Creativity and Wellbeing in the Early Years: Practical Ideas and Activities for Young Children 2022046501, 2022046502, 9781032320687, 9781032320670, 9781003312710

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“In this absolute gem of a book, Sonia has foregrounded the links between creativity, wellbeing and the education system. She has included tons of resource ideas and links to follow up on, whether you are interested in poetry, drama, art or another area of creativity entirely! But this is more than a simple resource book - the ‘how’ and ‘why’ is also explored, along with real life examples, working with children with SEND and more. The interviews Sonia has included with a diverse range of friends and colleagues adds a fresh dimension to the book, serving both as interesting conversations and inspiration for improvements in pedagogy. The book is woven throughout with Sonia’s own delightful stories, anecdotes, and professional experiences, ­creating a rich tapestry to draw on for anyone spending time with c­ hildren, either in a role in school or Early Years setting, or as a parent.” – Kathy Brodie, Founder – Early Years TV “This new book is a useful blend of the personal and the practical, richly referenced to encourage further exploration. Using an appropriately broad definition of creativity a wide range of key issues are examined, and strong links are made between creativity and wellbeing for both practitioners and children. As a reader you are engaged by regular focused ‘moments of reflection’, and direct questions that help to challenge and extend your practice. I recommend this book to all professionals working in early years who are serious about developing creativity in their setting.” – Ed Harker, Former nursery teacher and infant school headteacher

Creativity and Wellbeing in the Early Years This accessible and practical guide explores how we can enhance and embed creativity in the early years to support children’s wellbeing. The book initially explores the work of Anna Craft, Ken Robinson, and Reggio Emilia to think about creativity with young children, before considering what this means for wellbeing. Five core chapters focus on creative mediums –​drawing, sculpting and painting; craft; music; dance and drama; and storytelling and poetry –​and offer a range of practical ideas and activities to use and adapt. This book provides: • • • •

• •

A wide range of activities accompanied by examples of collaborative arts projects with children. Interviews with artists and practitioners who support children’s wellbeing using creative mediums. Recommendations for creative activities using accessible and everyday materials. Case studies showing the positive impact of creativity, from developing children’s cultural understanding to soothing and supporting children with sensory experiences. Suggestions for enthusing children with a love of words, enabling them to express their thoughts and feelings through creative language. Moments for reflection to encourage readers to pause and consider the impact of creativity on their own wellbeing as well as the wellbeing of children in their care.

With ideas included that every practitioner can use in their setting, this book is an essential tool for early years professionals who want to build their confidence in using creativity in their practice whilst supporting children’s wellbeing. Sonia Mainstone-​Cotton is a freelance nurture consultant. She currently works in a specialist team supporting 3-​and 4-​year-​olds who have social, emotional and mental health needs. She also trains staff across the country, working with children’s centres, schools, nurseries, charities and churches. Sonia has written nine books.

Little Minds Matter: Promoting Social and Emotional Wellbeing in the Early Years Series Advisor: Sonia Mainstone-​Cotton The Little Minds Matter series promotes best practice for integrating social and emotional health and wellbeing into the early years setting. It introduces practitioners to a wealth of activities and resources to support them in each key area: from providing access to ideas for unstructured, imaginative outdoor play; activities to create a sense of belonging and form positive identities; and, importantly, strategies to encourage early years professionals to create a workplace that positively contributes to their own wellbeing, as well as the quality of their provision. The Little Minds Matter series ensures that practitioners have the tools they need to support every child. A Guide to Mental Health for Early Years Educators Putting Wellbeing at the Heart of Your Philosophy and Practice Kate Moxley Supporting the Wellbeing of Children with EAL Essential Ideas for Practice and Reflection Liam Murphy Building Positive Relationships in the Early Years Conversations to Empower Children, Professionals, Families and Communities Sonia Mainstone-​Cotton and Jamel Carly Campbell Developing Child-​Centred Practice for Safeguarding and Child Protection Strategies for Every Early Years Setting Rachel Buckler Little Brains Matter A Practical Guide to Brain Development and Neuroscience in Early Childhood Debbie Garvey Creativity and Wellbeing in the Early Years Practical Ideas and Activities for Young Children Sonia Mainstone-​Cotton Anti-​Racist Practice in the Early Years A Holistic Framework for the Wellbeing of All Children Valerie Daniel

Creativity and Wellbeing in the Early Years Practical Ideas and Activities for Young Children

Sonia Mainstone-​Cotton

Designed cover image: Phoebe Head is 3 and a half, very tall, and her favourite colour is sometimes red and sometimes green. She loves making up stories with mummy, playing with playdough and making pictures at nursery. First published 2023 by Informa Law from Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Informa Law from Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 Informa Law from Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2023 Sonia Mainstone-​Cotton The right of Author to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-​in-​Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-​in-​Publication Data Names: Mainstone-Cotton, Sonia, author. Title: Creativity and wellbeing in the early years : practical ideas and activities for young children / Sonia Mainstone-Cotton. Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routeldge, 2023. | Series: Little minds matter ; 9 | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Identifiers: LCCN 2022046501 (print) | LCCN 2022046502 (ebook) | ISBN 9781032320687 (paperback) | ISBN 9781032320670 (hardback) | ISBN 9781003312710 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Early childhood education–Activity programs. | Creative activities and seat work. Classification: LCC LB1139.35.A37 M356 2023 (print) | LCC LB1139.35.A37 (ebook) | DDC 372.21–dc23/eng/20221129 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022046501 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022046502 ISBN: 9781032320670 (hbk) ISBN: 9781032320687 (pbk) ISBN: 9781003312710 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/​9781003312710 Typeset in Optima by Newgen Publishing UK

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Contents

Introduction

1

1

Creativity in the early years

4

2

Wellbeing and creativity

20

3

Fine art

37

4

Craft

60

5

Music and dance

81

6

Drama and imaginative play

107

7

Words, storytelling and poetry

125

Conclusion

148

Index

150

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Introduction

This book is part of the Little Minds Matter series. I normally write the foreword for each book in this series as I am the series advisor, but on this occasion I am writing one of the books. The series has a focus on children’s wellbeing –​an area which has been a crucial, underpinning part of my work for the last 8 years. This is my 10th book. I wanted to write this book as creativity has been a golden thread in my life and work for a long time. This started by marrying an artist. At the very young age of 20 I married my husband Iain, who is a sculptor and letter carver. Until I met Iain, art had not been part of my life, but he introduced me to the world of creativity and art. I was at first scared and intimidated, but he helped me to see that creativity and art are for everyone. Thirty years on, I look back and see how much art and creativity have become part of my life. For a long time, I knew that I wanted to encourage and support children to enjoy creativity in a way that I never did as a child. I knew what I didn’t like –​the templates and having to draw things in a particular way model –​but it wasn’t until I discovered the work in Reggio Emilia and I became involved in a creative project with children that I began to see how different and exciting creativity with children could be. From 2003–​2008 I worked as a mentor to artists and schools on a project called the 5×5×5 Project (it is now called House of Imagination). This was a project led by Penny Hay and Mary Fawcett who, inspired by the work in Reggio Emilia, worked with early years settings, schools, artists and mentors to think about, work on and encourage children’s creativity and critical thinking. If I am honest, I am not sure how I ended up working with these people. At the time I was working for

DOI: 10.4324/9781003312710-1

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Introduction

the Children’s Society on a children’s rights, child voice project and a few of the schools and nurseries I worked with were involved in the 5×5×5 Project. As with much of my career, I ended up meeting some interesting people at an interesting time; I learnt so much from them and was able to work with them. So why creativity and wellbeing? Around 8 years ago my career moved into working with children (mostly around 4 years old) with high social, emotional and mental health needs, and in most of my previous books I have talked about and shared my practice around wellbeing and working with these children. Creativity has continued to be an important aspect of my work and, as I continued to develop, learn and reflect, I realised that the golden thread of creativity is still a vital part of my work life as well as my non-​work life. Wellbeing has become an essential element of my world; the wellbeing of children and staff has become the foundation of working practice and looking after my own wellbeing is something I actively work on daily. When you explore the arena of wellbeing and adults, creativity is something which is explored and recommended. However, we hear it a lot less with children. And although there is now a growing number of books and articles on children’s wellbeing, and this book is one in a series of which I am proud to be an advisory editor, very few books focus on how creativity can support and aid it. I believe creativity can be so supportive to children’s wellbeing and my hope is through this book I can share with you with some ideas, thoughts and practical suggestions on how you can use creativity to aid and boost a child’s wellbeing. I hope you enjoy it. Below is a brief overview of how the book works. Chapters 1 and 2 explore creativity and wellbeing, looking at how we link the two and how this works in our current education system. Chapters 3–​7 explore a range of different creative practices. Chapter 3 looks at fine art, Chapter 4 at craft, Chapter 5 at music and dance, Chapter 6 at drama and imagination and Chapter 7 at words, storytelling and poetry. Each of these chapters offers practical ideas and suggestions of things to try and throughout the book are many interviews with different practitioners and artists and a large number of examples from practice. My hope is that this is a book you can dip in and out of; that it will be an easy read and a fun read. I also hope you might be inspired to try some

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new things, both for yourself and with the children you work with. I am not a creativity expert, but I strive to highlight and share some creative ideas through this book.

Reference House of Imagination –​https://​hou​seof​i mag​inat​ion.org (formerly the 5×5×5 Project)

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In this chapter, I am going to explore the theme of creativity in the early years. Before I start, I want you to think for a moment about your experience of creativity. Do you consider yourself a creative person? Or is creativity in yourself something that leaves you feeling awkward and uncomfortable? Before I met my husband Iain (over 30 years ago), I didn’t see myself as a creative person. As I have mentioned in the introduction, over the years Iain has helped me to see creativity differently. For many of us, our views on creativity have been influenced by our early experiences. I vividly remember, aged 4, not being allowed to show my painting in a school assembly with the rest of the class as it wasn’t good enough. The message it gave me was that ‘I am rubbish at drawing and painting; I am not a creative person’. I still don’t draw or paint, but over the years I have begun to see that creativity is so much more than that and I would now describe myself as a creative person. I hope this book will help to unpick and explore that idea some more.

Creativity and education in the UK I am starting this chapter by exploring Ken Robinson’s views on education and creativity. I first came across his work when I was working on the 5×5×5 Project. If you are not familiar with Ken, I would highly recommend watching his TED Talks and there is a link to these at the end of the chapter. In his 2006 TED Talk, he argues that creativity is as important in education as literacy and suggests we should treat it with

4

DOI: 10.4324/9781003312710-2

Creativity in the early years

the same status. He worries that as children grow older creativity is educated out of them. I find this a thought-​provoking idea. Back in 2006 when Ken made that comment, he was concerned at how little creativity was valued in education and was arguing how vitally we need it. He suggested that creative thinking is what we are going to need to move forward and fully develop in the world, workplace etc. Watching his 2006 TED Talk again is interesting. It is dated, and some of his jokes are a bit cringeworthy, but I think Ken was making a social commentary back then that is just as relevant for today as I am writing this book, if not more relevant. I feel that currently we have lost even more of the incentive and emphasis to encourage creativity in education. I work in schools daily, and I regularly see the huge constraints and pressures teachers are under and the impact this has on their ability to be creative in their teaching and in encouraging creativity in the children. This morning while listening to the news, a bulletin announced the concerns that Geoff Barton, from the Association of School and College Leaders, has around the UK Government’s upcoming white paper on education, which is putting more of an emphasis on reading, writing and maths. He is concerned that an over-​emphasis on literacy and numeracy could prove counterproductive and narrow the primary curriculum and argues that these changes will disadvantage those who need the most support. He suggests that the Government say they want to level up, but these proposed education changes won’t help. He is worried that those children who are unable to access art, theatre, and dance with their families outside of school, will soon be unable to access them in school either, thus narrowing their opportunities and experiences not increasing them. In Ken Robinson’s (2022) final book, he reminds us that the idea that only some people are creative is a myth. He points out that creativity is similar to a muscle or the brain, and that it changes with use. If we don’t use them, they lie dormant, but if we use them, they grow and develop. In a blog post, Jeffrey Kluger (2014), a senior writer at Time magazine, suggests that creativity is a renewable resource and is universally distributed. However, he also says that we don’t decide how much we get and all have a responsibility to tap into what is there. In 2019, Durham University was commissioned by the Arts Council to create a Commission on Creativity and Education. They produced a paper with recommendations about their vision for promoting this creativity and,

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at the front of the paper, they describe “creative thinking [as] present in all areas of life. It may appear spontaneous, but it can be underpinned by perseverance, experimentation, critical thinking and collaboration”. I love this definition; for me, it captures so well how creativity encompasses so much. I too, however, fear that creativity in UK education is being pushed to one side, and the Durham Commission points to how this is not the case in other parts of the world, with Finland, Singapore, Australia and Canada all evolving creativity-​focused education systems.

MOMENT FOR REFLECTION If in the question at the beginning of the chapter you felt that creativity was something you found uncomfortable or awkward, you might want to think for a moment about what has impacted those feelings? You may find Conscious Creativity by Philippa Stanton (2018) a useful book; she offers gentle guidance and practical ideas on connecting with creativity.

What is creativity? The Oxford Learner’s Dictionary definition of creativity is: the use of imagination or original ideas to create something. Ruksana Mohammed (2018) suggests that many adults don’t understand the role of creativity in education because many don’t fully understand what creativity is or believe it is only linked to the arts. There have been a range of publications exploring what creativity is and trying to define it, some of which are specific to early years and education. A common thread that is often discussed is the importance of imagination. Anna Craft (2002) believed that imagination was a vital part of our understanding of creativity. I find this an interesting insight. When I think about a lot of early years practice, I can see the golden thread of imagination woven throughout; the encouragement of children’s imagination and the delight of practitioners and parents when they see and hear children’s imaginative play and exploration.

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However, if I then think about the school curriculum, I find it harder to think of examples where imagination is encouraged. Sometimes I see it through writing examples but, even then, it is often constrained within a set framework. Reflecting on Ken Robinson’s concerns back in 2006 and his question ‘Are we educating creativity out of our children?’, my fear is we are. The irony is, as the Durham Commission points out “creativity is now one of the most sought after clusters of skills for all employers”.

Early years and creativity So, how is creativity in the early years? As I mentioned above, I think creativity in the early years is in a healthier position than in primary and secondary education. This is partly due to less constraints, fewer targets and the play-​based approach which supports creativity, although I wonder if we are held back in thinking about creativity by having a developmental model in our heads. If our main focus is on developmental milestones then we may lose sight of the creative learning that is happening which doesn’t neatly fit developmental expectations. An organisation which has had an important role in supporting creativity and the arts in early years is Early Arts. They have some excellent resources on their website, including some PDF booklets offering practical ideas, a link to which is at the end of the chapter. Ruth Churchill Dower (2019) the director of Early Arts has also written an excellent book on the creativity and the arts in early childhood. Although I think creativity is in a healthier place within the early years, I still think that we need encouragement to embrace, celebrate and enhance our practice of creativity. As I mentioned at the beginning, many people don’t consider themselves to be creative and find the term slightly scary. If this is the position you find yourself in, it can be hard to nurture creativity in children. I want to explore for a moment what creativity in our adult lives might look like and how we all have creative threads, even if we don’t always see them as being creative. To explore these threads, I put a call out on my social media feeds and to the team I work with about what people do in their adult lives that is creative. Have a look at the list below:

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Baking Whittling Dancing Writing poetry Crochet Creating new yoga sequences Creative writing Knitting Writing Photography Cooking (some saw this as different to baking) Thinking creatively and imagining Gardening Creatively planning sessions for work Sewing Singing Drawing and painting Tap dancing Playing the guitar Collage and portrait photography Mathematic modelling Finding creative ways to explain science Making up songs and sometimes changing lyrics Unschooling, finding ways to unschool my children Mosaics Linocuts Activities connecting with nature Writing content for work Singing in a band Story telling Starting big projects like a nursery or school Having creative coaching conversations Designing gardens

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Wallpapering and painting Making jams and chutneys Making soap Drawing everyday Making themed playlists Playing an instrument Sorting and arranging DIY Problem-​solving Pottery There may be things on this list that you hadn’t considered as creative. My son in law, Nemo’s answer was “mathematic modelling and finding everyday analogies to explain science. Both require high levels of creativity, albeit in a space few consider creative”. I loved this example as it is so different to what a lot of people thought of and yet is also so creative. Another contact I have, Charlotte, said starting big projects like setting up a nursery or school. So often our idea of creativity, sometimes influenced by our experience in school, is seen as a narrow field around artistic abilities such as drawing, dancing and music. And yet it is so much bigger than that. If I think about some of the buildings I love, The Eden Project, Wells Cathedral, The Circus in Bath and The Gherkin, these are wonderful examples of creating something. Or the bridges I have seen such as the Clifton Suspension Bridge, the Forth Bridge in Scotland or some of the aqueducts we have in the UK. The building, designing and imaginative thinking shown in these buildings and bridges are outside of my experience of creativity, but they are undoubtedly creative. In his blog post about creativity, Jeffrey Kluger (2014) points to how America has partly grown thanks to creative thinkers and inventors, naming Thomas Edison and Steve Jobs as examples. These are not necessarily the first names you would think of when being asked for examples of creative people.

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MOMENT FOR REFLECTION Think again about your creativity. When was the last time you did something creative? Are there creative activities you enjoy and regularly engage in? Are there creative practices you would like to try but have felt a bit uneasy about starting? You may like to write yourself a reminder to try something new or find some time to engage in some creative practice today or later this week.

What environment do we need to encourage creativity? As we can see from the list above, creativity is huge and varied. However, some spaces and environments actively encourage creative practice. And, by this, I mean both emotional and physical environments. I find it difficult to engage in creative practice if I am feeling stressed or overworked although, ironically, creative practice has been shown to help lower stress levels, which is something I will explore in Chapter 2. Also, certain physical environments often seem to encourage creative practice. I know many people who find outside spaces, being in nature and being by water encourage their creative thinking. When I asked my team the question about creativity, most of the them talked not just about what they do but the spaces where they find themselves having creative ideas. The common thread with all of them was through being outside, being in the garden, being by the water and for some being in the bath! As someone who is massively drawn to water, I have developed a love for cold water swimming throughout the year. I adore being by the water and I am aware that I often feel calm and peaceful when I am near water and I am sure it boosts my creativity. The

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book Blue Mind by Wallace J. Nichols (2014) explores how water is good for our mental wellbeing and how many people find being by water inspiring and a support to their creativity. He points to how the writer and neurologist Oliver Sacks reportedly overcame writer’s block by taking daily long swims in open water. Hence, if we want to encourage a creative practice we need to think carefully about our environment. Many artists I know have examples of artwork and other objects in their working space to inspire their practice. If we want to encourage creative practice and ideas with the children we work with, we also need to think about what we have in our environment that encourages that. In previous books, I have written about the spaces we provide (Mainstone-​Cotton 2021, 2019, 2017) and how important the environment is for children. As we have already seen from the long list above, creativity is varied. So how do we show that in our environment?

