Making,expressing, inventing..
There is creativity in all play, as children develop and respond to ideas, problem solve and imagine. However this area of play particularly describes examples where children are making and expressing ideas creatively such as through music, singing, painting, dancing, building and drawing.*
*dressing up, role play and drama could all be included here too but I have posted these examples in the ‘imaginative play’ section
Home made shakers
I first made these little shakers for E when she was about 6 months old and we have played with them ever since. Made from mini-toiletries bottles for travel, I picked these up from Boots but you could recycle bottles you have at home. Initially I filled them with rice, lentils, pasta and then later tried beads which are really vibrant and lovely.
Each bottle makes a different sound and it’s great watching the bits inside move around. As they were so small I was able to take them out with us and have them on hand for entertainment on the go. I was worried that E might get the lids off so we used electrical tape to secure the lids on tightly.
Discovering instruments
E is about 8 months old here. She hadn’t started crawling yet but was so interested in everything and needed activities that were really engaging and dynamic. The photo on the left was taken at our local children’s centre stay & play drop in which was such a fantastic place for us to get ideas and especially for me to see what captured E’s attention before I considered buying things for home.
Seeing how much E enjoyed holding, shaking and banging these instruments was a clear sign that she was ready for lots more of this type of play. I started popping into local charity shops to build up a collection of instruments (see right hand image), which were usually on sale for less than a pound each.
Big floor drawing
Basic brown paper taped to the floor for a large drawing area
E is about 18 months here and I have given her a new perspective on mark making by taping big sheets of paper to the floor. I have used a roll of brown paper I got from the Post Office and brown parcel tape and given her some crayons. She really enjoyed being about to move around and draw across such a large area.
We had a wooden floor throughout our flat and so had invested in some foam floor tiles (bought from a builder’s merchants) when E was a baby. So here I have taped the paper directly onto the foam tiles, this worked well as I didn’t have to worry about the tape marking the floor or if E went over the paper a bit with her drawing.
Moving and mark making
Here I have taped big sheets of paper to our coffee table to create a large waist height surface for E to draw all over (I bought this roll of paper from a local book and toy shop but have since also got rolls from IKEA). This worked really well as at about 18 months old she loved moving around to play and explore.
I encouraged E to experience walking right round the table and mark-making as she went which made these big loops round the table. The novelty of this activity really sparked her curiosity, I think she enjoyed that we were using the living room in this new and unusual way.
Pasta jewellery
This was a simple and fun way to make jewellery. E is about 18 months old here and loves dressing up. Using some dried penne pasta we made necklaces and head crowns. We did this in two different ways – one by threading the pasta onto shoe laces and tying them up. The other method was using pipe cleaners bought from a local craft shop.
The pipe cleaners are more rigid but easy to bend into shape. They work well with the pasta and also on their own just bent into shapes for bangles, necklaces or crowns. E really liked trying these on and looking in the mirror and she was able to help with threading the pasta onto the lace or pipe cleaner which was great for her fine motor skills.
Shared drawing
For this activity I made a large drawing area with a big sheet of paper and gathered some pens, sequins, stamps, stickers and a glue stick. E was about 18 months old when we made this example. I sat alongside her and drew as well to help maintain her interest in the activity.
I told a story about what I was drawing and she helped make decisions about what I should draw next. She then drew on the paper too, used her stamps and stuck sequins on. It was a nice way to make something together and I was able to model lots for her and show that I enjoy the process of creating pictures too.
Big floor painting
Large brown paper for a big floor painting
Here I thought E would enjoy being able to paint on a really large scale. She is about 18 months old here and has just started to enjoy getting messy. I dressed her in old clothes and taped big sheets of brown paper to our decking in the garden. I gave E a selection of paint pots and brushes and some little foam sponges to use with the paint.
She really loved this activity. She moved around a lot and experimented with different ways to spread the paint until she settled on her favourite part of the activity which was painting herself! She explored making marks with her painted hands and feet and also just seemed to really like the feeling of paint on her skin.
New ways of painting
I tried this activity to offer E a new and interesting way of painting. She was about 18 months when we first tried using old packaging to paint on and she has carried on enjoying it since. I also thought it was a good way of using materials I already had at home rather than having to buy lots of paper.
At this stage E was definitely more interested in the process of painting rather than the final product and often wanted to do lots of different paintings in one go, so having lots of material to paint on was helpful.
Here I have gathered a few different items that E can paint with which enable her to make different types of marks with the paint. I bought a pack of different paint brushes from Wilko and then added other things like a roller and a cut up sponge.
E really liked being able to use different things to paint with and enjoyed experimenting with mixing the colours too. It worked well to use old containers like yogurt pots and take away boxes to put paint in as it meant to she could easily access and mix the paint.
Body art
E has really enjoyed using face paint since she was about 18 months old. Here she is painting her hands and feet which she can do herself and finds so fun and fascinating. She also loves painting adults and it has often been a really lovely activity to do together.
Musical kitchen
This is such a great, classic activity! Its’ a brilliant use of every day things we have at home just works so well. Using pots, pans and tins with wooden or metal spoons from the kitchen make the most spectacular drum kit.
As long as you are not too worried about the noise this is so much fun. We enjoyed experimenting with quiet and loud sounds, going fast and slow and also exploring how different materials make different sounds. This activity works well playing along to music, or singing nursery rhymes or just exploring rhythm and beat.
Wall and floor painting
This worked really well for E and kept her interested in painting for much longer periods from when she was about two years old. Here I have taped a roll of brown paper to our kitchen cabinets and placed a plastic mat on the floor. This was a bit risky in terms of getting paint all over the kitchen but we are using water based children’s paint and the cabinets can be cleaned afterwards.
E enjoyed being able to move around and use big movements to make a large scale painting. She started using her hands about half way through this picture so I was glad I had an old flannel on hand ready to wipe clean her hands quite quickly! Another option would be to use an outside wall if you have access to one.
Here I have taped large paper to our decking and given E some paint in old plastic containers. We experimented with painting using stamping actions. Here we have used an old loo roll as well as some foam painting tools (I bought these as a set with some brushes from Wilko). E really liked being down on the floor and having lots of movement whilst she painted.
Making masks
I tried this activity when E was almost two years old. Using an old card board box I measured and cut a shape to fit over her face and holes for each eye. We had some animal themed tissue paper which I used to cover the cardboard. Using children’s PVA glue I stuck strips of the paper over the cardboard. I then punched holes in the sides with a pencil and thread some elastic through – which I had got from a local craft shop. I kept the elastic quite long so we could adjust it once she had it on.
E enjoyed spreading the glue and helping stick the tissue paper and was just patient enough to watch me do the rest. The masks have been quite durable and she loves wearing them as part of her dressing up play.
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