Eighteen months ago when clearing away after a hectic session, and when all but a few children had gone home, a nine-year-old girl approached me saying, 'Let's make up a story'. 'OK,' I said, and she started with an introduction which went something along the lines of it was a dark and stormy night, and I added the occasional filler when cued to do so.
While this may not sound particularly creative, this story-telling situation continued for almost 30 minutes. Each teller added something exciting to the plot which maintained its momentum and ensured that onlookers were as excited by the plight of the characters as we were.
Furthermore, what was interesting about this playful episode is that neither of us had prepared a script, or a plot, or any characterisations, but rather let the story unfold both dramatically and spontaneously.
Creative play is almost conditional on an element of spontaneity, in the sense that for something creative to take place it must generate a surprising ingredient which is new for the person involved in the creative process - it transforms the way that person either thinks or operates. In fact, when we attempted to recreate the same situation a few days later and make up a whole new story it just didn't flow at all, almost as if the 'magic' or 'sparkle' was missing. Perhaps on this second occasion we were just not in tune with each other. Whatever the cause, creativity relies heavily on generating something new within a surprise-like context.
Not just crafts
For the most part when playworkers talk about creative play they often associate it with art-and-craft-based activities, and while they are not wrong in this association, creative play is not totally restricted to physical play, but like the story-telling situation above it can display itself as a process of thought and communication.
Creativity knows no bounds except those placed to constrain it, for example instructing children to use art activities in a particular way, or only giving access to resources on particular days or at certain times. Thus creative play cannot be timetabled or managed for if that were the case, then it would not be creative.
Creative play has obvious links with fantasy and imaginative play, in the sense that these types of play rely on a creative process which doesn't fix any internal boundaries to a child's experiences or capacities, but rather enables the child to play through magical images, notions, memories and fantasies within the safe confines of their own minds. In here, children have the most fantastic stories to tell, the most outrageous landscapes, or inscapes to be constructed. They play out their own internal movies where they may often be the villain or the hero, and where happy endings are almost engineered into the plot. Likewise, characters are created and explored both as a version of people in reality as well as those dark and mysterious creatures which hide in waiting under the bed or in the closet.
Eureka moments
In addition to the internal imagery of creative play and the external art-based aspects, there is also a form of creative-science, that sort of 'Eureka' moment when you discover something for the first time, perhaps the sort of feelings Newton had when everything fell into place, literally. The same principle could be applied when a child discovers how something mechanical or electrical works, or how some piece of engineered apparatus functions, for example a Meccano or Lego set, or how strong a paper bridge will be - depending on its structural design.
There is also a form of emotional creativity recognised in role-play situations whereby a child will experiment with emotional experiences that are both real and fantastical, in order to create a new emotional experience which is then played out within drama. Consider how the skilled actor takes a suggested character from a script, tailors it towards expected stereotypes and that of the director's own idealisation and then makes it a role of his or her own, perhaps including aspects of their own personality traits. This process enables the actor to create a new character from existing material.
Likewise, children will modify all sorts of means to support their play, from dressing up to making masks, from making stories to playing out fantasies, from digging an allotment to hunting for treasure, and while all play consists of some type of modification, it is only creatively expressed when the change creates something new for the individual child. This is a highly important point because creative play does not necessarily mean the created product has to be an original, like a painting of the Mona Lisa or a new theory on the evolution of planets within the solar system, it only has to bring about originality for the individual child. Understanding this emphasis ensures that anything children do which is creative must be recognised and praised as being important for that child alone and is not to be measured against the creativity of other children.
Not for decoration
When children produce artwork it is often the adults who seek to hang the results on a wall for display or ensure parents have them as recognition that their child has had a time served session with a product to evidence the fact. This said however, it does not mean that some children will not want their products displayed for others to see, as often they will, but they shouldn't be coerced into creative activities for the benefit of decorating the setting's walls or for the satisfaction of parents who are expecting value for money. Creativity presents itself quite randomly and often without warning, therefore playworkers need to ensure the environment is prepared for such a level of spontaneous activity.
Suggested Reading
* Hughes, B. (2002) A Playworker's Taxonomy of Play Types, 2nd Edn. London: PLAYLINK.
* Courage and Strength: creative work with children (1999), Radda Barnen (Save the Children, Sweden).
THE PLAYWORKER'S ROLE
Creative play can be provided for without too much difficulty. For example, children being able to access art and craft materials without having to constantly ask for such resources would be an ideal way to enable children to go with the creative flow as it presents itself, as restriction to such resources can stagnate their spontaneous creative drives. This said, I realise from my own experiences that if children are let loose among the art and craft resources they will be used up within a single session, and most play budgets are small enough at the best of times. While I do not suggest you only provide one particular medium per session, as this doesn't allow for creative diversity, it may be wise to release expensive resources in a managed way, while cheaper consumables are open to 'help yourself'.
Art and craft resources need to be plenty and extremely varied, it may even be worth having a scrap cupboard and visiting local companies for their waste resources.
Children also need to be able to alter the physical properties of the play environment so that it accommodates the creative elements of fantasy, imaginative and dramatic play types. This doesn't mean children knocking down structural walls and rearranging the alignment of the lavatories, but rather enabling them to move tables and chairs and perhaps even having some movable screens which can be used for all sorts of activities. Likewise, having access to and being able to rearrange external environments should be given where at all possible, especially where the elements of earth and water are involved.
As well as giving thought to how the play environment can foster and challenge creative activity, playworkers must also consider their role within such processes, such as being a resource for children's creative play - my example was being a co-story teller, but it could just as easily involve you dressing up, playing fairies or goblins, or both, being a horse, a note-taker for script writing, or simply playing an inanimate object like a rock, tree or bunch of grapes. Whatever it is they have you doing you must be prepared to be directed, instructed, even ordered to fulfil those creative playful moments because without your support they may fail to develop their creative drives and aspirations. After all, you too may be lucky enough to be invited into a child's creative mind and walk among the purple grass, or ride in a flying armchair. Just mind the man-eating daisies, they tried nibbling my toes the last time I visited!