MOMENT FOR REFLECTION Look around your environment. How does the space currently encourage creativity? In a Kindergarten I visited in Denmark they spent lots of time outside with the children, but they also brought the outside in. They had stuffed animals in the building; examples of dead animals they had found in the woods over the years and sent to a taxidermist. They also had what I described as an awe and wonder display cabinet with special objects that the children had found, which included butterflies, leaves, small lizards and eggshells. I realise for many of us this is an unusual and maybe slightly unsettling idea, but I was inspired by it. I haven’t yet got a taxidermy animal (although I still hope I will one day!), but I do own an awe and wonder display of objects that I have collated over the years, which includes a red deer antler from the Isle of Jura, shells, pebbles, a pheasant feather, and a bumblebee.

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When I visited the early years settings in Reggio Emilia I saw a very different creative environment, where they had fresh flowers around the room and on the tables at mealtimes. They had pieces of artwork on the walls, sculptures for children to look at and explore, and each nursery had their dedicated atelier (art room), with atelierista (art teacher), which was full of a wide variety of art materials and open-​ended resources or ‘loose parts’ as they are sometimes called. In Reggio’s practice, they describe the environment as the third teacher. They believe the atelier environment supports knowledge and creativity, and provides both a physical space and a reflective space which provokes questions and feelings that encourage thinking and response.

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When I entered some of the ateliers in the nurseries I visited in Reggio, I was struck by how they reminded me of a working artist’s studio. I don’t know if you have been in an artist’s studio? If you haven’t, and get the chance, do visit; often artists will have an open studio week or day, and they are worth a visit. An example of an artist studio you can visit is that of the sculptor Barbara Hepworth in St Ives, Cornwall. This has now been opened to the public with her garden showing her art work. You can see her workshop as it was when she died; it’s a beautiful space and garden and one of my favourite places to visit in St Ives. As I mentioned earlier my husband is an artist, and many of our friends are, so I often visit artists’ studios and they are inspiring places to be in. They usually have examples of work, tools, art materials, equipment, sketches and unfinished work. They are working spaces, and this is what the ateliers are like in the Reggio nurseries. They are working art spaces, with unfinished work, models and tools. I do not know of many nurseries, childminders or pack-​away preschools in the UK that have the room for a dedicated art space –​a space where we can leave things out, a space which is dedicated to making and creating. This may sound like a luxury. However, if it is possible to have a separate creative studio in your setting, it could be a wonderfully rich addition to your practice. It gives children the space to visit and revisit their work, recognising that often creating something takes time and can’t be finished in one sitting. If this is a new idea to you, I would encourage you to look at examples of work on Reggio Emilia and I give some links at the end of the chapter. Furthermore, if you want to explore more ideas about how we can encourage creativity through our environment, I have listed some books in the further reading section. There are many different ways we can think about how we create a creative and enabling environment. A few thoughts for you to think about are: Do you bring the outside in? Do you have a wide range of creative resources e.g. chalks, pastels, water paints, charcoal, pens, crayons, loose parts, string, wool, material, glue, tape, masking tape, clay? Do you have musical instruments freely available and play a wide variety of music in the setting? Do you have space to dance? Do you have a wide range of books –​fiction, non-​fiction and poetry?

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Do you have examples of art in your space, maybe photos or paintings or sculptures? Do you go on trips to art galleries and museums, and/​or have musicians or dancers come and perform and work with your children? Do you go on trips to outdoor spaces and look at the rocks, trees and flowers but also other excursions such as farm trips? Do you have a wide range of dressing-​up clothes and materials? Do you use rhyming and playing with words in your times together, making up nonsense rhymes. I will be exploring all of these in the later chapters.

Seeing creativity in maths/​science/​STEM I am interested in how important creativity is to STEM subjects. For many of us, we don’t naturally think about STEM subjects as being creative, but if you think about it for a moment, they are. My daughter’s friend, Josie, often stays with us for the weekend, and she is a STEM student who also mentors GCSE and A level maths and science students. She has noticed that abstract concepts in STEM are difficult to understand without imagination, and feels that if imagination is not encouraged in the earlier years then this makes it hard for students in the later years. In fact, as I am writing this, I have been having conversations with various friends involved in STEM. One friend Paul is a physics teacher, and when I asked him how creativity is important for physics, his view was “you have to be abstract and allowed to fail to understand some of the crazy stuff”. In fact, I have also just finished a novel about a woman chemist in the 1950s and 60s, and there is a description where she turns her kitchen into a laboratory; she wants to create a space to experiment, try things out and make mistakes and she needed her own physical space to do this as the men were not giving her the opportunity (Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus 2022). Therefore, I think it is important to think about how we encourage this creative exploration, experimentation and things not working out in the early years. A good start is through the opportunities we give children to

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do early experiments, to be imaginative and try things out. Kathy Brodie on Early Years TV interviewed Maria Serveta from the Science Museum London. Maria has been involved in a research project with UCL exploring the engagement of young children in STEM, particularly through museum objects. From their research they realised the importance of children being able to touch and interact with objects. They found that if they have these opportunities, they become more familiar with them; and if they become familiar with STEM objects, they are then able to create stories around the objects and begin to think imaginatively about their use. She also talked about the importance of using storytelling around STEM objects as being a key way for children to understand, engage and learn about them. Another example of how to nurture creativity in STEM subjects was encouraging children to playfully explore and notice, such as linking design and maths by having examples of arches, architecture and furniture in the maths area. The researchers provided blocks for children to play with and found that they started to try and build similar objects as those around them and also from their imagination. Another of my friends, Sally, teaches maths, and in a conversation with her about how we creatively encourage mathematical thinking in the early years through creative practice she mentioned how many children love making butterfly pictures by painting a pattern on one side and then turning the page over and that this was a great example of symmetry. She suggested you could then ask questions about what would happen if we folded the paper the other way? She also highlighted how you can use mirrors to explore what a drawing looks like when it is reflected or you can even draw on the mirror to get the reflected shape.

MOMENT FOR REFLECTION What opportunities are you providing for experimenting, designing, creating and imagining that encourage creativity across arts and STEM and humanities? What are the tools and resources you offer which encourage this?

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There are many examples of how we can aid children in experimenting, designing, creating and imagining and thus spark their creativity. These include: Resources to make potions –​perfume with water, flower petals, leaves Mark making with mud, experimenting with leaves, sticks, flowers, herbs Playing with gloop (cornflour and water) Making slime Colour mixing with paint Using loose parts to create, design and imagine Having pipettes, empty tubs and liquids to mix Having magnifying glasses, binoculars, pebbles, stones, shells, weighing scales Grow plants inside the classroom and outside Mirrors Tile shapes Material for dressing up Having a wide range of bricks, maybe a mix of real/​wooden/​Duplo®/​ Lego®

Recognising the diverse range of creativity As I am writing this, I am very aware that I am a white, middle-​aged woman. I was brought up in a family where the arts were never talked about or recognised. When I went to a church at the age of 17, which was mostly full of artists, writers and philosophers!, it opened a whole new world to me. I inevitably bring with me my own story, my cultural heritage, as we all do. We need to be aware of this and also be inquisitive and curious about other cultural experiences and open to finding out and trying out new things. As early years practitioners, we will all bring our own experience and interest, but we need to make sure we open up the creative world to the children we work with, and to do this we will need to pull in other people, learn from others and explore new creative worlds and possibilities together. There are many diverse and wonderful examples out there of creativity that might look different and/​or sound different to what you are used to, and you need to

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go and find it, explore, and see what is on offer in your area and, if not in your area, look further afield or ask people who might know. At the end of the chapter I have referenced a few places you can start by looking and, throughout the book, I will reference other examples of how we can open up the rich and diverse creative world around us.

Ways we might hinder creativity I do believe that children are born to be naturally creative and curious and imaginative, but I also believe that many children have this squashed as they grow older. Sadly, I think our education system doesn’t help this. I work with teachers every day, and I am acutely aware of how much increased pressure they are under to get children to achieve, particularly in maths and English. This makes it so hard for teachers to have the space to be creative. Also, I wonder if sometimes we hinder creativity with children because of our personal worries or anxiety around our creative practice and experience. I started this chapter by encouraging you to think about your creative practice, by looking at how you feel and engage in creativity, and I do believe that if we want to encourage and nurture creativity in children, then we need to encourage and nurture our own creativity. I would like to end this chapter by sharing some of the things that I do to nurture my own creative practice: Knitting Felting Foraging and making creams and soaps Writing As I am writing this chapter, I am away on the Lizard in Cornwall. When I am writing books, chunks of my writing happens during the holidays, away from school time, when I have more time and space to think. I have a rhythm where I can write in the morning for an hour or so and then spend the day exploring or resting. My current writing space is a window seat next to an open window. The sun is streaming through and I am overlooking a small bay, listening to the waves, hearing sea birds and smelling the sea. This is my

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Creativity in the early years

idea of the most creative space to be. I feel happy, relaxed and soothed by the sounds of the sea. Later I will go foraging for seaweed to use in cooking and then I will dry some to make into soap on my return. For me, creativity and wellbeing are intrinsically linked. The rest of this book will be exploring this in more detail.

References Arts Council and Durham University (2019). Durham Commission on Creativity and Education. Available at: https://​www.arts​coun​cil.org.uk/​ sites/​defa​ult/​files/​downl​oad-​file/​Durham_​Commissi​on_​o​n_​Cr​eati ​vity​_​ 041​1201​9_​0.pdf Barbara Hepworth Museum and Garden –​https://​www.tate.org.uk/​visit/​tate-​ st-​ives/​barb​ara-​hepwo​rth-​mus​eum-​and-​sculpt​ure-​gar​den Churchill Dower, R. (2019). Creativity and the Arts in Early Childhood –​ Supporting Young Children’s Development and Wellbeing. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Craft, A. (2002). Creativity in Early Years Education. London: Continuum. Early Arts –​ https://​earlya​rts.co.uk Garmus, B. (2022). Lessons in Chemistry. London: Penguin. Kluger, J. (2014). Assessing the Creative Spark. Available at: https://​www. thek​ongb​log.com/​2014/​02/​assess​ing-​creat​ive-​spark.html Robinson, K. and Robinson, K. (2022). Imagine IF … Creating a Future for us All. London: Penguin. Mainstone-​Cotton, S. (2017). Promoting Young Children’s Emotional Health and Wellbeing. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Mainstone-​ Cotton, S. (2019). Listening to Young Children in Early Years Settings. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Mainstone-​Cotton, S. (2021). Supporting Children with Social, Emotional and Mental Health Needs in the Early Years. Abingdon: Routledge. Mohammed, R. (2018). Creative Learning in the Early Years. Abingdon: Routledge. Nichols, W.J. (2014). Blue Mind. London: Little Brown. Oxford Learner’s Dictionary –​https://​www.oxf​ordl​earn​ersd​icti​onar​ies.com/​ def​i nit​ion/​engl​ish/​cre​ativ​ity

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Serveta, M. (2022). Maria Serveta on the early years in the Science Museum. Available at: https://​www.ear​lyye​ars.tv/​video/​maria-​serv​eta-​on-​the-​early-​ years-​in-​the-​scie​nce-​mus​eum/​(this is a subscriber platform). Stanton, P. (2018). Conscious Creativity. London: Leaping Hare Press.

Useful information and links Closing the Gap –​How a Narrow Curriculum Disadvantages the Disadvantaged. Available at: https://​www.tea​cher​tool​kit.co.uk/​wp-​cont​ ent/​uplo​ads/​2019/​02/​GL2​370_​Clos​ing-​the-​Gap-​rep​ort_​FINA​L_​3-​Janu​ ary-​2019.pdf Concerns over education white paper. Available at: https://​uk.news.yahoo. com/​white-​paper-​seems-​underw​helm​ing-​headt​each​ers-​000100​022.html Ken Robinson TED Talk –​ https://​www.ted.com/​speak​ers/​sir_​k​en_​r​obin​son Reggio Emilia –​https://​www.reg​gioc​hild​ren.it/​en/​ateli​ers/​

Cultural diversity links http://​www.spu​dand​yam.co.uk https://​www.bes​ean.co.uk https://​www.fron​tier​sin.org/​artic​les/​10.3389/​fpsyg.2019.01219/​full

Further reading   Books for adults Griffiths, F. (2018). Supporting Children’s Creativity Through Dance, Drama and Art. Abingdon: Routledge. Sakr, M., Trivedy, B., Hall, N., O’Brien, L., and Federici, R. (2018). Creativity and Making in Early Childhood. London: Bloomsbury.

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Wellbeing and creativity

In this chapter I am going to explore how wellbeing and creativity interconnect. They are terms we often hear used together for adults, but we don’t hear them as much within the early years. My aim with this chapter is to explore how these are important features that partner with one another. Adult creativity and wellbeing is without a doubt a growing area. If you Google creativity and wellbeing you will find lots of links to pages from mental health charities, blog pieces and news articles all talking about how individuals have discovered that creative activities have boosted their wellbeing. There are a whole range of tools you can buy –​from adult colouring books, to how to make a mandala, etc. –​ and a range of creative wellbeing journals. I have listed a few at the end of the chapter that I like in this genre. One of the best books I have read recently is by a father and daughter team, Kitty and Al Tait (2022). Kitty had severe depression when she was 14, and baking bread with her Dad became her creative therapeutic outlet, to the extent where they have now set up a bakery called The Orange Bakery. Their book describes their story with recipes at the end.

MOMENT FOR REFLECTION Before we continue, think for a moment about how creativity supports your wellbeing? In Chapter 1 I encouraged you to think

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DOI: 10.4324/9781003312710-3

Wellbeing and creativity

about how you engaged in creativity, but for now I would like to encourage you to reflect on whether creativity supports your wellbeing. The Covid-​19 pandemic was a time when many adults turned to creativity to support their wellbeing, by, as examples, making sourdough, learning to bake, learning an instrument and/​or taking up knitting and crochet. For some, they appeared to find this creative exploration supported their mental health and wellbeing. I don’t know if you tried any creative practices during this time? I tried making sourdough but failed! I also tried crochet and failed at this too! But I did make a lot of progress on my garden and I made soap and I tried some knitting projects. Grayson Perry’s Art Club on Channel 4 was a great example of how people have found art supported their wellbeing. What I loved about this was the wonderfully eclectic, diverse range of contributors, from all ages, races, cultures and abilities. I found Grayson and Philippa’s encouragement, delight and welcome so wonderfully inclusive, in a way you don’t often see in the media with creative programming. If you haven’t seen the programmes, they are worth watching on catch-​up and you can find a link in the reference section. As a follow on to each series there has been an exhibition of the work shown in a national gallery, with the first series in Manchester Art Gallery and the exhibition for series two in Bristol Art Gallery. I recently visited the Bristol exhibition and was deeply moved by the quality of the work and the stories that accompanied them. There was a strong sense of people using creative practice as a way of holding onto something hopeful and good in a time of desperation and despair. I was also moved by how everyday, non-​professional artists were having their work exhibited in a public gallery. This felt deeply empowering and encouraging. As I write this it is the summer of 2022, and thankfully the recognition of the importance of wellbeing has not been lost. Creativity is still mentioned, maybe not as much, but I think it has become more of a recognisable, important thread through many of our lives. During the research for this book I discovered an organisation called 64 Million Artists and on their website they say “We believe everyone is creative, and when we use our creativity we can make positive changes in our lives and the world

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around us”. During January they organise a daily challenge and send out daily prompts to encourage an engagement in creativity. They also do weekly challenges throughout the year. Perhaps you could join their January challenge, or maybe it is something you could involve your setting in? I have signed up for the January 2023 one. As well as the current spotlight on adult wellbeing and creativity, over the last few years there has been a greater emphasis on focusing on children’s wellbeing, particularly in schools and within early years. This was particularly the case after lockdowns, where initially there seemed to be more conversations around linking creativity and wellbeing, but it seems to me that this has faded over time. I do still, however, hear of ‘wellbeing weeks’ where creativity is sometimes included. However, I’m not a fan. I feel there is a danger of them being tokenistic and I would rather see creative wellbeing practice embedded throughout the year. Yet, one positive element to come out of the pandemic was a growth in online resources for families and education settings to support creativity and wellbeing. In London they have a health and arts creativity and wellbeing festival, a collaborative event with the Culture Health & Wellbeing Alliance, which had started as a small London festival went on to become a national festival in 2019. Additionally, in 2020 Artsmark (accredited by Arts Council England) created resources aimed at parents to use at home with their children and ideas to be used in schools to support wellbeing. Although they have some good ideas, they are mainly for children over 5 years old, with little for the early years.

How does creativity support our wellbeing? In 2019 the World Health Organization (WHO) published a scoping review (Fancourt and Finn 2019, p. 8) exploring the evidence of the role of the arts in improving health and wellbeing. Amongst their findings, they concluded that the arts can support “child development, help to prevent ill health, encourage health-​promoting behaviours, help people experiencing mental illness, [and] help to support people with neurodevelopmental and neurological disorders”. In the area of child development, they focus on

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how singing can support mother–​child attachment and can reduce stress hormones in both. The review also explores how singing between mother and child can also support language development. From reading this, I can see no reason why this isn’t also the case for any caregiver, male or female. Furthermore, the WHO report specifically highlights that we need to ensure that culturally diverse forms of arts are available and accessible to all. In 2019 the BBC in collaboration with University College London (UCL) led a study with 50,000 participants exploring how creative activities can help to manage mood and support wellbeing. The research was led by Dr Daisy Fancourt from UCL, and they found that there are three ways creativity can support our wellbeing: Using creativity as a distraction tool to avoid stress. Using creativity as a contemplation tool to enable the mind to have some space to problem solve and plan. Using creativity as a tool to aid self-​development, building up self-​ esteem and confidence. The study also found that continuing to learn and try new creative pursuits can be more beneficial than sticking with only doing the same creative activity for extended years.

MOMENT FOR REFLECTION Looking at the list from Dr Daisy Fancourt and her research, can you think of ways the creative work you have done with children has aided them in the ways mentioned? As highlighted above, the study found that continuing to learn and trying out new creative pursuits can boost our wellbeing. Think for a moment, is there something new you would like to try out? Maybe you could plan in some time to have a go at a new creative activity.

