Deirdre Grogan

Reach for the stars! Creative engagement with young children

Creativity is an area of great interest in the current context within the UK. It is fundamental to successful learning however somehow education removes our artistic and creative abilities and affects the development of important skills such as problem solving. This paper builds on the initial findings of an evaluation report conducted by a university research team, assessing the impact of Starcatchers, an organisation developing performing arts experiences for children aged 12 weeks to 4 years. It focuses on an analysis of the engagement of these young children and suggests that active engagement in creative experiences promote a sense of self-worth in young children, supporting childrens health and well-being and may help to combat the effects of social disadvantage experienced by many young children and their families in the current cultural and social context within Scotland, indicating lessons for implementing effective artists in residence programmes to develop childrens creativity in future.

Lessons from using iPads to understand young children's creativity

This article explores the use of iPads as part of a child-centred data collection approach to understand young children’s creativity. Evidence is presented from a small study of three- to five-year-old children’s creative play. Analysis of the children’s engagement with iPad video diaries and free-to-use tablet applications was logged across two early educational settings over a three-month period. The findings suggest that iPads offer a mechanism to allow children to articulate their creative play and to encourage involvement in the research process. However, bespoke research software to use with early years children is required to improve this process.