Creativity

The Importance of Creativity

The word Creativity is derived from the word Creative which means “relating to or involving the use of the imagination or original ideas to create something” (Oxford University Press, 2013) . Creativity is often a concept that has been undervalued and according to Wright (2012) who cites Bruner (1985) there is often greater value on the skills of logic and systematic thought, which has led to the increased valuing and emphasis on the ability of memory learning where people can retain and repeat facts.

The creativity that children demonstrate can be seen in everyday events. It can be seen when they are exploring and experimenting with materials; repeating a task and discovering new knowledge; and even when concentrating on a single task for a long period (Duffy, 1998). Looking at early childhood education this can be seen in the daily in the free play that children are engaged in.

So why is creativity important for children? Well, the importance of this creativity is not only for the development of the child’s knowledge but also for their mental health as creativity gives people the opportunity to:

• Express their  ideas and feelings
• Explore their values
• Improve our abilities in communication, action and thinking
• Lead to understanding their own and other cultures
• (Duffy, 1998)

By growing and developing their creativity children can grow up to be adults who can:

• Experiment with ideas and materials
• Extend and apply existing knowledge to new situations
• Work with diversity (includes people, backgrounds, languages, cultures, religions, etc.)
• Combine unrelated information to solve problems
• The ability to think flexibly
• Cope and deal with constant changes
• Have the confidence to take risks
• Be innovative
• (Duffy, 1998)

Furthermore, by encouraging this creativity children are able to grow their confidence in taking risks and being able to cope and deal with changes that may occur. Such as the rapid changes that are occurring in our current and evolving world and society.