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Cultural diversity The WHO report discussed above specifically says that we need to ensure that culturally diverse forms of art are available. I know in the early years there is a history of ‘celebrating’ certain events such as Diwali and making lamps, but I worry that sometimes this can be tokenistic. A challenge for us all is to reach out and find out about the rich cultural and creative diversity that surrounds us. Our natural inclination is to turn to what we know, I know I do that. However, if we start to be more curious, find out about what other communities do, ask questions and invite people in, then we can widen our understanding, and the children’s understanding, and we all benefit. You can start with the families in your setting; find out what books they read, the music they listen to, the instruments they play, the food they cook and the festivals they celebrate. Ask parents and grandparents if they can share their knowledge with you. Ask if they are willing to come in and show and demonstrate or to participate with your setting their skills and experience and knowledge. Then move out and make links with your wider community; often people are happy to come in and share with early years settings and schools. We need to make sure we embed this –​that it isn’t just a once a year cultural heritage event or an occasional remembering of another festival. Cultural creative awareness needs to be embedded in our practice. It takes time to make these links and go to the effort to find out, but it is so worth it. In a previous book I co-​authored with Jamel Campbell (2022) we discussed this and many other examples. I learned loads from Jamel in that book project and he is going to be sharing some more ideas in an interview with him later in this current one.

Children, creativity and wellbeing I know I use creativity in many of the ways revealed in the BBC and UCL research to support the wellbeing of the children I work with. As mentioned in the Introduction I support 4 year olds who have been identified as having high social, emotional and mental health needs. Creativity is an important tool in my work to support these children and I regularly see how it lowers their stress levels and gives them the contemplative space that then helps them to move on.

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Wellbeing and creativity

EXAMPLE FROM PRACTICE –​CLAY NESTS Sometimes I use clay with the children I support. One little girl I was working with was having an agitated day; the noise in the classroom was too loud for her, she had fallen out with her friend and she was finding phonics difficult that morning. When I started working with her, her shoulders were tense, she was frowning and said she was feeling quite grumpy, and her eyes were looking dull. I showed her my clay. This week we had been thinking about birds, the nests they make and how they make nests safe and cosy for the new chicks. She started to play and explore with clay. The invitation was to make a nest, but she didn’t have to; she could create whatever she wanted or just play with and explore the clay. This little girl enjoys having an idea or a suggestion, so she wanted to make a nest. As she worked with the clay her shoulders started to drop and her tongue was out showing intense concentration on her task. She carefully moulded the shape of the nest, using her elbow to make it just the right shape, and she delicately used her fingers to create a smooth surface all around and inside the nest, telling me it needed to be smooth for the chicks. She then added decorations using the end of feathers; she wanted to decorate the nest so the chicks could look at something. Once she was happy with it, she then added sticks, feathers and old leaves to make the nest cosy and safe. This activity lasted around 30 minutes and by the end of our session her frown had gone, she was smiling, she looked calm, her shoulders were relaxed and she had a twinkle in her eyes. She told me she loved using clay and I asked her if it helped her feel calmer and she agreed she thought it did. I have often used clay with children, but with this little girl it seemed to connect with her in a different way than the other children. It not only helped her to de-​stress, but I had noticed how she was able to engage in the material in a different way to many of the other children I support. From observing her using the material, I wondered if she had found her thing. I did go on to use clay again throughout my work with her.

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Flow There has been growing research led by the psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2002) around the link between flow and happiness. He describes flow as being “the state in which people are so involved in an activity, that nothing else seems to matter”. He found people experienced happiness when they were in deep flow. We often see children in moments of flow in their play and activities. My example of the girl above shows her experiencing flow; her tongue was out, she was in the moment of developing and creating that nothing else mattered. For that moment she forgot about her irritation and concerns, and she was happy and in flow. Mona Sakr et al. (2018) have a useful section in their book reminding us of the need to observe and recognise when children are experiencing a state of flow. They suggest that observations are key in helping us to understand what supports a child’s engagement. I recommend using the Leuven scale for wellbeing and involvement, created by Ferre Laevers (2007) through his experiential education project. He advocates for deep level learning and his description of this is when children are in moments of flow. A link to his work and the involvement and wellbeing scales are at the end of the chapter.

MOMENT FOR REFLECTION Can you think of a time when you have observed a child experiencing a flow moment during a creative practice? Can you think of a recent time you experienced a moment of flow in creative practice?

How do we use creativity to support children’s wellbeing? I am aware that for some children their experience of creativity does not boost their wellbeing. If they are in a setting or home where creativity is more of a

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template model, with an ideology of following precise instructions, there is very little about that which will support their wellbeing. I love creative practice when it has an open-​ended approach to it, without a fixed end product. When I was involved in the 5×5×5 Project in nurseries and schools in Bath and North East Somerset, it was important to have artists on the project who were able to follow children’s interests, enquiries and curiosity. The model was not about having a one size fits all, ‘this is how we make something’, but more a collaboration between child and adult, together discovering, inquiring and learning with one another through creative practice. I believe this type of practice is so inclusive; it welcomes and celebrates everyone’s ideas and efforts. I have seen through my practice in the nurture work that when children are given the space to discover, create and be imaginative, then they begin to relax, have fun and often find some calm. However, if we set constraints, with exact ways of making or not making, this can lead to distress, frustration and feelings of inadequacy. This free approach is what we naturally use with babies and toddlers, giving them creative resources to be able to play with and discover; it is not based on their ability but rather their inquisitiveness and curiosity. But it seems to be an approach that we use less and less as children get older. That said, I am aware that for some adults this can be a huge challenge. Over the years I have worked with a lot of artists, and it’s a real skill when an artist can create a space for children to experiment and learn new skills without imposing a fixed idea and a fixed way of doing something.

The Reggio Emilia model There is a lot I love about the Reggio Emilia model, but before I explore this a bit further I am aware that this is a model that has been developed and adapted in Reggio to fit their culture. This is not a model that we can take a carbon copy of and make work in our setting. However, there are certain aspects that we can look at, be inspired by and adapt for our children and community. One area that is very unique to Reggio practice is how they employ artists to work with the children. I know some nurseries in the UK bring in artists, and some schools will have artists visit for an art week, however, in Reggio, each of their municipal infant–​toddler centres and their

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preschools has an atelierista (artist) as the main part of their staff team. Their job is to look after the atelier (art room) and to support the children’s creative practice; to enable the children to express themselves through “One hundred different languages”. The atelierista will bring in ‘provocations’ for the children that might spark an idea or bring about a creative or imaginative response. A provocation can be many things –​something based on an interest of the children, an object or picture or maybe an item from outside –​but they are often open-​ended resources to allow more imaginative interplay. The provocations are not to direct the children on how to use them, but instead to act as a prompt, to create a question, an idea, an invitation. I touched on this in the previous chapter and will briefly mention Reggio again later in the book. Reggio is one of many creative practices that I believe we can learn from. The other role of the atelierista is to help children master techniques. In the book The Hundred Languages of Children (Edwards et al. 1998) one chapter is titled ‘The role of the Atelierista’. In an interview with Lella Gandini, one of the atelierista, she describes their role as having two functions, of which one is to help children to “become masters of all kinds of techniques, such as painting, drawing and working in clay”. She says the other function is to support the educators to understand the process of how children learn creatively. When I visited Reggio Emilia I was working for a large national children’s charity and my job was to lead on participation work. The underlying principle to my work was article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that all children have a right to be listened to and have their feelings and wishes taken seriously. This article underpins the work in the Reggio early years settings and one way we see this is how the educators and atelierista are following children’s interests. Their work all stems from what the child/​ren is interested in. I and many others have written in previous books about the need to base planning around a child’s interests; when we do this we are then working collaboratively with children, learning and exploring together. In the next section of this chapter, I am going to explore how creativity can support a child’s wellbeing when they have experienced trauma. One of the members of our team is an art therapist and she works with primary aged children, her name is Juliette Marsh.

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Interview with Juliette Marsh, Art Therapist

Sonia

Can you explain what an art therapist does?

Juliette

Art Therapy is a form of psychotherapy which can help individuals express and explore feelings through art making and also through the relationship they form with the art therapist. It is often considered a three-​way communication, as the client, therapist and artwork all contribute to the therapeutic process. For children, Art Therapy can be particularly beneficial, as it can provide a visual language. Artwork can become a tangible way to communicate any past or present issues, which may be hard to articulate in words.

Sonia

Do you choose the art materials?

Juliette

There is a range of art materials supplied and the child is given the freedom to select what they want to work with. The art materials range from dry materials, such as colouring pencils, pens, and chalk pastels, to wet materials like paint and clay. There is also lots of paper and a box of toys and sensory objects to play with. They have a range of activities that they can do, but I don’t select for them. The art materials are often the initial hook into any creativity, so it’s important that they have the autonomy to choose. When they come into a session there is no pressure to sit opposite me and talk, instead it’s a space for them and their art making. Hopefully they will be engaged and think, ‘I want to play with that or draw with that’. Most of the time they don’t need my input or assistance, although sometimes they will invite me to make art alongside them.

Sonia

When they do invite you, do you join in?

Juliette

If I’m asked to join in, then most of the time I will do, although there is a tendency in Art Therapy to not actively participate in art making. Art therapists need to maintain their awareness so that they do not get distracted by their own practice or miss

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Wellbeing and creativity

picking up on cues, like body language. However, for a child that can feel quite scrutinising, especially with someone just watching what they are doing. So, if they invite me, I will take part, as I do think it can help to reassure them. Although, I try and do something light-​hearted so that I am able to maintain my focus and witness what is going on for the child. Sonia

How do you introduce your sessions to the children? How do they know what they are coming into?

Juliette

Consent is an important part of the process and so parents or carers will consent on behalf of the child, but I encourage them to have that initial conversation beforehand. The child needs to be aware of what they are coming into, so I will reiterate the details and boundaries of the therapy in the first session. This helps them understand how the sessions will run and that there is a choice in attending. The child needs to feel that they are an active participant, rather than feeling it is something which is being done to them.



I go onto explain that hopefully in time, therapy will feel like a safe space where they can talk and create artwork about things that they might be struggling with. For a child, these might be big feelings, difficult experiences, or traumatic events that they have experienced in their past, or they’re dealing with in the here and now. Most children seem to understand that Art Therapy is a different space to an art class or recreational art making and that their problems may need a separate space to be shared and processed.

Sonia

It sounds like you are holding that space for them, but you are not giving them words, it sounds like it is about enabling them to have a space where they can talk if they want to. Presumably, there is no pressure on them having to talk about things?

Juliette

It’s so child-​led and when you’re working with children any difficulties or sensitive topics have to emerge at a pace and rate

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Wellbeing and creativity

that they feel comfortable with. We are very lucky in our organisation to be able to offer long-​term therapeutic interventions.

I think if it was a short-​term therapy and we were only given six sessions, it would be much more strategic and target oriented. But as I am given longer than that, I am not going to be putting any pressure on a child to share their internal world, until they feel ready. There are no set questions, as it is about letting them do what they can do, at a pace which feels safe. I think that is an important part of building trust in the therapeutic relationship and the formation of an alliance over a period of time.

Sonia

As an artist why do you think creativity works in that therapeutic, or wellbeing, supportive way?

Juliette

There is something about art making that taps into our early form of expression when we are pre-​verbal. Creativity feels much more natural when we are young, yet it seems to be a form of communication that we begin to lose as we get older. However, I think creativity is such a fundamental part of who we are as individuals, and we need to encourage ways to hold onto it. I am always going to be an advocate for art as an artist myself, but anything creative I think needs to be embedded at an early age and then maintained. It’s important that children have opportunities to not only make art but also explore and experiment creatively. For many individuals this type of expression may be one of the only ways they can share the really big stuff, as they might not have the emotional literacy or language to be able to explain in words. Although children are very resilient, difficult feelings often start to spill out in other ways through dysregulation or harmful coping mechanisms. So, by having a healthy outlet for those emotions, like art, music, theatre or dance, we can support their mental, physical and emotional wellbeing.

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Sonia

The book is about early years, what age have you started Art Therapy with?

Juliette

The youngest child I have worked with individually is 5 years old, but I have also done group work with mothers and babies when I was a trainee. Being able to see the process of mother/​ carer and baby art making was really interesting and it was lovely to witness their interaction. The art making process seemed to create a space for them to connect, which can be quite difficult if you have struggled and experienced something like postnatal depression. Some mothers worry that the bond they have formed with their baby may not be as strong, so having little moments where they are doing something that is very reciprocal can help build on that bond.

Sonia

That is interesting I haven’t heard of it that way. I knew locally there was Art Therapy on offer to mums with postnatal depression, but I hadn’t heard of the babies coming in as part of that, I can see that could be powerful.

Juliette

Yes it can be, and there is the additional the element with a baby where they [the mothers/​carers] need to support them physically with the art making. This provides a degree of contact and shared sensory touch by using the art materials, which can create further connection.

 

It can also provide opportunities for attunement and healthy attachment as mother and baby are having to watch, listen and respond to each other within that mutual interaction.

Hopefully, this interview with Juliette may have given you a glimmer of insight into how Art Therapy can be beneficial to children who have high wellbeing needs, have experienced trauma or maybe experiencing high anxiety. Often with children we think of play therapy as a therapeutic intervention, and play therapy is fantastic, but every child is different and some children will find Art Therapy more beneficial.

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EXAMPLE FROM PRACTICE –​JUNK MODEL SCULPTURES For this book I have interviewed and visited a number of different people and settings. One of the settings is a preschool in the centre of Bath called Widcombe Acorns. They are based in an old church hall, and their outdoor space is partly an old graveyard. I have known Widcombe Acorns for years and it has always been a delight to visit them and work with them. They will pop up a few times in the book, but below is a description of what Dena, their manager, describes as Acorn staples: Junk modelling Woodwork Loose parts outside Disco dancing twice a day Helicopter stories Clay On my recent visit to Acorns, Dena talked about how the Acorn staples have enabled the children to return to and strengthen their skills. This year’s cohort of children have particularly enjoyed making junk model sculptures and it is something that they have returned to continually throughout the year. The staff have noticed how the children have improved and developed their skills and abilities; they have noticed how the children will often make something and then return to it, to tweak it, improve it, add to it. The staff have now set up a separate table for the decorating, they have a design table and then a decorating table, so the process can be continued and extended. This reminded me of the Reggio practice where children are encouraged to revisit and extend their practice and enabled to keep adding to work rather than finishing in one go. If we think about artists’ work, lots of artists will keep returning to their work to add to it.

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I wanted to finish this chapter with some practical thoughts about how we can use creative opportunities to support all children’s wellbeing on a daily basis.

Practical ideas to try to support wellbeing and creativity Below is a list of thoughts and ideas you can use, many of which will be explored in further detail in the rest of the book. Have a wide range of different art materials available, that are available all of the time. Offer craft opportunities. Make opportunities for children to come back to a piece of work and continue working on it. Have pictures, photos, artwork around for children to see and be inspired by. Think diversity in what you are offering. Have time and space to dance and sing, play different types of music and show different types of dance. Share stories and poems daily. Encourage fantasy and imagination.

References 64 million artists –​https://​64mil​lion​arti​sts.com/​thej​anua​rych​alle​nge/​ Campbell, J. and Mainstone-​Cotton, S. (2022). Building Positive Relationships in the Early Years. Oxford: Routledge. Csikszentmihayi, M. (2002). Flow. London: Rider. Edwards, C., Gandini, L., and Forman, G. (1998). The Hundred Languages of Children, 2nd edn. London: Ablex Publishing Laevers, F. (2007). The Experiential Education Project. Available at: https://​ www.allia​ncef​orch​ildh​ood.eu/​files/​Improving_​th​e_​qu​alit​y_​of​_​Chi​ldho​ od_​V​ol1/​Hoofds​tuk%206%20pag​ina%2044-​51.pdf

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Wellbeing and creativity

Sakr, M., Trivedy, B., Hall, N., O’Brien, L., and Federici, R. (2018). Creativity and Making in Early Childhood. London: Bloomsbury. Tait, A. and Tait, K. (2022). Breadsong. London: Bloomsbury.

Useful information and links Artsmark –​ https://​www.artsm​ark.org.uk/​blog/​cre​ativ​ity-​and-​wellbe​ing-​perf​ ect-​match BBC and University College London –​https://​www.bbc.co.uk/​medi​acen​tre/​ lat​estn​ews/​2019/​get-​creat​ive-​resea​rch Creativity and wellbeing practice examples, Education Scotland –​https://​ educat​ion.gov.scot/​impr​ovem​ent/​pract​ice-​exempl​ars/​cre​ativ​ity-​and-​ wellbe​ing#resour​ces Fancourt, D. and Finn, S. (2019). Health Evidence Network Synthesis Report 67. What is the Evidence on the Role of the Arts in Improving Health and Well-​being? Available at: https://​www.cultur​ehea​ltha​ndwe​llbe​ing.org.uk/​ sites/​defa​ult/​files/​978928​9054​553-​eng.pdf Grayson Perry’s Art Club –​https://​www.gray​sons​artc​lub.com Leuven Wellbeing and Involvement Scales –​https://​www.fam​ily.co/​blog/​leu​ ven-​sca​les London Arts & Health Wellbeing Festival –​https://​lond​onar​tsan​dhea​lth.org. uk/​cre​ativ​ity-​and-​wellbe​ing-​week/​ United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child –​https://​www.uni​cef. org.uk/​wp-​cont​ent/​uplo​ads/​2019/​10/​UNCRC_​summ​ary-​1_​1.pdf

Further reading   Books for adults Brand, L. (2022). The Joy Journal for Adults. London: Bluebird Books. Ephgrave, A (2018). Planning in the Moment with Young Children: A Practical Guide for Early Years Practitioners and Parents. Abingdon: Routledge. Mainstone-​Cotton, S. (2019). Listening to Young Children in Early Years Settings. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

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Wellbeing and creativity

  Books for children Brand, L. (2020). The Joy Journal for Magical Everyday Play. London: Bluebird Books.

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3

Fine art

In this next section of the book, in each chapter I am going to look at different elements of creative practice and explore how they can be used with children to support their wellbeing. In each chapter, I interview a range of people who specialise in that particular area and provide throughout examples from practice. I conclude every chapter with practical subject ideas that you can try with the children your work with. My hope is that these chapters offer ideas and suggestions that you can dip in and out of and try out. I have titled this chapter ‘fine art’ and I will be looking at drawing, sculpture, and painting. We don’t usually use the phrase fine art with young children, but I want to, as I love the idea of us using this description with young children, of naming them and seeing them as artists. I use this description with the children I work with, and they often beam with pride when I describe them as artists. My guess is if you are feeling nervous or uncomfortable about creative practice, this might be the area that puts you out of your comfort zone the most. I need to admit here that it is the area that I find most intimidating myself, but in the process of writing this book I have decided I am going to try and learn to draw and overcome my fear! Interestingly it is the area that most of us will use with children and probably every setting and most homes will have paper, pens and paints for children to draw and paint with. Lots of settings will also have materials for junk modelling, which is in essence sculpture and sculpting –​other terms not often used for children’s work. So hopefully even though you personally feel a bit uncomfortable with ‘fine art’, you may be more confident in doing it with the children you work with.

