Background information

What is Creativity?

Creativity is a skill and a way of thinking, rather than a talent we are each born with (or born without!) Creativity is an essential skill in many aspects of life - problem solving, resilience, maths, science, and social and emotional intelligence; and it is our most valuable human resource.

Creativity is a process that allows us to form original thoughts and ideas through exploration, discovery and imagination. The creative process is very much about the process rather than the product, the journey rather than the destination. We all have the capacity to be creative, however it is a skill that requires practice. It is also important to provide an environment and resources that support creative thinking and expression, especially for young children.

Sir Ken Robinson: Do Schools Kill Creativity? (https://vimeo.com/20146136)

The benefits of nurturing Creativity

Creativity is a vital skill for the 21^st century. Creative thinking allows us to solve problems, cope with change, innovate and connect with others. Engaging in creative thinking develops our whole brain, helps us to understand the world we live in and how we might contribute to our community.

Why is Creativity important for young children?

Creativity is important for young children because it provides a way for them to explore, discover and make sense of the world around them. It provides opportunities to express their thoughts and feelings without judgement, deal with stress, explore ideas, hypothesise, experiment, imagine and think deeply about all that they see, think and feel.

The creative process gives children the opportunity to try new things without being right or wrong. They can try, and try again.

Providing opportunities for children to be creative is critical for their development and well being. Being creative develops neural pathways and connections in the brain and requires the use of the whole brain. This provides a foundation for creative thinking, problem-solving, social and emotional intelligence, well being and resilience.

Want to know more?

Check out the Cool Australia Factsheet: How can Educators and Families Nurture Creativity in Young Children?

Keep it fun. Try a new art form or medium each month and explore all sorts of ideas using that art form (try singing, dance, clay, puppetry, storytelling, painting, mosaics, weaving, video or photography, etc.).

Lead by example. Show the children that it is fun to try new things and try out something new yourself.

Cater for all learning styles. We all learn differently so have a backup plan so that if some children are not engaged with one activity there is something else to capture their imagination and interest which uses a different part of the brain or body (an active physical activity and a visual or thinking activity).

Use all your senses. Creativity and imagination are fed through all your senses so make your creative activities sensory.

Make creativity part of every day. Play some music during transition, meal or quiet times; incorporate actions, fingerplays, role play or character voices when reading stories; provide loose parts and open-ended toys rather than toys with one purpose or function; try some bath body or finger paint, or get creative with your cooking.

Ask open-ended questions to encourage creative thinking. I wonder….?

Nurturing Creativity Activity: Soundscapes

Purpose: This sequence of activities is designed to nurture creativity through sound and music, developing the creative potential of young children through experiential learning in the arts. In these activities, children will explore sounds they hear in a variety of settings, undertake a soundwalk and then create a soundscape - both as a written record and a live performance.

These activities are designed to be undertaken as a scaffolded sequence, but can also be modified and undertaken as separate activities, depending on the needs of children.

Activity 1: Exploring Familiar Sounds

Equipment needed:

This activity may require resources depending on the soundscape you decide to create. You may wish to have a collection of resources which may include:

Pots and pans
Sticks
Branches with leaves, seed pods, etc
Shakers - containers with different materials inside to make different sounds (sand, rice, beads, stones, etc)
Rain sticks
Anything else that creates a sound - you are limited only by your imagination!
Paper and some pencils, crayons or markers

Instructions:

Step 1:

Provide very young children with a range of materials that make sounds to explore. You could include items that make loud sounds, quiet sounds, man-made or natural sounds, and things that they might find around the house or things from outside.

Step 2:

Ask children to sit quietly in a familiar space (inside or outside) and ask them to activate their 'super hearing' senses.

Step 3:

Ask the children the following questions:

What do you hear?

Loud sounds or quiet sounds?

Close sounds or far away sounds?

Sounds that are constant or sounds that come and go?

Man-made sounds or sounds from nature?

