The importance of promoting young children’s creative thinking, and the social relationships which support it, is now seen as a vital element of good early childhood practice. The authors push forward our understanding of what young children’s creative thinking is, and how it promotes young children’s well-being. By drawing on research evidence, they examine key issues from the perspectives of the child, the parents or careers and early childhood practitioners, and make links between theory and practice.

Tap into children's natural curiosity and scaffold their creative abilities across all domains of learning--and nurture your own creativity!

Encourage tinkering, curiosity, and creative thinking in children of all ages with these 55 hands-on activities that explore art, science, and more The creator of the highly popular creativity site for kids, Tinkerlab.com, now delivers dozens of engaging, kid-tested, and easy-to-implement projects that will help parents and teachers bring out the natural tinkerer in every kid—even babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. The creative experiments shared in this book foster curiosity, promote creative and critical thinking, and encourage tinkering—mindsets that are important to children growing up in a world that values independent thinking. In addition to offering a host of activities that parents and teachers can put to use right away, this book also includes a buffet of recipes (magic potions, different kinds of play dough, silly putty, and homemade butter) and a detailed list of materials to include in the art pantry.

This draws on the voices of practitioners, academics and researchers to examine young children’s play, creativity and learning. With a range of international perspectives, it focuses on the level of engagement and exploration involved in children’s play and how it can be facilitated in different contexts and cultures.

This ground-breaking handbook provides a much-needed, contemporary and authoritative reference text on young children’s thinking. The different perspectives represented in the thirty-nine chapters contribute to a vibrant picture of young children, their ways of thinking and their efforts at understanding, constructing and navigating the world. The Routledge International Handbook of Young Children’s Thinking and Understanding brings together commissioned pieces by a range of hand-picked influential, international authors from a variety of disciplines who share a high public profile for their specific developments in the theories of children’s thinking, learning and understanding. The handbook is organised into four complementary parts: • How can we think about young children’s thinking?: Concepts and contexts • Knowing about the brain and knowing about the mind • Making sense of the world • Documenting and developing children’s thinking Supported throughout with relevant research and case studies, this handbook is an international insight into the many ways there are to understand children and childhood paired with the knowledge that young children have a strong, vital, and creative ability to think and to understand, and to create and contend with the world around them.

The third edition of this essential book presents a comprehensive and accessible overview of contemporary theory and research about young children’s developing thinking and understanding. Sue Robson’s detailed exploration of the ideas and theories is enlivened by transcripts of children’s activities and conversations taken from practice and contemporary research, helping readers to make links between theory, research and practice. This new edition brings together up-to-date research into neuroscience and digital learning, combining theory with discussions for best practice. Each chapter also includes ideas for further reading and suggested activities. Key chapters explore the following: Theories of cognitive development The social, emotional and cultural contexts of children’s thinking Developments in brain science and young children The central roles of play and language in young children’s developing thinking Children’s conceptual development; visual thinking and thinking in music This book is crucial reading for all those interested in how young children develop through their thoughts and actions, including students of Early Years studies, teachers and early years practitioners.

This edited volume brings together international research that explores children’s creativity in STEM inquiry. It takes the position that creativity is relevant in all aspects of life and is essential for adaptable and innovative thinking. The research informed content of the book, highlights both challenges and opportunities for growing children’s creativity. The book focuses on fostering children’s creativity and natural curiosity in the world around them through STEM inquiry. Through STEM inquiry, children are learning through a cross- disciplinary approach where they apply concepts from multiple fields as they are thinking creatively, problem solving and constructing solutions. Educators play a critical role in encouraging children’s creativity by modelling creativity, providing creative projects for children and importantly, establishing rich culturally connected environments where children have the resources, conditions and opportunities for acting and thinking creatively. The book provides a lens for looking at children’s creativity in a range of different cultural settings. It offers insight and guidance to future research and will build educators’ capacity for developing children’s creative practices.

Discussion of painting, music, dance and movement, and drama as creative expression and activity.