DOI: 10.4324/9781003312710-4

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Early mark making We know that babies begin early mark making from a very early stage. Often we begin to see this when they start to play with food. They may be sat at a highchair and start to move their food around on the highchair tray, enjoying the feel and sensation of the food. They begin to experiment more with this and often become very excited at this newfound discovery. As they get slightly older and they can hold onto crayons and they start early scribbling, again another form of this early mark making and discovery. These early forms of discovering and exploring are vital not only as precursors to writing but also vital for moving on in their creative exploration. These early mark making experiences are vital sensory experiences for the child discovering and exploring what is possible, and they often need the encouragement of adults who are interested in what they are doing. We need to scaffold this early mark making by giving children new opportunities in this area. Ruth Churchill Dower (2020) provides a list of the suggested six stages of art development as proposed by Viktor Lowenfield: the scribble stage (2–​4 years); the pre-​schematic stage (3–​ 7 years), when children start to understand symbolic representation; the schematic stage (7–​ 9 years), when human figures are fully formed; the drawing realism stage (9–​11 years), when 3-​D perspective starts and children begin to get a sense of self-​ critique; the age of reason stage (11–​13 years), often reflecting increasing self-​critique and frustration; and, finally, the period of decision stage (14–​17 years), when art continues but with a conscious decision. Although these stages are quite general, they can be useful to know. Within early years settings, we see a lot of fun sensory exploration and play in the baby room, but I wonder how often we think about this in terms of early art making. When I visited Reggio, I saw some inspiring photos of babies working with artists to explore and discover the world through creative opportunities such as crawling in paint and mud on paper. There is an article in Nursery World from 2016 by Marianne Sargent describing an art project in a nursery. Here, the artist James Aldridge was working with the nursery as part of the Big Draw. He created an opportunity for the children, from babies upwards, to explore mark making with edible objects. He first introduced this idea to the parents and staff by running a

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workshop for them, where they got to explore and mark make with fruit and vegetables, herbs and spices. This workshop enabled him to share his ideas with the parents and staff and helped them to understand his plan for the art project with the children. In the project he rolled out large sheets of paper, on which were put foods such as strawberries, raspberries, spinach, etc., and the children were able to explore, eat, mark make.

EXAMPLE FROM PRACTICE –​MARK MAKING WITH RASPBERRIES One little boy I worked with this year was highly sensory seeking. On my first nurture session with him, I took in some spaghetti worms (spaghetti cooked in black food colouring), a pot of raspberries and some paper. This was his fourth week in school and I had spent the previous three weeks observing him. Over those weeks I learned he was sensory seeking, loved mud and worms and refused to pick up a pencil. In this session, he ate the spaghetti worms and started to squash the raspberries. I suggested he could put the raspberries on the paper to see what would happen. He continued to explore squashing the raspberries and then started to mark make with them. We noticed the smell, feel and colour; the pips in the raspberries; and also what happened to the paper when you squashed lots of them.

Extending art materials As I mentioned above, in the early years we often offer children art materials of pens, pencils, crayons, and paper; as they get older, we may offer paint and have a junk modelling area. For a moment I want you to think about the art materials you offer that are regularly available for children to access. Some questions to consider What do your art materials look like? Are they well looked after? Do your art materials work? Are the lids on the pens, are the pencils sharp or blunt?

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Do you have plenty of paper of different sizes, colours and thicknesses available, not just scrappy bits? Do you enable children to mix their paints, making the colours they want? Do you have a wide range of junk modelling materials? The reason I am asking some of the above questions is that sometimes I have seen art materials available, but they look uninviting! Pens without lids, blunt pencils, crayons that look like they have rolled on the floor for years, scrappy bits of paper that have writing on the other side, and a junk modelling area that is slightly squashed and battered. If we want children to be able to express themselves creatively, if we believe that creativity and wellbeing are intertwined, then we need to give value to the art materials we provide. Our children need to have an art space that looks beautiful and inviting, that makes them think “YES, I can make something with that”. They also need to be given materials that enable them to be creative, imaginative and able to experiment. The art materials I have mentioned above are the basic provision that we should provide all of the time. However, we can do more than that. I believe we need to open up the world of drawing, painting and sculpture to children and part of the way we can do that is through offering a wide variety of materials and opportunities. Below are some ideas of other materials you can offer: Chalk Pastels Ink Printing ink Watercolour pencils Charcoal Graphite Making paint from flowers and natural resources Paint Natural resources to make patterns and sculptures (look at Andy Goldsworthy’s work online) Natural resources and sand for Rangoli art (look at examples of Rangoli art online)

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Offer other materials for brushes, e.g., sticks, brushes made from wool, cocktail sticks, paint rollers, sponges Shaving foam Straws for both painting with (straw blowing paint) or in modelling Ice paint Nail brushes, washing up brushes and large paint brushes as alternatives Rollers –​print rollers, paint rollers Glue paint Edible paint String and wool Masking tape or washi tape (washi tape is an eco-​friendly version) of different widths Tubes Tubs For many more examples of different ways to offer mark making and painting resources, I recommend Alistair Bryce Clegg’s book series 50 Fantastic Things To Do.

EXAMPLE FROM PRACTICE –​ART ON THE BEACH A friend of mine, Rosie De Mello, works in a private, term-​time nursery in Cumbria which is attached to a school. They are based on the Cumbrian coast and each Friday is a beach day, where they spend the morning at the beach. They do beach school all year round, and every child has a bag filled with lunch, a change of clothes and a towel. Apart from these items they don’t take any equipment with them. The staff have found the children are so creative when they are free to find and create from what is around them. The children particularly like mark making with the treasure they find on the beach; this often involves using sticks, sea coal and pebbles. They also enjoy collecting shells, pebbles and mermaid’s purses to add to their drawings and creations. Sometimes they make sculptures from the found objects and other times will make sandcastles which they decorate.

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The danger of all creative projects looking the same One danger with the way we can offer art to children is the way we narrow the possibilities of what’s available. Kay Rooks (2010), in Fleur Griffith’s book, describes her early practice of laying paper on the table with four pots of paint and the expectation that the children would paint a picture with those colours, without mixing, and would do it on their paper. What she quickly discovered is how children love to mix paints, collaborate with others, leave the project and later return to it. Another way of narrowing the experience is the danger of the conveyer-​ belt identical art project! By that I mean the Christmas cards or Mother’s Day cards, which all look the same. I do understand that settings can feel under pressure to produce something to send home but there are other ways to accomplish this. Kay Rooks describes how she changed this practice in her setting and each child made an individual Christmas card. The children looked at different images and all chose something they wanted to do and they chose the materials they wanted to use. At the end of term, she watched the children proudly hand over their cards, explaining the story behind their creations. One other way we sometimes see a mass of identical pictures is in schools when they are introducing artists to children; for example, Van Gogh’s Sunflower. I often walk down corridors and see a wall of 30 identical sunflower pictures. I am a big fan of sharing with children examples of work by artists and talking to them about the paintings and I think this is a valuable way of teaching art across the ages. However, rather than getting children to copy the painting, I wonder if we can encourage them to be inspired by the painting, help them to notice the shades, colours and tones and then experiment with their own work. This week I was delighted to see in one of the reception classes I support that they had looked at the sunflower picture by Van Gogh, yet they also had real sunflowers and roses in the classroom. The children had been experimenting with noticing the flowers and drawing them; mixing colours, making paint themselves, and experimenting with textures. The result was 30 very different pictures of

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flowers, every one unique. That filled me with joy. I do understand that if painting and drawing are not your things, then it is so hard to teach this to children, and in primary schools that is what the teachers are expected to do. My suggestions would be to talk to some colleagues who are more confident, find out what they do and don’t be afraid to learn with the children.

MOMENT FOR REFLECTION How does this make you feel? I realise I am quite opinionated on the subject of identical art. Maybe you read this and thought ‘YES, I totally agree, and we have moved away from that practice’. Maybe you read it and it made you a bit cross. Both those feelings are ok. But I would encourage you to sit with those feelings for a moment and reflect on where they come from. Sometimes in the reflection, it can help us to understand why we do the things we do.

Art galleries Above I mentioned sharing examples of artwork from artists with children. We can do this via pictures but when we take children to art galleries it can be a fantastic experience. Many of the children we work with won’t have visited an art gallery, and not all the adults working with children have visited art galleries either. I love art galleries, though it’s not very surprising I would say this, being married to an artist! Several times I have stood in front of pieces of art and been moved to tears; Rembrandt’s self-​portrait age 63 is a painting I stood in front of and wept. There was something about the vulnerability of the painting that I found incredibly moving. There have been other artworks that have made me laugh or baffled! You don’t have to understand art or artists to look at and enjoy art. You might wonder why you would take early years children to art galleries and how would they engage, but in my experience they love it. Our children grew up visiting galleries and when they were very young we visited Tate St Ives, where they were showing

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Antony Gormley’s Field for the British Isles –​a piece made up of 40,000 tiny individual terracotta figures. It is incredible to see, more so for the fact they are displayed on the floor. I remember the girls crouching down and intently looking at them; other children too were fascinated by this piece. Art galleries are such a wonderful resource and often cities have free art galleries. The other reason I love art galleries with children is the way they will often display a wide range of art –​from old masters, sculpture, to modern art and also a wide range of culturally different art pieces. They are a great way of opening up possibilities and experiences to children that they may not have had before. Many art galleries are happy to have visiting education groups and childminder groups, many galleries are now offering information sheets and trail sheets for children to engage in the artwork. So, if you are not sure as adults how to help the children to do this, the galleries have sheets to help you. The Tate has an excellent example of this. If you visit their galleries they have several sheets to assist children to engage with the collections; they ask questions and make suggestions linked to the artworks. The sheets encourage the children to be curious and creative themselves. Many galleries also have websites sharing their work, so you could explore some of these together. At the end of this chapter, I have put some links to art galleries and also to a few artists. I would also encourage you to find art in other places to share with the children. Bristol, the neighbouring city to where I live, has a wonderful and eclectic mix of street art, which regularly changes. If there is interesting street art in your area, could you go for a walk with the children and look at it or, if that is not possible, to take photos of it and bring them back to show the children? I live in the city of Bath, the street art here is less of the spray can type (as a historic Georgian city, spray paint is not encouraged!) but there are plenty of lettering pieces and some sculptures around the city, and also many examples of historic art in The Roman Baths and Bath Abbey. Again, these are different examples of art but are free to visit for residents of Bath and are a great way to share different sorts of art with children. I would encourage you to explore your community with new eyes, looking for examples of art in the community and thinking about how you can share them.

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Books about artists It is valuable for children to see real art in a gallery, or by having an artist bring something in to show them. Another way of sharing art with children is by having a range of books about artists. There is a growing range of wonderful books written for children about artists. Lots of the bigger galleries and museums now have bookshops with books for children as well as for adults and you can also find second-​hand copies in online bookshops and charity shops. I recommend gathering a collection over time that you can have in your book library. Just in the way we have storybooks for children and books about issues, it would be great if we also had books about artists. I have suggested some books at the end of this chapter. You can also get packs of cards with a range of artists’ pictures on them; Usborne have one which has 30 cards with famous paintings –​on one side is a picture of a painting and on the other side is information about the artist (Courtauld 2020). In addition to traditional art books, children’s picture books often have illustrations in them by artists. I wonder how often we notice the artwork in the book as well as the story? One of my favourite illustrators of children’s books is Jackie Morris. She is probably most known for her exquisite work in the book The Lost Words (2017), a collaborative project with the writer Robert Macfarlane, covering words that had been dropped from a children’s dictionary. The paintings from this book now form part of a travelling exhibition across the UK and the original book sparked other creative projects, including Spell Songs –​an album of songs inspired by the original book. If you are not familiar with The Lost Words, I encourage you to look at the website to which I give a link at the end of the chapter.

Making links with artists in the community Throughout this book, I will be encouraging links with the local community. There will be people in your community, maybe parents or grandparents or in local businesses, who or where there are artists. Have you thought about talking to them? Invite them in to see the children and show the children the work they do. When our daughters were at primary school, my husband

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Iain did several visits to the school and ran sculpture workshops with them. On another occasion one daughter’s class visited his workshop. Here, he talked to the class about his letter carving, saw the tools he uses, watched him doing some carving and then they had a go themselves. I think it can be powerful when children are given the opportunity to meet and see people doing different jobs, that they may one day want to do themselves.

MOMENT FOR REFLECTION Do you visit art galleries in your own time? If so when did you last go? Have you visited an art gallery with children? Do you know where your local gallery is? If you haven’t been yourself, I would recommend you find a gallery and visit; the ones run by the city are good places to start and are often free.

Interview with Richard Crookes

In this interview I am speaking to Richard Crookes. He is a sculptor who mostly works in clay and is also an art teacher; he was head of department at a senior school in London and now works in the United Arab Emirates advising on their art curriculum.

Sonia

In an ideal world, when children arrive at senior school, as their art teacher what would you have liked their early experiences of creativity to have been?

Richard

I would like them to have enthusiasm and confidence in using a variety of materials, so they are not scared of materials or making a mess. Showing they can use tools in different ways, for example heavily marking with a pen, or smashing clay with their hand. Just thinking back to your house, when the girls

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were young with their drawings on the fridge and around the house, there were bold statements. That is what we want for children to have the ability to make bold statements, that could be with marks, with a visual element.

On my wish list, I would like them to:

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Have an understanding of colour mixing, know the colour wheel, complementary and primary colours and how they interact, to be able to recognise that in artwork and why that is significant. With young children, you can start this by talking about how the sun is a warm colour or other colours are cold colours. I want them to have an understanding of the form of evidence –​what tone is, what a tonal range is, e.g using dark and light tones. Also, an understanding of why lines and textures, shape and form are useful. So, they are building a natural vocabulary they are readily using. I would expect them to have done some printmaking and know why printmaking is used. Through printmaking, they will have experience in using cutting tools, which hopefully will help them to gain respect for tools. Also for them to have used clay and done some modelling and hopefully have the experience of things being fired. I would like them to have some understanding of composition, what is in the foreground, background, and midground and how we can recognise that and why that is important. You can start that by looking at comic books and manga. For them to have started to look at artists and understand why artists made what they did and why they made it at certain times. For them to be able to describe what they are seeing in a picture. When I took children to galleries, I would ask them to describe what is in front of them. You want them to have

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•

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the language to unpick the artwork –​this bit is big, this bit is dark, this bit is bright, that is in the foreground. They might be able to think about why is he doing it. It’s about establishing a way for them to understand an artwork. I also want them to be able to talk to their friends and say what they think about a piece of art, and what they like or don’t like about it. And, finally, I also want them to know how to research an art piece.

Sonia

You are an art teacher, you know what you are doing, but for those who don’t have an arts background, which is the case for a lot of people, how can adults who don’t have an arts background encourage children to be creative?

Richard

The main thing is play. What happens if you have a lump of clay and you put your fingers in to make some eye sockets? If you have some charcoal what happens if you draw a big blackbird, using the whole of your arm? Use open questions about their work. What is it you want to do with your drawing? What interests you? Using comic books can be great to copy the drawings. Also using how questions –​How can we do that? What do you want your mum to look like? How can we make her look like she is happy? How, what, why, when.

Reflection on interview Although Richard is teaching older children than we work with, I felt it was interesting to hear his wish list. In an ideal world what he would like the children to arrive with is the creative bag of experiences. It is long time until our 3 and 4 years old will be going to senior school, but there are things we can do which will aid them on that journey to becoming confident in the fine arts.

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How does art support children’s wellbeing? In my interview with Juliette in Chapter 2, she talked about how using arts can give children she works with the space to express themselves without feeling under pressure to use words. We know that some children will need specific art therapy as their experiences have been challenging and traumatic. However, all children will have times when they are struggling or feeling frustrated but also at other times when they are feeling wonderfully happy and positive. Art can be a way of helping children to express these feelings; it can support a child’s wellbeing as a form of expressing themselves. In Philippa Perry’s book –​The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (2019) –​she talks about how as children mature and the logical part of their brain becomes more dominant, they begin to learn to use pictures and drawings to express their feeling and understanding. She suggests this can be beneficial to them and help them rather than for them to be at the mercy of their feelings. When children can draw or paint or mark make their feelings this can help them to make sense of them. I think this is an important skill we can help children with. Research that Dr Tom Boyce (2019) carried out in California in 1989 looked at the impact stress had on children’s immune systems when they started school. In the year they were doing the research there was an earthquake in California. They sent all the children a packet of crayons and paper and asked them to draw the earthquake. Some children sent back happy pictures; others drew more distressing pictures of what happened. They found that the children who drew the happy pictures, and perhaps suppressed feelings, had more respiratory illnesses than those who drew the more distressing pictures. They concluded that telling stories, and drawing pictures of what we have experienced and how it has made us feel, helps us to take ownership of what we have experienced and by expressing ourselves, over time these experiences can become less scary and will diminish over time. Many of the children I work with have high sensory needs, and often the more sensory and immersive the creative activity the happier they are! If you are working with children who are highly sensory seeking give them lots of opportunities to be creative and, if you can, let them use their whole bodies in painting. With my daughters, one of the best painting activities

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moved from bubble painting to full body painting, with bottom painting being the favourite part! If this is a little too far for you, even foot painting and arm painting can be a lot of fun and can boost their mental health.

EXAMPLE FROM PRACTICE –​DRAWING I have noticed this year that several of the children I work with love drawing. I have used drawing as an activity in a wide variety of ways from decorating pebbles, decorating plant pots, drawing wishes, designing monsters and making worry dolls. Each time 3 or 4 of the children visibly begin to relax as they draw; they become lost in the flow of what they are doing, their shoulders drop, and they start to smile. Two of these children choose to sit and draw at the start of each day, they always go to the drawing table. When I ask them about how it feels when they draw they tell me they feel calm, they feel happy. My hope is through them being able to do these repeated activities, and talking about how it makes them feel calm, this will become something they remember and recognise and take forward with them in their life, and this could become an important part of their wellbeing toolkit.

Working with artists Sometimes we have the opportunity to work with artists. As I have mentioned before, in the Reggio preschools they employ full-​time artists as part of their team. For a lot of settings in the UK, this won’t be possible but it may be possible to invite an artist to work with your children. As I have mentioned my husband is an artist, and sometimes we work collaboratively on community art projects. Below is an interview with Iain describing a project we did in a school a few years ago. Interview with Iain Cotton

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Sonia

Can you describe the project we did at Winterbourne Primary?

Iain

The head teacher of the primary school approached me. The school had been given some money and he wanted to spend it on something that would be lasting; he wanted a legacy that would be there for many years. His idea was to commission a sculpture to go outside on the school grounds.

Sonia

Do you want to describe your idea?

Iain

He wanted to involve the children. My main thing is designing and carving lettering. I proposed to have a standing stone with an inscription on it about the vision and ethos of the school. The inscription needed to have enough letters in it so every child in the school could design a letter. I would then interpret that in carving. So literally every child in the school could go up to the stone and find their letter. Fully participative and fully inclusive was the vision and goal for the project.

