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25 ways to Promote Creativity with School-age Children

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Creativity comes from looking for the unexpected
and stepping outside your own experience.
~Masaru Ibuka
When children reach school-age years they are eager learners, naturally imaginative and creative. Moreover, school-age children  learn by doing as they interact with their peers and  explore the materials in their environment.  This is why it is vital that you promote creativity in your program in the following ways:

1. Provide open-ended materials that children can do many things with such as: felt, fabric, yarn, card board boxes, etc.

2. Arrange the environment to encourage children to explore and be messy.

3. Provide space for projects that cannot be completed in one day.

4.  Allow projects to stay in place for days so that the children can expand the project.

5. Be sure to allow long blocks of time where children are free to lead their own activities without adult involvement.

6. Encourage the children to make their own plans and implement them.

7. Provide samples of creative work.

8. Store materials where children can easily choose them.

9.  Allow children to explore subjects that were introduced at school or on fieldtrips.

10. Encourage children to freely express their ideas and feelings.

11. Give the children opportunities to extend younger children’s play.

12. Allow time for brainstorming.

13. Introduce children to visual and expressive arts.

14. Help the children develop specific skills.

15. Give children your feedback on their projects and activities.

16. Avoid ditto sheets and prepackaged craft projects.

17. Make each child feel unique.

18. Help children to understand that it takes practice and hard work to develop their talents.

19. Encourage risk taking.

20. Plan times where children can share or display their work.

21. Provide sensory play; soil, sand, water,etc.

22. Ask questions while children are being creative, such as: tell me about your project?

23. Accept each child’s creative ability.

24. Model creativity

25. Post a sign  that reads, CREATIVITY ZONE!

I challenge you to take 25-days to implement each step to promote creativity in your program and you will be amazed at what the children will create!

Check out Growing up Creative by Teresa Amabile

With a Cool School-age Program in mind,

Shiketa Morgan

Im just a phone call away for Child Care Business Coaching! click here

Category:

Curriculum, School-Age Program, Uncategorized

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How to Create a Cool Place for School-Age Children

I began transforming my school-age program in the spring of 2010 with the help of a Missouri T.E.A.C.H. project Pilot grant. The information and resources that I gained while completing nine college semester hours of youth development training hours inspired me to create a cool place for school-age children.

In this blog post, I will share with you 5 ways to create a cool place for school-age children:

1. Solicit feedback from the children. Ask the children what type of activities that they would like to see in the program this summer.

2. Assess the environment and added materials that are appropriate for their age group. Changed the classroom centers to ,”Clubs.” School-age children love to belong to clubs and this makes the environment a cool place to explore. For example, The cooking center is now called the, ” Cooking Club” and the Art area is now the “Art Club.”

Fun materials to add to your environment: Games, clay, paint, paper, scrap booking materials, yarn for crocheting, hobby magazines, wood working materials, variety of books, dress-up clothes, blocks, large cardboard boxes, computer, sports equipment, puppets/theater, dramatic play prop box (hair dresser, store,etc)

3.  As you make changes  observe the children to see how they are responding to the environment. If the  children seem to be very involved in the materials and more focused…you did a great job!

4. At my childcare center, we plan a cool and fun-filled summer camp every year. The weekly activities are theme based and there are  a variety of field trips planned every week. For example: Mondays- Park Day; Tuesday- Visit a local attraction; Wednesday- Free Movie Camp; Thursday- Library (Summer Reading Club) Friday- Visit local attraction.

The parents are responsible for all field trip fees and the field trips are planned for the entire summer. Furthermore, the last week of camp is back to school fun and we plan a big back to school party for the children.  See my website for ideas

5. Ideas for the Fall Before/After School – Kids Club- In many cases parents need some place for their school-age children to go before/after school and creating after school club activities, is a great way to keep the children from getting bored. Some of the after school kids clubs could include: Art, Science, Music, Cooking, Drama, Technology, Math, Literacy Club. For more tips on how to create clubs visit, After School Training Tool Kit website.

Cool Summer Camp Marketing ideas:

  • Add a large Summer Camp Here Sign in your window (if permitted)
  • Market your summer camp program on your website and on your social media pages
  • Decorate your windows with summer decor
  • Be sure to insert Summer Camp Enrolling signs in your van window (if permitted)
  • Issue Summer Camp Flyers to your local schools
  • Offer incentives for parents who refer families to your summer camp

For more marketing ideas, check out my Marketing 101 Toolkit.

With your Child Care Business in Mind,

Shiketa Morgan

Follow my Child Care Business Tweets @ccarebusiness

 

Category:

Child Care Center, Curriculum, Family Child Care, Program Planning, School-Age Program

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