Scissors Tape Role of the adult: (What will you say/do during the activity?) First I asked the children to get their reading books out, once they got their reading books out. I explained to them what they will be doing. I then modelled it to the children so they understand. Examples of questions include: What do you think happens at the end of the story? How did the wolf change in to little red riding hood’s Granny? Any specific language input: (What specific vocabulary will you introduce?) When What Why Where How Preparation of Activity: I have created the activity and planned it beforehand; I then showed the school teacher to take permission if I was allowed to carry out the activity. Safety considerations: Before doing the activity I made sure the book corner was safe for the children and there wasn’t any obstacle on the way. Equality of opportunity: While undertaking this activity I made sure every child had a turn regarding their capability, race, gender and skin colour. Implementation: what are the children going to do? In turns, the children got to roll the cube and the dice. Then discuss the story they had according to the question. Differentiation: If I will get to do the activity again I will reduce the number of children and will do it in a quiet area or a different room with less noise. 4 Conclusion Montessori’s concept of children’s development and creativity relates to the natural world and rejects the ideas of supernatural or unnatural ideals. She believes that children can grow and develop if they are given their space, provided with the resources and supported rather than strictly directed to do certain things. Bandura’s believe on imitation of parents and peers provide another view to social development of the children (Charlesworth 2011). Smilansky’s believe that pretend play brings the best out of children and develops them in better human beings through interaction carries an equal weight. Haste’s social constructivist view emphasizes on a continuous change in the child through his involvement in the play that is derived initially by the cultural affiliations and experiences and evolves with personal understanding and own views (Sayeed and Guerin, 2000). If we combine the views, we can easily reach a conclusion that play and creativity can help in the development of a human mind. If children are involved in a creative work with their peers, they not only bring their own views into play but also evolve their thoughts with the existence of others around them and interpersonal communication with others around them. The activity designed provides a microscopic view on how children learn from the environment and their interaction with others. The first child to answer had limited words and immediate memory of the story. Hence, the child provided a brief response to the question. As the activity progressed, the children became more comfortable with the questions, my existence there, with each other and being more knowledgeable about the story hearing others’ responses. The learning resource and/or activity can help in developing the children’s ability to speak about a topic, understand the context of the 5 W questions and one H question included. They understand the exact meaning and way of answering to those questioning words. They gained the ability to pt thoughts into words. They gained confidence to speak in groups and new vocabulary to communicate their ideas. Indeed, the key aspect of this resource making process remained the gains that children could get after completion. It is further learnt that resources should be designed with a clear goal in mind and must not be dictated to gain a structured or expected response from the children but rather it should leave the children with the space to think out of the box, use their cognitive abilities, must invoke curiosity and should enable them to be creative such that they produce a new concept, image, shape, product or at least a new thought in their capacity. References Charlesworth, R. (2011). Understanding child development. Australia: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. Ferlic, K. (2006). Understanding play and its relation to creativity. [online] Ryuc.info. Available at: http://ryuc.info/common/play/understanding_play.htm [Accessed 13 May 2015]. In Saracho, O. N. (2012). Contemporary perspectives on research in creativity in early childhood education. Charlotte, N.C: Information Age Pub. Kanani, R. (2014). The Transformative Power Of Play And Its Link To Creativity. [online] Forbes. Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/rahimkanani/2014/01/25/the-transformative-power-of-play-and-its-link-to-creativity/ [Accessed 13 May 2015]. Mayesky, M., & Mayesky, M. (2015). Creative activities and curriculum for young children. Milteer, R. M., Ginsburg, K. R., Council On Communications And Media, & Committee On Psychosocial Aspects Of Child And Family Health. (January 01, 2012). The importance of play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong parent-child bond: focus on children in poverty. Pediatrics, 129, 1, 204-13. Montessori, M. (2002). The Montessori method. Mineola, N.Y: Dover Publications. Montessori, M. (2012). The absorbent mind. Lanham, Maryland: Start Publishing. Nilsen, B. (2008). Week by week: Plans for documenting childrens development. New York: Thomson/Delmar Learning. Sayeed, Z., & Guerin, E. (2000). Early years play: A happy medium for assessment and intervention. London: David Fulton. Spodek, B. (1993). Handbook of research on the education of young children. New York: Macmillan Pub. Co. Tassoni, P. (2002). Planning for the Foundation Stage: Ideas for themes and activities. Oxford: Heinemann Educational. Read More