Sonia

I got to work with you on it –​you brought the creativity and the idea and I helped you think about how we could make that work in practice with 4 year olds through to 11 year olds. We used plasticine with the younger children and the older ones had coloured drawing pencils and postcard sized paper.

Iain

We also offered plasticine to the older children if they wanted it. Most of them chose to draw their letter with pencils and pencil crayons, but some chose to model them with plasticine. But it was your idea for the younger children who had less refined fine motor skills, that drawing the letter might be too difficult so they could model the letter with plasticine.

Sonia

Yes we used plasticine because I had learnt from previous participation work that it is quite mouldable and malleable and it works for smaller children as well as older ones. The teachers chose which letter each child had.

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Iain I put all the letters for the inscription on a postcard so that we could give each child a postcard with a letter on it. I think we were aiming for a letter that was in their first name, if possible, which wasn’t possible for everyone, but for the younger ones that is what we aimed for. It gave them a head start in knowing and recognising their letter. I started the session by doing an assembly where I introduced myself, showed them some photos of my work, showed them my tools and explained the project we were going to work on. Sonia

My memory of the workshops with each class was a week of joy; the children adored it. What’s your memory of it?

Iain

I was pretty nervous about it, as I was out of my comfort zone working with so many children, but you and Summer (our youngest daughter) were brilliant in helping me navigate how we would do it. We got through it quite quickly and did the whole school in a couple of days. We also photographed the work throughout. We would photograph the letter they made next to the letter on the postcard. This gave me something to work with, particularly with the plasticine letters where I couldn’t take those back with me.

Sonia

Yes, the idea was that every single letter would be unique because it was unique to that child who made it. As the ages went up, it was interesting to see some beautiful, creative ideas from the children. Some really quirky and slightly mad things.

Iain ​ They were more sophisticated as the children got older. But also those less able children in the older classes were still completely engaged and able to contribute. Sonia

I thought it was really powerful how every single child had a part, they all had their letter. Once you had all those letters what did you then do?

Iain

Because we had images of all the letters, I PhotoShopped them into sentences to make the text. I tried to organise it so that

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mostly the letters at the bottom of the inscription were by the younger children, so they could see them, and then further up the stone the further up the age range you went. So the letters at the top of the inscription were from the older children. Sonia

You carve letters every day, that is your skill and because you are an artist you design your own letters, how was it carving completely unique 187 different letters?

Iain

It was wonderful. There is certain reinvention because you have to translate 2 dimensional things into 3 dimensional things. So it was finding a carving language where I could translate the children’s letters into carved letters. I tried to be accurate and honour their letters and find a way to translate them so they were recognisable. I liked how they came out, particularly the plasticine letters. Because plasticine has particular characteristics there was a lot of consistency amongst those letters. They translated into really nice letterforms. I cut them as u shaped rather than v shaped to capture something of the plasticity.

Sonia

What did you carve these onto?

Iain

A red sandstone boulder from Devon. I worked a flat face onto the boulder. I carved most of it in my workshop and then I left a few letters to carve on site so the children could come out and watch me carve the last few letters.

Sonia

Can you remember how the children responded when they saw it and saw you carving the last few letters?

Iain

Utter delight, especially when they found their letter, complete joy in them. It was a delightful project.

What I enjoyed from this project was the playfulness we saw in the children’s designs. I also loved how everyone could take part and see their work represented on the final stone. There were a couple of children off sick when Iain was in school, but they did their letters on their return and these were sent to him.

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EXAMPLE FROM PRACTICE –​PAINTING WITH JUMBO PAINT MARKERS Kate Parmar has recently joined the nurture outreach team I work with, below she describes a recent experience of using paint with children and how it supported their wellbeing: With some of the nursery children I have recently been working with, I have been exploring big painting with them. I found some jumbo paint markers from Baker Ross. I can use them anywhere, I don’t need water or newspaper, they don’t even need an apron with them. They dry like watercolours. You can also colour mix with them. I recently used them with two children; I gave them an A3 piece of paper and the pens and then invited them to do whatever they wanted with them. One of the little girls is often very quiet, she started with squiggles, she then discovered if she pressed really hard they splat –​it was delightful to see. Observing her, it was like she was using the markers to release expression. We were doing lots of mirroring facial expressions. She would have a face of expectation and glee and I would mirror this; I would wait for her and then she would splatt the marker and I would jump. It was a bit like a game of peek-​a-​boo, it was just magic to see her response. She thought it was so funny, it built a rapport between us, it was like a release of expression for her. The other great thing is they don’t keep running out and they are a nice chunky size, perfect for little hands and they dry quickly so they can take them home the same day. It was interesting to see how she used these to let me know how she was feeling and to see a bit more of her personality. She is quite sparky, with a twinkle in her eyes, and very quiet, but such a sense of fun. With the other child her painting had lots of squares. She started with concentric ordered patterns and then did stick people near them –​she wanted me to guess who they were. I was able to talk about how I could see she was enjoying it; she was smiling and her eyes had lit up. She started with an order and then was able to be a bit freer. She started with lining all the pens up and she used each one in order and then was able to be freer in how she used the colours. She found calmness in the session.

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I made sure when we started the pads on the end were clean. I used good quality paper, of a nice thickness, which didn’t disintegrate with paint on it. Also using large paper. They spend their lives in school using A4 sized paper, having bigger paper helped them to be freer.

A FINAL MOMENT FOR REFLECTION Before you move on to the next chapter, take a moment to think about how you engage in the fine arts with children. You may want to write down some ideas you would like to try, or maybe a reminder to yourself about investing in some new materials or finding out about artists in your community.

My takeaway from this chapter is to learn to draw, to get over my 4-​year-​old self’s talk that I can’t draw. Finally, I am ending this chapter with some practical ideas you could try for supporting children in the fine arts

Practical ideas to try to support fine art Make natural paint using flowers, mud, and leaves, and experiment with the colours and textures. Use a variety of sizes of paper and surfaces to mark make on. For example, huge pieces that cover the floor, tiny pieces, postcards, canvas, cardboard, wood, crockery, pebbles and shells, pavements, and walls. Make sculptures from found objects in the home/​setting. Experiment with making big sculptures and small sculptures. You might want to use things that have been recycled on one day and then on another

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day use food such as pasta/​spaghetti/​beans, and on yet another day you might use blocks and bricks. Paint feelings. Name a feeling and get the children to paint/​draw/​mark make the feeling. Help them to think about the colours of the feeling, and its texture and shape. Print with objects. Use flowers, vegetables, fruit, objects in the home or setting, pasta, fish (see a link to Alistair Bryce Clegg’s suggestion on printing with fish(!) at the end of the chapter) and body parts Experiment with paint. Make edible yoghurt paint, add glue to paint, make paint with flour and water and food colouring, and use shaving foam and food colouring as paint or crazy soap. Use straws or marbles or string to paint with. Experiment with brushes and tools for painting –​mops, twigs, sticks, rollers, paint brushes of differing sizes, sponges, squeezy bottles. Use wood and stone to make art, setting up a wood art bench, with hammers and nails to add to their creations. Also, have varying sizes of stones and pebbles that could be used in making sculptures and towers, or for drawing on. Use natural objects to make pictures on the ground, such as leaves, petals, and sticks. You won’t be able to take them away but you could photograph them, and maybe revisit; seeing how they change over time.

References Antony Gormley’s Field for the British Isles –​https://​artsco​unci​lcol​lect​ion. org.uk/​exh​ibit​ion/​ant​ony-​gorm​ley-​field-​brit​ish-​isles Beeley, K. and Bryce-​Clegg, A. (2012). 50 Fantastic Things to Do With Paint. London: Bloomsbury. Boyce, T. (2019). The Orchid and the Dandelion: Why Sensitive People Struggle and All Can Thrive. London: Bluebird Books. Bryce-​Clegg, A. (2015). 50 Fantastic Things for Mark Making. London. Bloomsbury Churchill Dower, R. (2020). Creativity and the Arts in Early Childhood –​ Supporting Young Children’s Development and Wellbeing. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

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Courtauld, S. (2020). Usborne Famous Paintings. London: Usborne. Griffiths, F. (ed.). (2017). Supporting Children’s Creativity through Music, Dance, Drama and Art: Creative Conversations in the Early Years. Abingdon: Routledge. Macfarlane, R. and Morris, J. (2017). The Lost Words. London: Penguin. Perry, P. (2019). The Book You Wished Your Parents Had Read. London: Penguin. Rembrandt self-​portrait at the age of 63 –​https://​www.nati​onal​gall​ery.org. uk/​painti​ngs/​rembra​ndt-​self-​portr​ait-​at-​the-​age-​of-​63 Rangoli Art –​ https://​www.calei​dosc​ope.in/​art-​cult​ure/​rang​oli-​art-​ori​gin-​ signi​fica​nce-​of-​this-​art-​form-​in-​ind​ian-​cult​ure Sargent, M. (2016). Enabling Environments –​Creativity –​Edible Art. Available at: https://​www.nurse​rywo​rld.co.uk/​featu​res/​arti​cle/​enabl​ing-​envir​onme​ nts-​cre​ativ​ity-​edi​ble-​art

Useful information and links Berry paint –​https://​abcd​oes.com/​abc-​does-​a-​blog/​2019/​11/​06/​text​ure-​ kitch​ens-​berry-​paint/​ Fish printing –​https://​abcd​oes.com/​abc-​does-​a-​blog/​2012/​01/​30/​ideasfor-​paint/​ Gallery websites

https://​iziko.org.za https://​www.gug​genh​eim.org https://​www.lou​vre.fr/​en/​ https://​www.nact.jp/​engl​ish/​ https://​www.nation​alga​ller​ies.org https://​www.nati​onal​gall​ery.org.uk https://​www.rijk​smus​eum.nl/​en https://​www.smk.dk/​en/​ https://​www.tate.org.uk

Artist websites Andy Goldsworthy, Earth Artists and His Process –​https://​/​www.yout​ube. com/​watch?v=​sngX​z55b​4bc

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Anthony Gormley –​https://​www.antony​gorm​ley.com Barbara Hepworth –​https://​barb​arah​epwo​rth.org.uk/​scu​lptu​res/​ Iain Cotton –​https://​www.iai​ncot​ton.co.uk Jackie Morris –​https://​www.jacki​emor​ris.co.uk/​gall​ery/​ Kazimir Malevich –​https://​www.tate.org.uk/​kids/​expl​ore/​who-​is/​who-​kazi​ mir-​malev​ich Paula Rego –​https://​www.tate.org.uk/​kids/​expl​ore/​who-​is/​who-​paula-​rego

  Books for adults Churchill Dower, R. (2020). Creativity and the Arts in Early Childhood. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

  Books for children Barnes, Z. (2021). Meet the Artist Sophie Taeuber-​arp. London: Tate Publishers. Beaty, A. (2021). Aaron Slater Illustrator. New York: Abram’s Books for Young Readers. Curry, P. and Curry, J. (2019). Parker Looks Up. New York: Simon & Schuster Publishing. Dorling Kindersley (2009). Children’s Book of Art. London: Dorling Kindersley. Mayhew, J. (2014). Katie and the Sunflowers. London. Orchard Books. There are several in the series. Verde, S. (2018). Hey Wall: A Story of Art and Community. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers Walker Harvey, J. (2022). Ablaze with Colours: A Story of Painter Alma Thomas. New York: HarperCollins.

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Craft

In this chapter, I am going to be exploring crafts and how we can use these with children and how this can support their wellbeing. A definition of craft on the Tate website is ‘Craft is a form of making which generally produces an object that has a function: such as something you can wear, or eat or drink from’. I am aware that within the art world there have been many conversations about whether something is craft or art, and sometimes craft has been seen as less important than art. However, this is changing, especially with artists such as Grayson Perry using craft techniques and being recognised for their outstanding artwork. Before we start this chapter, I would like you to take a moment to think about if you engage in any craft activities for your practice. I have listed below some that you might be familiar with and may engage in: Knitting Crochet Sewing Designing Tapestry Embroidery Clay Marbling Calligraphy Letter cutting Lino cutting Batik

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DOI: 10.4324/9781003312710-5

Craft

Dyeing Felting Printmaking Candle making Jewellery making Origami Rangoli (I put this under art as well, but in many ways, there is a crossover with craft) Cob building Collage Gardening Découpage Weaving Spinning Basket making Photography Whittling Bodging (traditional green woodworking) Blacksmith Bookbinding Luthier (a craftsperson who makes string instruments!) But I would also add a separate section of activities which though do not officially come under craft, are still creative and I think of them as craft. These include: Baking Cooking Beer/​wine/​spirit making Apothecary (someone who makes tinctures/​creams/​soaps/​medicine) Looking at these lists, there may be things you are familiar with or have tried, and there may be new things; I hadn’t heard of being a luthier or bodging, but I love their names and had to include them in the list! However, I have tried most things on the list and regularly do a few of them –​I knit, felt, bake and use apothecary skills regularly. These things are different to art; they are creative, albeit in a different way.

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Now have a look at the list again and think about if you have done any of these things with children. You may find a few you have tried with children. Personally, I have done felting, jewellery making, printing, clay, photography, dyeing, baking and cooking with children. You may find that the craft you do with children is more limited than that you do yourselves.

How does craft support wellbeing? As I mentioned above there are many similarities between craft and art and I think it is interesting that a lot of people who might not consider themselves artistic will often engage in craft activities. I wonder if some feel less pressure with a craft activity? I know I feel uncomfortable about trying to draw or paint something as I fear it won’t look like I want it to, but with felting, I feel freer to experiment and be more abstract. I have also found craft activities help me to switch off; they are often mindful experiences. Emma Mitchell (2017) wrote a beautiful book called Making Winter where she describes how craft activities have helped her survive the winter months when mentally she can become very low. Her book has a range of crafts ideas to try and this is one of my go-​to books for the autumn to help me through the first few terms back in school and to support my wellbeing. I have found many of the children I work with often have fixed ideas in their heads of what they want something to look like, particularly with drawing and painting, and this can lead them to become frustrated and disappointed when they can’t create what they want. However, when they are doing more craft-​type activities they are often less fixed with their end idea, and so craft lends itself to being more playful and enjoyable for them. Laura Brand (2020) in her first book, The Joy Journal for Magical Everyday Play, describes the joy she feels when she is crafting and making and how this has been shared with her children. This description resonated with me; I feel joyful when I am felting and making soap, and at many times see the joy in the children’s faces when I do craft explorations with them. I am aware that the craft I do with children is usually very sensory. Printing, baking, dyeing and clay are incredibly sensory and some children (and adults) find sensory experiences calming and soothing. In my book supporting children with social, emotional and mental health needs (Mainstone-​Cotton 2021)

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I gave lots of examples of sensory play and activities that could support children with SEMH needs. Craft has often been used by Occupational Therapists and can be linked back to the late nineteenth century with basket weaving being used to support soldiers to relieve anxiety and support their physical ailments after the First World War. Over the years, research has shown that crafts such as baking, knitting and gardening help to improve mood and lower stress. It is believed that multi-​sensory engagement, repetitive actions and the anticipation of making something and the satisfaction with this help to release the neurotransmitters associated with joy and wellbeing (see the Crafts Council website). Craft and art play a huge part in my nurture work. They are an essential component to the work I use directly with children and the work I suggest staff use with children. The reason for this is that children often will find a place of calm or at other times a place of release with specific art and craft opportunities. Below is a practice example of how this can help:

EXAMPLE FROM PRACTICE –​BREAD MAKING One week I was making bread with a little boy who found it hard to concentrate on adult-​led activities in class. The morning I saw him he was having a tricky day; he had become very upset earlier and hit out at various adults and children around him. He was calmer when I saw him, but was still frowning. I told him we were going to make some bread that day. He liked coming out with me and happily came to the kitchen with me. We weighed out the ingredients, something with which he was familiar as we had done something similar when making play dough on another occasion. I then explained how we needed to knead the bread, and showed him how to do it. He kneaded and pounded the dough for around 15 minutes, he was totally absorbed, it became a bit like a physical workout for him, and his arms and shoulders were working hard. As he was working you could see the physical way this was helping to calm him, he was focused, he was relaxing the tension in his body, and he was coming to a calmer place. When the kneading was finished, we made the bread into hedgehog rolls and baked them. The finished rolls were a happy outcome of the

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activity, but the wellbeing benefit was in the sensory and physical craft making. A link to the recipe for hedgehog bread rolls can be found at the end of the chapter.

EXAMPLE FROM PRACTICE –​SEWING WITH CHILDREN On a recent visit to Widcombe Acorns, I observed some of the children sewing. They have recently set up a sewing room in the afternoons, where a small group of children can join an adult and do some sewing. They are making an end product of a puppet, which is unusual for Acorns as they don’t generally have a fixed end product to work on. The staff have said the children are loving it. It’s their choice if they want to make one, but most of them are. I saw four children working on their sewing; they were incredibly calm and focussed and it was such a relaxing and peaceful atmosphere. The staff told me how they have noticed that those children who can sometimes be more active and bouncy have especially enjoyed this activity, they have responded so positively to the calmness of it. From watching this session, it was so clear the boost this was having the children’s wellbeing. The children were proudly telling me about what they were making. One little girl said it was a bit tricky but she had nearly finished, and she looked very proud.

MOMENT FOR REFLECTION For a moment, think about a time you have used craft with children. Were you able to see a way it was supporting their wellbeing? Can you identify children you work with who might especially benefit from more craft opportunities?

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Steiner and Montessori practice Both Steiner and Montessori education practices are known for using a lot of craft in their educational settings. A principle of Montessori was that the child had an ‘inner teacher’ and knew within themselves what they wanted to discover. She was a keen advocate of children being able to follow their own interests and explore the things that fascinated them. If we think back to the practice in Reggio Emilia mentioned in previous chapters, there is a crossover between these ideas. Montessori was also a great believer in children being able to do things themselves; she was not concerned about how things looked at the end but more with the child being able to do it in their way, independently. Again, we can see a similarity with Reggio with its emphasis on the process rather than the result. She also believed in having a wide range of resources available for children to help themselves and use creative and imaginative ideas with them in the way they wanted. The other practice we often link to craft is Steiner, which combines creativity and practical activity, especially in the first seven years. Steiner’s education theory had an underpinning emphasis on the spiritual development of children. Particular importance is given to meaningful life experiences and repetitive actions. In Steiner settings you will see a lot of children being involved in the day-​to-​day practicalities of life such as preparing vegetables for lunch, baking and gardening. The settings also have a weekly rhythm, e.g., a baking day, gardening day, a craft day in the week. Each day has dedicated creative playtime, with an emphasis on dance, storytelling (rather than reading), singing and puppet shows. The belief is that children, by imitating what the adults are doing and repeating these practices, will become immersed in these practices. A priority for both Steiner and Montessori is not to rush the children, to give them space and time to develop at their own level.

Having craft in the environment and inviting crafters to visit In Chapter 3 I talked about art in the environment for children to see and experience and also seeing art outside of your setting. It’s the same for crafts.

