In Loris Malaguzzi's famous poem describing the work of the pre-schools of Reggio Emilio in Italy, he wrote, 'The child has a hundred languages, a hundred hands' - and that seems a good place to start when thinking about the role of creativity in language development.
We know that talk often comes easily when the hands are occupied. Sometimes this talk is about the task in hand - the process, materials, ideas and challenges involved. But it can also be about seemingly unrelated topics. It is as though the hands - and the sensory experiences of painting, manipulating messy materials, cutting and sticking - are triggering the kinds of activity in the language centres of the brain that promote talk and conversation.
Social talk about a new pair of shoes, favourite cartoon characters or what is on the lunch menu is an important aspect of language development. And with young children these conversations can quickly turn to matters of a higher order, such as why the sky is blue or why custard is yellow.
MALLEABLES
For some children, sitting at a table alongside others, carefully manipulating dough or clay, with no pressure to speak but the opportunity to hear the chatter of others is exactly the right environment for building vocabulary and the confidence to use their voice when they are ready.
This is particularly true of children with English as an additional language, who often go through a 'studial' phase where they choose to listen and absorb the sounds and vocabulary of their new language before attempting to use it. They benefit from engaging in activities without the pressure to speak or under- stand complex instructions.
Use real, good-quality clay from a local potter and focus on the process and sensory experiences of manipulating and playing with the clay, rather than working towards a finished product that needs firing. Experiment with pressing beads, buttons, twigs and pebbles into the wet clay or paint it with your fingers.
MESSY PLAY
Slippery, gooey, drippy, splashy... it is hard to play with messy materials without wanting to describe them, even if it is just one word and an exclamation. As adults, we can't help ourselves and children soon absorb the vocabulary as well as inventing some words of their own.
Developing descriptive language enhances communication and supports creative development. We also express how the materials make us feel through non-verbal expressions of delight or maybe distaste.
Tuff Spot trays are essential for exploring messy materials and allow children and adults to play with them together. Paper inserts extend their creative potential and 50 Exciting Ways To Use a Builder's Tray by Helen Bromley (Lawrence Educational) is full of brilliant ideas to support language and creative development. Clear tubs on legs and tables with bowl inserts also encourage collaborative messy play (see box).
CREATIVE EXPRESSION
It is important to remember that creative activities, linked as they are to the expressive arts, have the ability to communicate at all levels and in ways other than language. Young children articulate and express experiences of the world through drawing or painting, for example, though not always through figurative representation.
An experience such as a trip to the beach triggers a creative process — such as smearing hands in blue paint up and down on paper - and the presence of an interested, responsive adult alongside triggers talk.
Expressing themselves through the process is what is most important to the child. A comment captured and displayed alongside the artwork tells others why the experience, and the creative process, was so significant.
OBSERVATION
Observing and documenting children's talk while engaging in creative activities is very useful in providing evidence of children's language development. Being a co-creater, making something alongside a child, or being there for technical support allows us the perfect opportunity to listen to children's conversations and to make sensitive judgements about the right time to join in, and when to move the conversation forward. Or, just as importantly, when to stay quiet.
MODELLING
Modelling with scrap materials is one of the essentials of any early years setting and at www.scrapstoresuk.org you'll find a list of the many excellent centres providing a fantastic array of materials to trigger creative activities, as well as useful ideas for 'imaginative play with found materials'.
Having plenty of relatively cheap scrapstore-type materials available alongside the usual yoghurt pots and cereal boxes is a powerful incentive for children's creativity. A piece of plastic tubing provides a starting point for a porridge-making machine, while a few rolls of shiny paper might trigger the building of a spaceship.
WORKSHOP
The ideal creative environment looks like a workshop or studio space. This is what the pre-schools of Reggio Emila call an 'atelier', with materials and resources stored accessibly and with plenty of space for children to develop their ideas. The Reggio approach refers to the environment as the 'third teacher'. This clearly gives status and value to the creative spaces and the way resources are made available to the children.
Children need the time and the space to leave 'work in progress' so that they may return to it the next day and maybe the day after that before deciding it is finished - if it gets finished at all, that is. Some artwork is temporary, such as a dough sculpture or a drawing made in shaving foam. Take photographs (or let the children take them themselves), so you can talk about temporary creations afterwards. Alternatively, take photographs at different stages, to show how work developed over time.
Display photos and artwork in talking photo albums and use recordable pegs to capture children's exact words about their work (see also ICT). These prompt further talk and encourage other children to ask questions, as well as talk about their own creations. Recording children's words helps ensure that written captions or observations truly reflect children's opinions, thought processes and language.
BLOCK PLAY
Remember that creativity — and the language development possibilities linked with it - are not limited to the art or messy areas. Think about the tremendous creativity that takes place when children play with blocks, and the huge potential for language development as they voice their ideas to themselves and others when building and constructing indoors and out.
Unit blocks and hollow blocks come in different sizes and provide a perfect stimulus for the kind of open-ended creative play that encourages rich language development both indoors and out.
BOOKS
Try to create a quiet space in your creative workshop for looking at pictures and art books. Build a collection of books that stimulate children's creativity and inspire their interest in artwork of all kinds. Look out for books that draw on creativity as their central message, and use them to stimulate discussion. Similarly, draw attention to the illustrations of popular picture books at storytime and use them to inspire children to tell their own versions of the stories.
Books to inspire include: The Artist who Painted a Blue Horse by Eric Carle; Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson; The Art Book for Children by Phaidon Editors; Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh; Art and Max by David Weisner; Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lionni; The Dot by Peter H Reynolds and Tell Me a Picture by Quentin Blake.
REFERENCES AND FURTHER INFORMATION
- The Hundred Languages of Children, www.thewonderof learning.com/history/?lang= en_GB
- The Hundred Languages of Children: The Reggio Emilia Experience in Transformation by Carolyn Edwards, Lella Gandini and George Forman (Praeger)
- Experiencing Reggio Emilia: Implications for Pre-school Provision by Lesley Abbott and Cathy Nutbrown (OUP)
- Language and Literacy in the Early Years by Marian Whitehead (Sage)
- Supporting Creativity and Imagination in the Early Years by Bernadette Duffy (OUP)
RESOURCE IDEAS
- Active World Tray (£15.99) and Active World Tray Paper Inserts (£16.99), www.tts-group.co.uk
- 2.5kg Air Drying Clay (£4.00), www.elc.co.uk
- Clear Quadrant Tray (£7.49), www.reflectionsonlearning.co.uk
- Toddler Sensory Table (£69.99), call Cosy Direct on 01332 370152
- Instant Snow (£8.25), www.arc-education.co.uk
- Rainbow Swamp Gel (£10.99, for a pack of five), Cosy Direct
- Free Standing Painting Dryer (£58.00), www.designsforeducation.co.uk
- Help Yourself Trolley (£456), www.communityplaythings.co.uk
- Art Store 4 with space for materials (£165), www.earlyyearsdirect.com
- Hollow, unit and mini blocks, www.communityplaythings.co.uk
- Solid Blocks (£125.00), www.earlyyearsdirect.com
- Giant Polydron XL Set 1 (above, £59.95), www.arc-education.co.uk
