In order to foster children's creativity, it is crucial that practitioners offer children open-ended experiences and value their individual responses to a stimulus. Here are a few ideas of how to arouse children's curiosity and promote imaginative thinking through the use of bags and boxes.
Character case
Pack a suitcase of items belonging to an imaginary character. Include clothes, hats and shoes, and items such as a camera, glasses and books.
Choose an interesting suitcase as it will be the initial stimulus for developing the children's ideas. The task of engaging and motivating children will begin long before the case is even opened with questions such as, 'Why do you think this case is so battered?', 'Look at the labels attached to it. What do they say?', 'What do you think is inside?'.
As the lid is lifted and the contents revealed, children will shape their ideas and they will build up a more detailed picture of the character and their lifestyle. They may imagine the nature of the person's travel and suggest a context for their visit. Children will probably want to try on the clothes and assume the character. This initial session may then be the starting point for more imaginative and role play.
Posted box
* Place an object such as a shell, key or bracelet in a box and wrap it in brown paper.
* Address it to the children and ask an adult to 'deliver' it to the setting.
* Build up the children's interest about who has sent the parcel and why.
* Through open questioning (for example, 'Who does the object belong to?', 'How did they lose it?', 'Who found it?'), encourage the children to think of story ideas and to develop these through play.
Touch and feel box
* Fill a sturdy cardboard box with interesting textured objects such as a nailbrush, kiwi fruit, piece of velvet fabric and pan scrub.
* Tape up the seams so that children are unable to see inside.
* Make an opening big enough for a child's hand to fit through in one side.
* Cut the foot off a sock and attach the other part to the opening in the box.
* Ask the children to put their hand through the sock and to feel the objects in the box.
* Encourage the children to describe the objects using vocabulary such as 'prickly', 'soft' and 'lumpy' and to guess what the object might be.
Sounds bag
Stimulate children's sense of hearing by hiding an object such as a ticking clock, a bell, a bunch of keys or coins in a bag and then challenge the children to identify the object by its sound. Through this activity, and by listening to noises in the environment, encourage children to discriminate between increasingly similar sounds.
Happy bag
Keep a 'happy bag' in the setting at all times and encourage the children to think about things that have made them feel comfortable or delighted.
Choose a special bag for the purpose to attract the children's attention and capture their imagination. This bag will, in reality, be empty but children will imagine that it is full of happy experiences that they can 'take out' and reflect upon at any time. They may want to talk about the memory they have chosen and this activity can provide a starting point for sharing experiences.
However, there should be no pressure on children to articulate their thoughts and they should be allowed ample time to contemplate.
Treasure trove
* Buried treasure is always exciting to children but all the more thrilling when they discover the treasure themselves.
* Decorate a box to use as a treasure chest and fill it with objects such as coins, jewellery, maps and letters.
* Select a place in the outdoor area to hide the treasure. If possible, lock the box and hide the key nearby.
* As the children discover the treasure, support them in developing their imaginative ideas and story play.
Animal bag
Encourage the children to curl their fingers to meet their thumb on one hand so creating a circular 'box'. Then ask them to make a 'lid' by placing their other hand flat across the top of their 'box'. In turn, ask the children to describe the animal that they have in their box. When the others have guessed what the animal is, ask the child to lift the 'lid' and let the animal out. They can pretend to be the released animal.