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How can children know about crafts if they don’t see them? For example, do you have some knitted or crocheted items in your play resources? If you don’t, could you ask any of the families if they knit/​crochet and whether they would be willing to provide some? Maybe they could come in and show the children how they knit/​crochet. As a way of introducing myself when I start working with the children, I have a knitted Sonia swimming doll in my all about me pack. I tell them I knitted it and they are often fascinated by the knitting and exclaim with delight that the doll has short spiky hair like me! As mentioned in Chapter 3 the children at Winterbourne school loved watching Iain carve their letters onto the boulder. Children are often fascinated to see adults making something. It is very likely that within your community many people engage in the crafts, maybe for their jobs or maybe for pleasure.

MOMENT FOR REFLECTION Is there a craft you or others in your team do that you could show to the children? Now think about the wider community, the families, friends maybe local businesses. Are there crafters you could call on to visit your setting and show their work? Could they also get the children to have a go at their craft?

How can we use craft making with the children we work with? As I mentioned in the previous chapter, providing art materials is something we are all familiar with in our settings and the home, but providing craft materials may be something you do less often. Below are some ideas of craft materials that you might be able to make available; you may probably find that you are already regularly providing some of these.

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Examples of craft materials we can provide You will see there is some crossover with the art materials in Chapter 3. Rice Paper and card of lots of different sizes Tissue paper Eco glitter Scissors Glue Tape of various sizes and widths String Balls of wool Wool fibres Natural objects –​twigs, flowers, soil, leaves Pipe cleaners Sticks of various sizes, e.g lolly sticks, toothpicks, larger sticks Feathers Material Ribbon Printing ink Chalk Clay Mosaic pieces Bottle tops Tin foil Cellophane Boxes Tubs/​tubes Pom poms Beads Dried pasta Dried pulses Coloured sand or salt Craft wire Magazines and newspapers for cutting up

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Buttons Pebbles Shells The above list may have examples of things you already put out as part of your regular provision. However, there will be other times when you want to introduce a specific craft activity such as sewing, knitting or dyeing and of course then you will need more specific resources for those.

The outdoors When I have reflected on the craft work I have engaged in with children, I have realised a lot of it has involved being outside or using nature for inspiration. If you look at forest school activities, a lot of the ideas that are offered are often craft based. There are many advantages to this and one is that it keeps mess to the outside. I know for some people there is a difficulty with the idea of using messy crafts inside with children, whereas if you do the activities outside it can be less of an issue. In the interview with Clare below, she recognises how using clay outside is a good way to manage the mess. When our children were younger, we provided a lot of art and craft opportunities to our daughters. My eldest enjoyed drawing and painting, and they regularly did stone carving with their dad during the holidays. But our youngest was particularly drawn to outdoor crafts. She has dyspraxia and found drawing frustrating as things never looked the way she wanted. She loved being outside and was often making potions with mud, petals and water, sticking flowers onto card, and, as she got a bit older, she adored learning to whittle and spent many hours trying to make bows and arrows and pea shooters (her heroes at that time were Dennis the Menace, Peter Pan and Just William!). In the Little Minds Matter book series, of which this is a part, the first book was by Sarah Watkins (2022) on outdoor play. In her book Sarah reflects on how loose parts play outside is one of the best ways to enable creativity. The open-​ended nature of these resources enables children to be as creative and imaginative as they want, encouraging storytelling.

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Interview with Clare Day

In this interview I am speaking to Clare Day who is a ceramicist. I worked together with Clare on a play scheme in Summer 2020 and Clare used clay with the children. The play scheme was for children who had high social, emotional and mental health needs and it was in the summer holidays after we had all experienced the first Covid lockdown. Before the play scheme I was aware of how children could be attracted to the sensory nature of clay, but watching Clare facilitate the sessions with the children, I was moved by how much of a calming and soothing response some of the children had to the clay. In many ways that experience gave me direct inspiration for writing this book.

Sonia

How do you find clay supports children’s wellbeing? I was aware that for some of the children the play scheme was such a sensory soothing experience and I was interested to hear your thoughts about that.

Clare

Like you, I noticed over that time what an amazing thing clay is. In a sense it doesn’t have anything to do with me as an artist, I am just a bringer of the clay and an observer and it’s a complete stepping back. I recently read a fascinating book that had a big impact on me, it’s called ‘Trauma Healing at the Clay Field, A Sensorimotor Art Therapy Approach’ by Cornelia Elbrecht. It’s a particular trauma technique and it’s for dealing with trauma that has occurred in a preverbal stage. It has got me thinking a lot about what I do, especially with children. What is lovely with clay is it gives you the chance to do something again and again and again and then squash it up. I have also noticed young children might make something, maybe a character or an environment; they often make the world they are then going to play with. Not necessarily physically, they might make something and then walk away from it, but they might have made the start of the story.

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Sonia

What I have liked about seeing children with clay is the open-​ ended process of it. There isn’t the prescriptive ‘I want you to make …’, but they can develop it into whatever way they want.

Clare

​ es, that is what is so lovely about working with young chilY dren as often they haven’t had the whole ‘this is the right way to do something’. Although it can sometimes be quite difficult in managing the expectations of the setting, sometimes there is not always openness.

Sonia

I​ s that because the adults expect that the children will come out with something at the end of it?

Clare

Yes, the whole integral part of clay work is the destruction, the squashing up; the positives of that are obvious to me but may not be to everyone. It has to be managed, the squashing up of other people’s things, but even that can be constructive in a circular way if it’s managed.

Sonia

Often I suggest to parents or practitioners that if they are desperate to have something to see of the child’s work, then to photograph the work before it gets squashed.

Clare

That’s what I see as my role. I stand back and I am observing and documenting. What was lovely about the play scheme was the children were also documenting with cameras.

Sonia

Many of the children I work with have high sensory needs, often they are drawn to clay; I think it’s something about the sensory nature. Have you noticed that? And what do you think that is about?

Clare Yes, I used to think everyone given the chance would love clay, but for some people getting dirty is problematic for them and they don’t enjoy it. I have witnessed that, but I would say 98% are drawn to it in some way. It is definitely about being in it. I read that somewhere … I think the trauma healing book talks about the heel of your hand being linked to certain areas of

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the brain which are linked to wellbeing. This is why so many people in lockdown were making bread. We evolved as makers or handlers of things and there is often not enough of that in our lives now. Sonia

This chapter is about craft. I know there are some tensions in the art world about craft and art and the lap over, but for this book and this chapter on craft I have been thinking about how often settings are good at drawing and painting and junk modelling, but maybe sometimes they feel less confident about introducing craft. I think clay is quite an accessible way into that. Do you have any thoughts about that?

Clare

Yes, as a counterpoint it is not about making a perfect thing, and some children will want to make the perfect thing and they really will want to learn the skills to know how to make a thumb pot, coil pot etc. For me it’s about direct hands-​on; I don’t like to have lots of tools and complicated processes but the repetitive joining, or the hollowing out … the forming with your hands. Perfecting a skill because you have identified the skill is a lovely process. Children will instinctively, with enough time and if you give enough value to it, they will instinctively want to make something that has that process. Whatever that is. It might be something they have invented or something like a pinch pot. Some will ask how I make a pot or a person, how I join, how I cover something over another thing. I think that process itself is very validating to do something well.

Sonia

For staff who may have no experience in art or craft, have you any tips for them?

Clare

Being alongside is important, also not instructing, also it’s about the setup. In our play scheme, we had open areas and then the clay area was in the outdoor mud kitchen area, that worked. Having the clay in with play, having it with water and natural material as well is good. You can then do the imprinting with

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natural materials. Craft and art cross over massively; I’m an artist and crafts person. We are all of those things. Sonia

I like what you said about doing it alongside, I remember at the play scheme doing that. Sat alongside the children I had clay, they had clay and just having those conversations. It wasn’t about what I was making or they were making but the joy was in doing it alongside one another.

Clare

A lot of it is about the practicality of mess, having a space outside is good. Having it outside means you don’t have to clear it up in the same way. It’s the instant reward of clay but also the possibility to come again tomorrow and do it again.

Sonia

If the early years setting wants to get hold of clay, what is the best type to get and where can they get it from?

Clare

I hate air dry clay as it has plastic fibres in it that make it set hard and that is environmentally problematic. Any ordinary clay that you could fire if you want to is best; you don’t have to fire it. You can use it again and again, it will make something brittle unless you fire it, but it can just be wet down again and it encourages that process of doing things again and again.

Sonia

If a setting doesn’t have a way of firing it, can they still let it dry?

Clare

I always use that type of clay, it encourages the thought it won’t last forever. I can keep it for a bit on my shelf, but if it won’t be permanent then I can wet it down and re-​use it. That’s why I use it as it is very circular. Sometimes there are chances to get things fired later, but it is more about the process rather than the end product.

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Sonia

Where can they get it?

Clare

You can find local potters’ suppliers and buy a bag of clay for about £10. Or you could dig some, wet it down, put it through a pair of tights and then use it.

Sonia

How do you think clay helps children’s wellbeing?

Clare

It’s particularly brilliant for kids who don’t like or feel that they don’t fit in with conventional education. The benefits are autonomy, and creative thinking in a 3-​dimensional way. Drawing is great but it doesn’t work for everyone, some people are makers at heart. Also collaborative, it’s great for bonding, to have a quiet time to make something together can be beneficial.

The role of the adult in supporting As with all of these creative activities, the role of the adult is so important in supporting the child. One main way we can do this is by ensuring we are offering children a wide range of resources as mentioned in the list above. However, another way is to offer children a range of different craft opportunities throughout our time with them. If crafting is something you don’t naturally lean towards, you might find this a bit more of a challenge. As with all activities we do with children, I always advocate that you try it out first! As you will already be aware I am not keen on replicating one item across the whole class, but it is ok to have an overarching idea and offer this as an activity. Of course, sometimes children will take this activity in their unique direction, and that is ok. I do think that craft and art can be areas where some adults can tend to lean towards being controlling. If you know this is you, just be aware of this and try hard to keep that in check! If children are experimenting with clay and all they want to do is make long sticks and then squash them, that is fine; or if they are a child who loves to mix and mix colours until they get brown and then layer the colours, this is fine. Remember it is the experience, not the end product, that is going to increase a child’s wellbeing.

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MOMENT FOR REFLECTION Take a moment to think about how you feel when working with children on craft activities. Are you someone who stands back and watches or are you more inclined to direct and tell them where to put things?

Interview with Emma

In this interview I am talking to Emma McGuinness. She works in a pack-​away setting in Bath called Bathampton playgroup and talked to me about how they use crafts in their setting.

Sonia

How do you use craft?

Emma

It’s a huge subject. Craft can be used in so many different ways and for different reasons. At the core, we as practitioners enjoy it ourselves and that often strengthens the enthusiasm of the children. We also know each child and what they are interested in and how we can use that in the craft. It is then a way of supporting all areas of their development, and I think we use it in quite a wide variety of ways whether in a loose exploratory style or sometimes with something more specific in mind. Craft is something that can particularly support a child’s personal, social and emotional development.

Sonia

Have you got favourites you like to use or the children prefer?

Emma

I like to use all kinds of natural material in my practice because of the way it links children to their natural world. Materials gathered from nature offer children an abundance of sensory experiences. This is so valuable. Especially if they have discovered and gathered items themselves such as leaves, twigs, and daisies. And there is so much to talk about! We can follow the seasons together through craft which is something I think is very important; again connecting children with a

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sense of time and place. Our children also love clay, and the variety of things you can add with it … we’ve used Modroc for model making, junk modelling, and a huge amount of play dough which always inspires imaginative creations. Sonia

I think you have used felting, can you tell me about that?

Emma With felting I keep it simple for young children, and it is another lovely sensory activity for them, allowing them to become almost more involved in the process over the result. I have made simple felted balls where children get very soapy soft hands, and the felt feels so smooth and soft, and the water is nice and warm! A very calming process. The transformation of the wool into felt is fascinating too. It is also interesting to use the wool dry, pulling it off in little wisps to wrap around sticks or circles of willow for headdresses. We have done this at the end of Summer terms so that we all have something special to wear at this time! Sonia

Have you noticed how craft might support children’s wellbeing?

Emma

I have noticed many ways in which craft might support children’s well-​being. There is the slowing down and becoming absorbed in the process, and there is the sense of achievement at completing a picture or model and finding a grown up to show it to. Craft sessions can offer a perfect time for children to talk to their teacher or keyworker, and spend time together. Confidence in handling different media and different tools will grow. This is very supportive of wellbeing as a whole. I mentioned the use of natural materials in craft, and if children are encouraged to be out in nature, gathering treasures to make things with, this in itself holds a wealth of wellbeing.

Sonia

Any top tips for early years practitioners to use craft?

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Emma

Keeping things simple and attractive so they look inviting to children, and inviting to those children who may be less confident or just find crafts less appealing.



There is no need to have a specific project in mind. We often put out the materials for children to choose from, the glue and different items to stick and mark make with, and the children explore this in their way. Enjoy the process rather than focusing on a result. Sometimes children want to make something in particular but often can be simply absorbed in the process. They may decide what it is at the end, or they may walk away from it and forget all about it once they have finished.



Linking the interests of the children to the craft is of course helpful. And the use of more unusual, interesting and good quality media. We have bought artist’s chunky graphite pencils for children to mark make with and supplied unusual objects for them to draw. These activities have been such fun, with staff and children around a table trying out their mark making styles!



Craft can happen spontaneously especially outside. Keep an open mind as children will love working together with you and the results you create as a team. A child once wanted me to help them create a big picture of a tractor outside using sticks. I was far from confident about this but we had such fun together and we were both delighted with our ‘tractor’!

Places to look for inspiration There are many places to look for craft ideas, although I would give a word of warning as a lot of them are quite prescriptive. As I have mentioned throughout, I don’t find the prescriptive model particularly supportive of children’s wellbeing. I have listed a few places to look for ideas at the end of the chapter and one I would highlight is CBeebies. They have a lovely range

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of mini films showing different creative activities. My favourite is the Gran Gran Plans and her flower pressing clip.

A FINAL MOMENT FOR REFLECTION Before you move on to the next chapter, take a moment to think about how to engage with crafts with children. Are there ideas from this chapter that you want to try maybe for yourself and then with the children?

My takeaway from this chapter is to try weaving. I love felting and knitting but I would like to learn to weave and then try this out with the children I support. I am ending this chapter with some practical ideas you can try.

Practical ideas to try to support craft Below are some specific craft activities which I have enjoyed doing with children. Felting –​I use the wet felt method with children rather than the needle felt method. For wet felting, you have wool fibres. Wet felting involves a lot of movement. You get the fibres wet with water and soap and rub your hands over them with bubble wrap covering the fibres and then you later throw the felted piece on a hard surface. It’s a great activity for children who have lots of pent up feelings as it is so physical. A link to wet felting is at the end of the chapter Dyeing –​Dyeing fabrics with natural dyes is a lot of fun, with foraging and finding leaves or berries a great part of the experience. You never quite know how it will work. You could also then move this on to tie dying where you wrap pebbles or something similar into the material before you dye it. There is scope for a lot of experimenting and fun.

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Baking –​As mentioned above I often make bread with children. There is now a huge range of recipes which are great for children to try. I also think the life skill we are offering children of being able to bake and cook from a young age is crucial. Nature mobile/​crown/​bracelet –​There are many examples of this type of activity available. For crowns and bracelets, you can use cards and double-​sided sticky tape and get the children to find leaves, flowers, petals, etc to put on their bracelet/​crown. For mobiles again it is about finding leaves, flowers, feathers etc and attaching them to sticks with string to create a mobile. Clay –​As Clare has mentioned, clay can be used in so many ways. I have used air dry clay in the past, but now that I have discovered it has plastic in it, I am going to move to natural clay. I know many settings that do forest school practice will often make clay faces on trees –​this is a lovely way to start introducing clay. Hapa Zome –​This is a Japanese term for flower or leaf pounding. You hit flowers and leaves with a pebble against some material and the imprint of the flower/​leaf is left on the material. Put the flowers and leaves onto some white material (I have used cotton bags for this) and cover them with paper or fold the material over to cover them and then hit the flowers/​leaves with a pebble. You will see the dye coming through the paper and leaving its mark on the material. This activity is very active and fantastic for releasing tension. Ice catchers –​Gather some leaves and berries and put them into a shallow dish. If you know it’s going to freeze overnight then leave it out to freeze or, if not, put it into the freezer. In the morning take the ice out of the container. You could drill a hole into the disc and thread string and then hang it in a tree or off the washing line.

References Brand, L. (2020). The Joy Journal for Magical Everyday Play. London: Bluebird Books. CBeebies. Six ways art and craft helps children learn. Available at: https://​www.bbc.co.uk/​cbeeb​ies/​joi​nin/​imp​orta​nce-​of-​art-​and-​craft-​for-​ child​ren

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CBeebies. Gran Gran Plans. Available at: https://​www.bbc.co.uk/​cbeeb​ies/​ makes/​gran-​gran-​plan-​flo​wer-​press​ing?col​lect​ion=​gran-​gran-​plans Craft Council –​https://​www.crafts​coun​cil.org.uk/​stor​ies/​4-​reas​ons-​craft-​ good-​your-​men​tal-​hea​lth Elbrecht, C. (2021). Healing Trauma in Children with Clay Field Therapy: How Sensorimotor Art Therapy Supports the Embodiment of Developmental Milestones. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books. Mainstone-​Cotton, S. (2021). Supporting Children with Social, Emotional and Mental Health Needs in the Early Years. Abingdon: Routledge. Mitchell, E. (2017). Making Winter. London: Michael O’Mara Books. Tate’s definition of craft –​https://​www.tate.org.uk/​art/​art-​terms/​c/​craft Watkins, S. (2022). Outdoor Play for Healthy Little Minds. Abingdon: Routledge.

Useful information and links Dyeing and tie dying –​https://​www.play​full​earn​ing.net/​resou​rce/​all-​natu​ ral-​tie-​dye-​diy/​ Early Arts for Children (2013). Using Butterfly Printing and Wellies. Early Arts UK. Available at: https://​earlya​rts.co.uk/​shop-​teach​ing-​packs/​using-​butter​ fly-​print​ing-​and-​well​ies Frozen sun catchers –​https://​the​lady​bird​sadv​entu​res.co.uk/​fun-​for​est-​sch​ ool-​act​ivit​ies/​ Hapa Zome –​https://​thi​mble​andt​wig.com/​hapa-​zome-​a-​fun-​flo​wer-​craft-​ for-​spr​ing/​ Hedgehog bread rolls –​https://​rain​yday​mum.co.uk/​hedge​hog-​bread/​ Rangoli art –​https://​www.calei​dosc​ope.in/​art-​cult​ure/​rang​oli-​art-​ori​gin-​ signi​fica​nce-​of-​this-​art-​form-​in-​ind​ian-​cult​ure Wet felting –​https://​inthep​layr​oom.co.uk/​wet-​felt​ing-​kids/​

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Further reading   Books for adults Danks, F. and Schofield, J. (2005). Nature’s Playground: Activities, Crafts and Games to Encourage Children to Get Outside. London: Frances Lincoln. Danks, F. and Schofield, J. (2012). The Stick Book. London: Frances Lincoln. Peachey, R. (2018). Montessori Crafts: 101 Montessori-​ inspired Crafts to do with Children Ages 2–​6 at Home or in the Classroom. Lexington, KY: Sterling Family Production.