Can you hear more or different sounds if you close your eyes?

How do the sounds make you feel – scared, calm, relaxed, happy, curious?

Step 4:

Distribute some paper and some pencils, crayons or markers to the children. Ask the children to imagine the shapes, colours or patterns of the sounds they heard and to draw them. Alternatively, the children can draw the things that created the sounds they heard (eg: they can draw a bird if they heard a bird call).

Step 5:

You could undertake this activity both inside and outside. Ask the children to notice the different sounds they hear.

Activity 2: Going on a Soundwalk

Instructions:

Step 1:

Take the children on a walk and ask them to carefully notice the sounds that can be heard along the way. You might explore the local neighbourhood, nearby nature, local shops, the beach, etc.

Step 2:

Ask the following questions during or after the walk:

Are the sounds different to those inside or in your back yard?

What did you hear?

What sounds did you hear most often? Why?

What sounds did you hear only a few times? Why?

Was there any pattern or rhythm in the sounds you heard? If so, can you clap the rhythm?

Were there any sounds with an interesting melody or tone? Can you sing any of these sounds or make these sounds with any other parts of your body?

How did each sound make you feel?

Were there any sounds you heard that you didn’t know what they were?

Activity 3: Creating a Soundscape

Equipment needed:

Small pieces of paper (eg: A4 paper cut into quarters)
Some pencils, crayons or markers
Pots and pans
Sticks
Branches with leaves, seed pods, etc
Shakers - containers with different materials inside to make different sounds (sand, rice, beads, stones, etc)
Rain sticks
Anything else that creates a sound - you are limited only by your imagination!

Instructions:

Step 1:

Together with the children, decide on a ‘theme’ to create for the soundscape (for example: our backyard, our room, nature, our neighbourhood, bush, the local beach, etc). You could use the experiences form the previous activity as a stimulus, or you could use other sounds - either real or imagined.

Step 2:

Discuss the sounds you might hear if you listened carefully in the place/location you have chosen.

Step 3:

Ask the children the following questions:

How often would you hear each sound in two minutes?

What sounds would you hear at the beginning, middle and end of your soundscape?

Would you hear more than one sound at a time?

Step 4:

Ask the children to draw a picture of each sound on a small square of paper. You will need a number of pictures of the sounds that you have decided you would hear more than once - e.g. if you decide you would hear a car five times in 2 minutes, you will need five pictures representing cars or the sounds they make.

Step 5:

Arrange the pictures in a grid on the floor where everyone can see them according to the frequency of the sound and when they are to be heard.

	aStarta	aaaaa	aaaaa	aaaaa	Middle	aaaaa	aaaaa	aaaaa	aEnda
Sound 1
Sound 2
Sound 3
Sound 4
Sound 5
Sound 6
Sound 7
Sound 8

Step 6:

Give the children an opportunity to explore a range of materials in order to create the sounds in their soundscape. They may use instruments, toys, natural materials, blocks, or their voices or bodies, or anything else you may have on hand.

Step 7:

Allocate a sound to each child or a small group and try performing your soundscape. Play around with the order and frequency of sounds until you are happy with your soundscape.

Step 8:

Encourage the children to practice their soundscape and perform it to an audience!

This activity can be scaffolded to suit children of all ages and stages of development.

Try a few different themes or locations

Experiment with different sounds and materials

Provocations:

I wonder if certain sounds have certain colours, shapes or patterns?
I wonder if everyone has the same favourite sounds?
I wonder if the sounds we hear remind us of anything else?

Possible lines of development:

Explore the different kinds of sounds we can make with our voices and our bodies.
Discuss the way different sounds can make us feel - happy, sad, excited or scared.

Evaluation

Complete an analysis of learning, listing evidence about:

Belonging	Finding something of interest
Communication	Expressing an idea or feeling
Exploration	Engaging with challenges and persisting when difficulties arise
Well being	Being involved

Nurturing Creativity - Soundscapes

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