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In this chapter, I am exploring music –​making sounds and exploring sounds. Music is something we probably all engage in with young children and very likely in our lives too. Most people have a ‘go to’ playlist or album which they listen to when they are happy or sad. We have a family Spotify account and my daughters have a variety of playlists on their accounts which they share, including a bouncing list! (Apparently, this is for when they are happy and feeling bouncy!) I have a writing playlist, and a feel-​good playlist, but I also have music for when I am feeling sad. Music is often the area of creativity that most people engage with. Even if they are not musical themselves, it’s an area that most people are familiar with and comfortable with. It’s also an area that is hugely rich and diverse, but I wonder how many of us actually listen to a wide range of diverse music? I know I tend to stick with what I know, though periodically I do try to extend my range and listen to broader genres. But if I’m honest I don’t do that enough. The majority of early years practitioners will be familiar with teaching children rhymes and songs, and even those who are uncomfortable with singing themselves –​and I put myself in that category –​ will often still manage to sing with young children or to young children. I sang lullabies to my daughters when they were little and the boys I nannied for. The gentle songs made me feel calmer, helping to co-​ regulate with the little one. It didn’t matter that I wasn’t a confident singer, no one else could hear, but I knew it helped to soothe the child. Many early years settings use a welcome song at the beginning of the day or session, where they name each person. I find this a lovely and

DOI: 10.4324/9781003312710-6

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inclusive practice helping everyone to feel they belong. Stephanie Brandon (2010) writes about how learning songs is a great tool for developing memory and language development. Along with singing, a lot of early years settings use musical instruments, often percussion and drums, as a way of supporting children’s creativity. As I have already mentioned, as adults we often listen to music, but I do wonder how often you put music on for children to listen to? Some settings have music on in their background, but it is often nursery rhymes etc.; other settings play music to calm children. But, how often do we play children other types of music? When I was working with Jamel Campbell on my last book (Mainstone-​Cotton and Campbell 2022), Jamel talked about playing diverse music in our settings –​a sample of the music children might hear in their homes and communities. This is such a great idea, but I must admit it was not one I had thought about before. Later in the chapter, I am going to interview Jamel about this.

MOMENT FOR REFLECTION Think for a moment about your music preferences and how you engage with music. Also, think about the ways you use music with children, do you sing each day to or with the children? Do you play music from a range of genres? Do you regularly use instruments with children?

The benefits of music There is growing research into the benefits of music for brain development. On the Boogie Mites site, there is an interview between Sue Newman, Director of Boogie Mites, and Anita Collins who is a music education and neuroscience researcher from the University of Canberra. In the interview Anita explains how music helps to develop the networks in our brains that underpin our language learning. She suggests that music and language in

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early childhood have been connected for many hundreds of years, but she wonders if this is becoming forgotten. She questions if this is one reason why we are seeing growing issues in language and communication difficulties. The Boogie Mites website suggests music can support young children in their self-​confidence by trying out activities and it can help to increase their confidence to speak in familiar groups. They also suggest that music can help children to show their feelings and talk about their feelings. When my daughters were young, I would regularly play different types of music and we would talk about how the music made us feel, recognising some music made us feel happy and bouncy, whereas other music made us feel sad and sometimes sleepy. We know that music is a creative activity we can introduce to children from pre-​birth. Some parents play specific pieces of music while pregnant and then continue to play this when the baby arrives. I tried this with a CD I had free when I was pregnant with my first daughter, Lily, 26 years ago, it had classical pieces on it. My hope was it would soothe her and help her to sleep if I played it when I was calm during my pregnancy and then after the birth when I wanted to help her to be calm. I am not sure it helped her to sleep, but I found it calming! The website Zero to Three has a wonderful article by Claire Lerner and Rebecca Parlakian (2016) exploring the numerous ways music supports a child’s emotional, physical and cognitive skills. They encourage us to use music from birth, with the singing of gentle lullabies and rocking a baby, supporting the attachment to the adult through enhancing motor skills by introducing movement and balance and the support of cognitive development through using music, remembering words and actions. What I love about music and dance is that this is an activity you can do without spending any money. I have tried hard throughout the book to offer low-​ cost ideas, but inevitably with the arts and crafts there may be some costs involved with buying materials. However, music and dance are free to us. Most people can sing/​make sounds and make some movements, and many parents and practitioners can access YouTube and Spotify on their internet devices, opening up many music and dance cultural opportunities to share with children.

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Music, dance and wellbeing Over the years, when I have researched with different groups of adults about what supports their wellbeing, music and dance are always answers that people give. Many people describe how music is a huge boost to their wellbeing; people described singing in a choir, singing on their own, dancing lessons, dancing in their kitchen, dancing with their children or partner as well as listening to music and playing an instrument. Music and dance are often in the top five of what supports people’s wellbeing. As I have said throughout the book, there is a good reason to think this is the same for children. Angela Foley (2010) describes how she has found music and movement can be a huge boost to children’s wellbeing and is inclusive, enabling every one of all abilities to get something from it and engage in it. She also describes some wonderful examples of using music and movement with parents and children, and how this supports their attachment and wellbeing together. Helen Battelley, founder of a company called Music and Movement, writes for the Early Years Alliance about how movement releases ‘happy’ endorphins of dopamine and serotonin, which have a massive boost to our mental wellbeing. In my research for this chapter, I heard about a fantastic venture called The Singing Medicine Project, which has been delivered in Birmingham Children’s Hospital each week with vocal tutors since 2004. The project uses singing games to playfully support the children during their hospital stay. The deep breathing from singing can help patients to reconnect with their core muscles and can support lung capacity. Singing with families and other children can also help relieve boredom, and reduce social isolation. This project was researched by Carolyn Blackburn (2019) at Birmingham City School of Education and Social Work. The research found how this project supported children’s emotional and physical wellbeing. In 2020 during the pandemic, they continued to use music to support the children and made a virtual choir and launched a song. A link to this is at the end of the chapter.

Interview with Jamel

In this interview I am speaking with Jamel. He is an early years consultant, practitioner and author based in London.

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Sonia

Tell me about how you use music in your work.

Jamel

During my time working in the House of Commons Nursery, the majority of children were Caucasian white, there was only one black child there at the time, I felt it was my responsibility to not only care for their needs but also to introduce them to my heritage, which is Jamaican. Some of them knew about Bob Marley, I introduced them to Dennis Brown, Garnett Silk, Peter Tosh, Sugar Minott, all these different sorts of reggae artists, and they loved it. We painted pictures to reggae music, we painted pictures to different types of music, jazz, even pop, 80’s pop like Kate Bush.

Sonia

Describe that to me, painting pictures to music, how did the children respond?

Jamel

The different tempos, different vibes of the music, they selected different colours and made different shapes. There was certain emotion in the music; they could tap into the vibe and the energy, they would then carry that energy to tell their parents and tell them what they were listening to. There was excitement because they had learned something new. During that time we did a large scale project, we played music and we had our art exhibition. We also went to Tate Britain because it was round the corner from us. At the time they played different types of music in the different galleries. We talked about how creativity doesn’t just have one format –​the way we process, the visual, the audio, the sensory. Some of the exhibitions were interactive. We then brought that back into the classroom, and they loved it. I love setting the tone and the mood in the classroom. I play music in the morning, and during the day, sometimes it keeps the children calm. It depends on what music you play. if you play something like jungle or drum and bass that would get them jumping up and down but if you played some classical music, some slow reggae, it would tone down the atmosphere and behaviour.

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Sonia

In my experience a lot of settings play children’s music such as nursery rhymes, but I am not sure how many settings play the music that the adults like to listen to. I might be wrong, but I am not familiar with many settings doing that. Playing music that isn’t children’s music is what we do in families and the home, so why don’t we do that in the settings?

Jamel

I think we might be scared. Obviously, there is safeguarding –​ there is some music with themes that are not made for children –​ but it’s knowing what kind of music to play. You can listen to South African house music, that is instrumental, some vocalising but not words the children will understand. You need to know the themes of the music you are playing. When I was working at Swiss Cottage, we would have relaxation afternoon and we would play meditation music or guitar music, or water flowing rain sounds. It helped all the children with their specific needs to self-​regulate and calm down. In the mornings once a week we used to do Yoga and we used a song and used different movements. It made me think of different songs the children could interact with and that could be meaningful to them, like Three Little Birds by Bob Marley, Don’t Worry About a Thing. On Thursdays they used to have a dancing session, playing Abba, Dancing Queen, Michael Jackson, Pharrell Williams Happy Song –​the children loved it. They would dance, children with walking frames moving around, children in wheelchairs spinning around, going crazy, so happy, it was a way of them releasing and being free, helping them to let go.

Sonia

What are your top tips for practitioners to use a wider range of music?

Jamel

Be brave, talk to your colleagues, make that step of trying out different sorts of music, and ask your colleagues for their ideas. Don’t play the same thing you always do. Talk to parents, find out what they listen to at home, and inform them it needs to be child friendly. Look for instrumentals that you enjoy and can be

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played in the background. Smooth FM and Classic FM can be played, the music is child friendly, sometimes the music is about love and sharing and heal the world, those kinds of themes.

MOMENT FOR REFLECTION For a moment, think about the music Jamel was describing and some of the activities such as using music to draw. You might like to write down some ideas of music you may wish to introduce to the children you work with and how the music might inspire other creative activities.

Singing Singing is a practice which I think most early years settings will engage in at some point in the week. It might be using a singing welcome and leaving song, singing rhymes together before the end of a session or just before lunch. I always think it is quite interesting the songs settings use, and as with many areas I think this is one area we can sometimes get stuck in. Familiarity is important and repeating songs and stories for children but I firmly believe that diversity and trying new things can be good too.

EXAMPLE FROM PRACTICE –​MUSIC ON THE BEACH In the beach school nursery in Cumbria, music is a big part of their time outside. The children often use stones and sticks and other found treasures to make sounds. They also sing a lot while on the beach. They sing as they are walking along; often Rosie, the practitioner, sings to them, making words up to a tune they know, for example singing about the plants they are going to find to the tune of ‘Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush’. If the children that day are interested in

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music making, sometimes they spend the whole session singing; the staff will follow their lead. They make instruments out of the things they find on the beach, make up songs together, as well as singing songs they know and teaching each other new songs.

MOMENT FOR REFLECTION Think for a moment about the songs you use with children. Are they the same ones that you have used for years? Do your songs represent the children in your setting and the wider community?

Learning new songs Jamel talked about introducing the children to a wide range of music and, in the same way, we can teach children a diverse range of songs to sing. At the end of the book, I have listed some nursery rhyme books with a range of traditional rhymes and rhymes from around the world. I have also put some links to where you can learn new songs online. I am a big fan of the book publisher Barefoot Books. They have always published a wide range of diverse and interesting books that, back when they started in 1992, was very unusual. They have a range of books which share songs with children along with a story; these are songs you can easily learn as a setting. I have listed a range of them at the end of the chapter.

Sharing a range of music with children Throughout the book, I have talked about bringing in artists and craftspeople for the children to meet and see what they do. It is the same with singers and musicians. Are there people in your community who play an instrument, or sing in a choir? Could they come in and share with the children what they

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do? Hearing recorded music is brilliant, but hearing a live performance is even better. Another option is to show children a performance. CBeebies did a Proms performance a few years at the Royal Albert Hall, which was recorded and is available on iPlayer. I imagine very few of the children you work with will have been to a classical concert, and so this performance is a great way of opening up another genre of music to the children. A link to this is at the end of the chapter.

Dance Dance is an area that can leave some people feeling very uncomfortable and others love it. I love how lots of children spontaneously dance; they often don’t have the inhibitions that many adults have. Ruth Churchill Dower (2020) has an excellent section in her book on how movement and dance are crucial for children’s physical and emotional development. She suggests we need to be offering creative movement play activities throughout a child’s early years. The early years setting provides a fantastic opportunity for this to happen. Parents may not have the space or time or may not think about how creative movements help with their child’s physical and emotional development. If you are someone who does not naturally feel comfortable with dance, you may be unsure how to bring more dance into your practice. Mandy Fouracre, an early years practitioner and dance teacher, has a useful article on the Teach Early Years website sharing thoughts on how dance boosts development in the early years. In the article she shares the many ways dance can support a child’s development but she also shares simple practical ideas of how you can use dance and movement. In Early Years Educator Magazine Phoebe Doyle (2015) suggests that you don’t have to be ‘good’ at dancing to be able to support your children in dance and movement. She suggests sharing dance with children in the early years is not about technique but about offering a tool for expression, physical awareness and fitness and having fun. As someone who is not confident in dance, I found this article reassuring! In the further reading and resources section, I have highlighted some other sites which offer a variety of dance and movement ideas to try. The one I liked the most was based on Spiderman from Early Learning HQ.

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EXAMPLE FROM PRACTICE –​DISCO TIME I know a lot of settings use music in the background at the tidy up time. Widcombe Acorns do things a bit differently. Before tidying up, twice a day, they have disco time. They put on some dancing music and all have a good dance, children and staff together. Sometimes they also put on the disco lights. This year the children’s favourite song is Gangnam Style by recording artist PSY. The children love it; it was joyful to watch. Once the disco time is over they all tidy up. At the end of the year they also put on a show for the parents. This involves dance routines and storytelling. One of the routines will be to their favourite disco song of the year. Dance is an Acorn staple. Dena the manager was a dance teacher and taught street dance for years, and this has influenced and inspired the practice at Acorns. It was inspiring to see how dance is a daily part of their practice and how they are encouraging the children to have a love of it.

Learning about a wide range of dance practices Along with using dance and movement in our practice, we can also help children to experience and see different types of dance. You may have people in your community who are dancers and would be happy to visit and do a mini performance of their dance and then teach the children some moves. There are also many dance examples that you can find online to show the children. CBeebies on iPlayer have a great show called Let’s Dance. It has a dance teacher with a group of young children. She is introducing them to a wide range of dance from ballet, hip hop, Bharatanatyam, jazz, hula, and country. You can learn about the dance and the moves alongside the children and teacher, having fun and having a go together. There are also performances you can watch online. For example, the Northern Ballet Company have ballets for children on their website. It’s a selection of children’s fairy tales played out in ballet –​a link is below. The BBC also have a resource called School Radio, Let’s Move. They have a range of sessions introducing dances linked to yearly themes such as the seasons as well as dances linked to

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popular children’s stories and traditional stories and festivals. This is something to listen to rather than watch (think a children’s story tape rather than video). I think it’s a good resource and something that could be used in the home and the early years setting; it would be a resource that adults and children can use together, trying out the moves and dances with one another. Each session talks you through the movements to make and there are lesson notes to guide you as well. It says it is aimed at KS1 but I think it would work well with children aged 3 plus, maybe younger.

Making music Above I have been talking about how we use music and dance in our settings and introduce children to a wide range of music and dance. In this section, I am looking at how we help children to make their music.

MOMENT FOR REFLECTION Take a moment to think about what opportunities your children have to make music. Do you have a range of instruments for them to use? Do you encourage them to make music from the objects around the setting? Do you teach children how to play? Or have someone in to support this?

On the Teach Early Years website, Susan Young shares examples of how we can use instruments and ‘sound makers’ with children. I love the term ‘sound makers’ and it describes well the way we can use everyday objects to make sounds. Susan proposes that we need to enable music making, and sound making to become part of the everyday, self-​initiated play that is integrated into our daily practice. She also suggests that often as adults we don’t encourage and value children’s early self-​made music in the way we

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do with early mark making and visual creativity. Her top tip is to provide good quality instruments, rather than cheaper versions. For example a set of good quality bongos rather than scruffy sightly broken percussion bits. If you are unsure about how to respond to a child’s music making, she has some suggestions. One is to listen and respond as a play partner; for example, listen and watch and then copy back what the child does with the instrument. Once this has been established you could then offer some leads and see if the child copies back. Her article, linked below, has many useful ideas and tips. If you are not confident about your ability to teach music, the BBC have a teach music page with ideas and tips for practitioners (link at the end of the chapter).

EXAMPLE FROM PRACTICE –​XYLOPHONE MADE FROM LOGS In one of the schools I work in there is a little girl who loves music. She will create a musical instrument from anything she can find in the classroom and outdoor space. Making music is an important tool to help her communicate but also her main go-​to activity which she finds soothing and calming. Along with loving music making, she has an incredible sense of rhythm. Last week I observed her finding 5 logs of different sizes. She lay them down on a bench in order of size, found two sticks and then started to play them as a xylophone, first moving up and down the logs, and then she made a repetitive tune. What has been interesting is to see how her love of making music has influenced other children in the class. Often you will see children making drums out of crates and sitting playing the drums with sticks, singing along. Yesterday five children playing outside making their own music. Some were playing alongside others, one boy started to drum and sing and another joined in from across the outdoor space, joining in with the singing and adding his own music making.

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Musical instruments Some settings have musical instruments available for the children to use. They don’t have to be costly to purchase; sometimes you can find instruments in charity shops, or ask parents and others in your community if they have instruments they no longer use. You can also buy percussion fairly cheaply or something like a Ukulele for smaller amounts of money.

Interview with Adrian Snell, Music Therapist

Adrian is a performing musician, composer and music therapist. In his latter role, he works across several different schools in our area supporting children with special and additional needs.

Sonia

Could you explain what a music therapist does?

Adrian

A music therapist starts from the premise that we don’t necessarily need words to communicate. There are plenty of people around us who either have no words due to a disability or a learning difficulty or they might choose not to use words; whilst they might use words occasionally when it comes to expressing what’s going on inside, particularly if it causes anxiety or involves trauma. ‘Words’ may well feel very threatening.



The music therapist begins the relationship in effect saying: “that’s fine, there are other ways of relating to one another and one of them involves sound and music”. I include the word ‘sound’ because for a lot of people the word ‘music’ already suggests something quite formal involving melody, rhythm and harmony; but actually, when you strip it back it all starts with ‘sound’ or bringing shape, intent and meaning to sounds, and that’s what I mean by music in this context.



A music therapist, whoever his client may be a –​a child with learning difficulties, on the Autistic spectrum, with anger management problems, or an adult with cerebral palsy who has lost the ability to speak –​the principle remains the same.

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The therapist is saying: “let’s seek out ways of communicating with one another that make you feel safe, comfortable and motivated. We can start by exploring a wide range of instruments, objects that transform our actions –​hitting, tapping, shaking, blowing –​into unique sounds. Objects that have texture, shape, colour –​something that appeals to you. Let’s start there and find a way of speaking to each other?”

But after more than 20 years of practicing as a music therapist, some people will still say: “James is looking forward to his music lesson” to which I still have to explain in response that “it’s not a lesson; it’s not about me teaching your child to play something. Although he or she is likely to learn, to develop more understanding as the process continues, that’s not the goal behind our sessions. Essentially I’m working with your child to develop their desire and ability to communicate through sound and music thereby building a meaningful, therapeutic relationship”.

Sonia

When a child comes into your session/​space, can you tell us how that works, what they see and what you do?

Adrian

My space is unique –​as is everybody’s –​in that to a certain extent a music therapist’s place of practice will reflect their preferences in terms of instruments in view, decor, lighting, furniture etc. I’ve tried to create a space that ‘beckons you in’ as it were –​inviting, intriguing, a little bit ‘magical’, with atmospheric lighting, reflective surfaces, and a wide variety of instruments on display –​including some hanging from the ceiling! Some have compared my room to Aladdin’s Cave –​all sorts of treasure inviting exploration, suggesting some kind of coming journey or adventure.



The way we ‘sense’ the world around us is never one dimensional. We are all continually interacting with our surroundings using sight, sound, touch, taste, smell and intuition, and where appropriate, with careful facilitation, I want my children to

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engage with me and our space using any and several senses that have been triggered. The special needs environments I practice in are geared to multi-​sensory learning, and I want my room to, in a sense, distil, and magnify that ethos.

So literally ‘on entry’, I want the child to feel safe and inspired. I will be closely observing her during these first, formative moments: Where does she go? To what is she giving attention? Where does she position herself? And, How do I, her therapist, fit into her picture?



Early in the session, I will ‘mark’ the beginning in some way. In general, a music therapy session aims to maximise the input from the client –​so ‘child, client, led’ as far as possible. So the only real structure needed is a clear beginning and ending, and the early establishing of the session length. And these are the things that will be repeated at every meeting. Very often a ‘hello’ and a ‘goodbye’ song work well in this context. But it could equally be the lighting of a candle; the sounding of a bell –​anything that quickly becomes familiar to the child and, ideally, is something they can participate in.

Sonia

How do the children know what they are coming to?

Adrian

It varies greatly, depending on where they are directly before our session, who they are with and whether someone will bring them to me, or I will collect them. Undoubtedly some parents, or even some teachers, will tell the child they are going to a ‘music lesson’ (!) but if they are following my instructions, it’ll be something as simple and open ended as “time to make some music with Adrian”. Those two things are all they need to know: that the session will be with me and that it’s about making ‘sound and music’ –​oh and that it should be enjoyable!

Sonia

It sounds like you are describing a child-​ led approach, is that right?

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Adrian

Exactly, as I mentioned earlier. But as you will know from your work with children, whilst some will ‘jump’ into the space without inhibition, brimming with confidence and the urge to explore, others might initially be timid, anxious –​even fearful –​ and might need a gentle nudge or carefully planned facilitation. This is, for me, another reason for the importance of the multi-​ sensory dimension to our space. Anything to trigger imagination and the desire to tell something of their ‘story’. This child-​led interaction is fundamental to the deeper aims behind our work together and the therapist uses their skills to understand where this child wants to take you, and for her to experience the direct influence they are having on the way you are participating. This can quickly and powerfully build self confidence and self esteem.

Sonia

So how is the decision made about which children you see? Often people like me might suggest play therapy or art therapy, but how do people know music therapy might be the right route for a child?

Adrian

This is a very important question. So in general a child will come to me as a result of a referral by someone who knows her well. This is likely to be a parent or carer, or the class teacher. But it will often be from another specialist: a speech and language, occupational, art, play, dance or drama therapist. Someone who has observed the way this child responds to sound and music in another setting, or senses that the resonant, vibrational, more physical properties within music may well help develop communication, and fine or gross motor skills.



But once again the fact that a child, if she chooses, can quickly move from music to a play or art activity means that there is both the time and space to allow her and her therapist to identify the most useful, productive way of working together. It might be, for example, that as she draws, I accompany her with some music. It may be that as a theme develops within her play activity, I offer a ‘soundscape’ that fits. And in turn, she might be

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motivated to join me in the music masking. So, at every level, something very organic is going on.

I believe we are all born with creativity –​the desire and the ability to work with something in our environment that will be self expressive and original. But many of us need the space, the time and the encouragement to ascertain where we feel most comfortable and liberated in our exploration.



I passionately believe that most especially during their earliest years we need to open up a wide variety of creative opportunities for the children to explore, experiment, and find the things that enrich and motivate them. The more opportunities we can give them, the richer their lives will be and this will become a crucial foundation for their future creative selves.

Sonia

Lots of people reading this may feel uncomfortable about music. I love the way you talk about ‘sound’ as well as ‘music’. But if people are feeling unsure about how to open up sound-​ making to children, can you give them any top tips?

Adrian

Firstly I want to say see this opportunity as a journey you are undertaking together with the child. Along the way, you will both learn new things. So when thinking about music making don’t be afraid to work with an instrument that you don’t necessarily play either. For example, many of the children I work with love the violin –​its appearance and texture –​and initially they just want to hold it and make a sound with the bow across the strings. Invariably this will sound like a terrified animal at the beginning (whether you or the child is playing!) but that can become a wonderful moment of relationship building: laughing together, describing the noise, and then working together, to see if you can learn how to generate a more tuneful sound.



Secondly, do try to develop a little bit of skill on one instrument. A guitar is a great place to start as almost everybody likes the guitar and sees it as a ‘cool’ and accessible instrument.

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And actually, you can achieve SO much with just four or five chords: you’d be amazed at just how many familiar songs are perfectly playable once you’ve mastered fewer chords than the number of fingers on both hands?!

Thirdly, don’t be afraid of technology. We live in extraordinary times as far as technological developments are concerned. The tools that are available to me in 2022 are tools I would have seen as a taste of ‘heaven on earth’ when I was growing up! There are hundreds of powerful music and sound-​making apps now available for our tablets and iPads, and I regularly use many of them. Importantly though, in the context of music therapy, I’m primarily using them to create a kind of ‘canvas’ upon which we paint our picture, NOT as an end in itself. I’m well aware that all of us, whether living with special needs or not, can quickly become somewhat obsessed with processes: controls, buttons, switches, touch screens, etc, to the point when machines turn into ‘masters’ rather than ‘servants’ and its immensely important to avoid that. It might be therefore that you simply use your chosen app to suggest some ‘sonic’ direction to the session, with the actual machine hidden from view.



For example, you may choose to set-​up a drum pattern or ‘loop’, or you may wish to fill the room with natural, evocative sounds; a rainforest, the jungle, a thunderstorm, under the ocean, a journey into space. And from there you can easily embark upon your shared ‘journey into the unknown’. Who or what might your child want to be? An Astronaut? A Lion? A Shark? Just take a deep breath and let go!

Sonia

What are your thoughts about how music boosts wellbeing?

Adrian

I hope that, to an extent, what we’ve discussed up to this point tells its own story as far as ‘music and wellbeing’ is concerned?! But let’s recall a few pointers. Music can play an immensely important part in building self confidence and self-​ esteem. Remember, within a music therapy approach to music making,

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this is all about what I can do, what I’m allowed to try without the constraints and anxieties attached to a right or wrong way of playing or engaging with an instrument. This is in a world where so often the message, whether it is spoken or not, is: “no, you can’t”; “no, you’re not allowed”; “no, not like that … like this”, etc., etc.

There there’s the pleasure and sense of empowerment that comes with the experience of genuinely making music, making meaningful sounds, with another person, particularly in this context with an adult. And this adult is making it clear that he too is enjoying the experience; that he is following the lead of the child; that he is emotionally engaged and has no more idea about the outcome than the child.

 

And of course directly linked to that, music-​making with others can be a wonderful environment for social interaction and learning. The experience of discovering just how much pleasure can be had when several people are making music together around a shared theme. The discipline of listening to others turn taking (meaning ‘it will be my turn soon!’) The pride in successfully ‘leading’ a group activity and the value in ‘being led’ appropriately. The building of genuine and lasting friendships that frequently occur when a group decides they want to meet and make music together regularly.

A FINAL MOMENT FOR REFLECTION Before you move on to the next chapter, take a moment to think about how you use music, dance and singing in your work. Are there ideas from this chapter that you want to try maybe for yourself and then with the children?

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My takeaway from this chapter is to use music/​sound making; this is an area I use a lot less than all the other creative areas and one I would like to explore more. I am ending this chapter with some practical ideas you can try.

Practical ideas to try to support music and dance Music and art –​as Jamel suggested in his interview, play different genres of music and provide some creative art materials, maybe different mark making tools, paint or clay. Suggest to the children they create alongside the music, listening to it, what it makes them think of, and what it makes them want to create. Music around the world –​together discover with your children music from around the world; each week listen to some music from different parts of the world. You could ask others in your wider community to share suggestions. Through this, you could learn about the places that the music comes from. Music and feelings –​play different genres of music and talk about how it makes the children feel. You could do this in a small group time, or as a bigger group. Get the children to listen to the music, and maybe close their eyes. This could be a mindful exercise to do with them. When you play music in the background use a wide range of different types. Dance –​learn a new dance a week. Maybe use the links below from CBeebies and or maybe invite people from your community to teach you and the children. You might be inspired by Acorns and want to put on a show sharing the dances at the end of the term, or you might just want to have fun with it within your setting. I’d encourage the children and staff to learn this together. Sound making –​Spend time with the children seeking out the different sounds you can make with the resources you currently have in your setting such as pans, bottles with water, logs and sticks. Perhaps also have a range of percussion instruments. Show children the clip from Sesame Street with the percussionist Evelyn Glennie playing the drums on trash cans. It is dated but is still fun, a link is below.

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Make instruments –​Make instruments with things you have in the home or setting. You can make shakers with plastic bottles filled with lentils or rice or fill other plastic bottles with different levels of water and notice the different sounds they make when you tap them with a stick or wooden spoon. Use an empty tissue or shoe box with rubber bands over it to make a guitar. Use different tube lengths to blow through and make whistles, add holes into them and see if they make a different noise when you cover the holes. Notice sounds around us –​Notice the sounds around you, what can you hear? Play a game, getting the children to close their eyes and listen to the sounds around them. You could do this inside or outside, or better still do both and notice the different sounds that are around them. Sing –​Sing with children throughout the day, maybe starting and ending with a song. You could use puppets as an aid to the songs. For example, frog finger puppets for the song ‘5 Little Frogs’.

Playlists For this chapter I thought it would be fun to create a playlist. I was inspired by a novel I recently read by Caleb Azumah Nelson; he had a Spotify playlist linked to the book. As this chapter is partly about encouraging us all to introduce children to a wider range of music, I thought I would ask every contributor to the book for a few recommendations. The list is below, you can also find it on Spotify under Creativity and Wellbeing in Early Years Playlist. Jamel’s list Redemption Song –​Bob Marley Three Little Birds –​Bob Marley Running up that Hill –​Kate Bush Fireflies –​Owl City Kate’s list Times Like These –​BBC 1 Live Lounge All Stars version of the Foo Fighters song Superstition –​Stevie Wonder Bitter Sweet Symphony –​The Verve

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Uptown Funk –​Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars Widcombe Acorns’ list Gangham Style –​PSY Shotgun –​George Ezra Happy –​Pharrell Williams Obladi Oblada –​The Beatles Mamma Mia –​Abba Juliette’s list Alive –​Sia Give It Away –​Red Hot Chili Peppers Demons –​Imagine Dragons Go Your Own Way –​Fleetwood Mac Spit Of You –​Sam Fender Clare’s list Some Fantastic Place –​Squeeze The Whole of the Moon –​The Waterboys Driftwood –​ Travis Joy –​Tracy Thorn Emma’s list Do Good –​Baka Beyond Dance to your Daddy –​James Fagan & Nancy Kerr Herring Song –​Eliza Carthy Breaths –​Sweet Honey in the Rock Andy’s list ABC –​Jackson 5 You Can Call Me Al –​Paul Simon The Ice Dance –​Danny Elfman. Better Together –​Jack Johnson We are the Champions –​Queen Harry’s list Love on Top –​Beyoncé So Viele Leute –​Harry Baker As I Am –​Justin Bieber Mirror –​Sigrid

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Iain’s list Hoppipolla –​Sigur Ros Dear Friends –​Elbow All the Diamonds –​Bruce Cockburn Spiegel im Spiegel –​Arvo Part Rosie’s list Handel’s Water Music War of the Worlds theme (original music version not the latest film) Green Green Grass –​George Ezra The Fog on the Tyne –​Lindisfarne Adrian’s list Don’t Give Up –​Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush What a Wonderful World –​ Louis Armstrong Both Sides Now –​Joni Mitchell Across the Universe –​George Harrison Richard’s list Sugar –​Robin Schulz There is a Light That Never Goes Out –​The Smiths Fools Gold –​The Stone Roses So What –​Miles Davis Sonia’s list Here Comes the Sun –​Nina Simone One Day Like This –​Elbow I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For –​U2 Fyrsta –​Ólafur Arnalds

References Azumah Nelson, C. (2021). Open Water. London: Penguin/​Viking. Battelley, H. ‘Music and movement –​encouraging physical activity’. Available at: https://​www.eya​llia​nce.org.uk/​music-​and-​movem​ent-​enco​ urag​ing-​physi​cal-​activ​ity BBC. Let’s Dance. Available at https://​www.bbc.co.uk/​ipla​yer/​episo​des/​ m0014​9k1/​lets-​dance?page=​1

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BBC. School Radio Let’s Move. Available at https://​www.bbc.co.uk/​teach/​ sch​ool-​radio/​dance-​ks1-​lets-​move-​home/​zmvc​pg8 Blackburn, C. (2019). ‘Exploring children’s wellbeing through music and singing’. Available at: https://​www.bcu.ac.uk/​educat​ion-​and-​soc​ial-​work/​ resea​rch/​cultu​res-​in-​educat​ion-​resea​rch-​group/​resea​rch-​proje​cts/​promot​ ing-​childr​ens-​wellbe​ing Boogie Mites –​https://​www.boog​iemi​tes.co.uk/​interv​iew-​anita-​coll​ins/​ Boogie Mites –​https://​www.boog​iemi​tes.co.uk/​music/​music-​and-​early-​ years-​deve​lopm​ent/​ Brandon, S. (2010). ‘Music making –​music round a cloth’. In Supporting Children’s Creativity Through Music, Dance, Drama and Art, ed. Fleur Griffiths. Abingdon: Routledge. Carly Cambell, J. and Mainstone-​ Cotton, S. (2022). Building Positive Relationships in the Early Years. Abingdon: Routledge. CBeebies. The Proms. Available at: https://​www.bbc.co.uk/​ipla​yer/​epis​ode/ b07w5​ 2 tc/​ c beeb ​ i es- ​ p rese ​ n ts- ​ p roms- ​ c beeb ​ i es- ​ p rom- ​ a - ​ m usi ​ c al- ​ j our​ ney?serie​sId=​p08k2​pdc Churchill Dower, R. (2019). Creativity and the Arts in Early Childhood: Supporting Young Children’s Development and Wellbeing. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Doyle, P. (2015). ‘Dance to the rhythm’. Available at: https://​www.ear​lyye​ arse​duca​tor.co.uk/​featu​res/​arti​cle/​dance-​to-​the-​rhy​thm Foley, A. (2010). ‘Musical movers session –​creative ideas for using movement in young children’. In Supporting Children’s Creativity Through Music, Dance, Drama and Art, ed. Fleur Griffiths. Abingdon. Routledge Fouracre, M. (n.d.). ‘How dance boosts development in early years’. Available at: https://​www.teac​hear​lyye​ars.com/​learn​ing-​and-​deve​lopm​ ent/​view/​how-​dance-​aids-​deve​lopm​ent Lerner, C. and Parlakian, R. (2016). ‘Beyond Twinkle, Twinkle: Using music with infants and toddlers’. Available at: https://​www.zero​toth​ree.org/​ resour​ces/​1514-​bey​ond-​twin​kle-​twin​kle-​using-​music-​with-​infa​nts-​and-​ toddl​ers Northern Ballet –​https://​nor​ther​nbal​let.com/​ball​ets-​for-​child​ren Sesame Street. Evelyn Glennie plays the drums. Available at: https://​www. yout​ube.com/​watch?v=​jVw5​Kawq​UIg Singing Machine Project –​https://​www.bcu.ac.uk/​resea​rch/​stor​ies/​the-​sing​ ing-​medic​ine-​proj​ect

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Young, S. (n.d.). ‘Making music meaningful in the early years’. Available at: https://​www.teac​hear​lyye​ars.com/​learn​ing-​and-​deve​lopm​ent/​view/​ mak​ing-​music

Useful information and links BBC Teach. ‘EYFS/​KS1 Music: Activities and games for teachers’. Available at: https://​www.bbc.co.uk/​teach/​bring-​the-​noise/​music-​games-​and-​act​ ivit​ies-​for-​teach​ing-​prim​ary-​sch​ool-​child​ren/​zrxm​d6f ‘Children and young people virtual patient choir launches with debut song’. Available at: https://​bwc.nhs.uk/​news/​child​ren-​and-​young-​peop​les-​virt​ ual-​pati​ent-​choir-​launc​hes-​with-​debut-​song-​2834

Ideas for dance and movement https:// ​w ww.earl ​y lea​r nin​ g hq.org.uk/​ l es​ s on-​ p lans- ​a ctiv ​i ty- ​ i deas/ ​m usicdance/​ https:// ​www.nurse​ r ywo​ r ld.co.uk/​f eatu​ r es/​ a rti​ cle/​e yfs-​b est-​ p ract​ ice-​ a llabout-​dance-​in-​the-​early-​years https://​ d an​ c ete​ a chi​ n gid​ e as.com/​ u sing-​ d ance-​ a ct​ i vit​ i es-​ t o-​ n urt​ ure-​calm-​kids/​ https:// ​ w ww.bbc.co.uk/​ t each/​ s ch​ o ol-​ r adio/​ k s1- ​ d ance- ​ p rim ​ a ry- ​ f olk/ zk7h​d6f

Ideas for music making https://​www.bbc.co.uk/​teach/​bring-​the-​noise/​half-​term-​music-​act​ivit​ies/​ zmmp​xyc/​ https://​www.momj​unct​ion.com/​artic​les/​music-​games-​act​ivit​ies-​for-​kids_​0​ 0387​016/​ Music from around the world –​https://​www.all​arou​ndth​iswo​rld.com/​lis​ten/​ #.Yuem​di8w​3q0 World music for children playlist –​//​ www.yout​ube.com/​playl​ist?list=​ PLDnbN​gq3E​K8r9​2cd-​u3g93​K1h5​a26t​klM

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Adrian’s app recommendations For ambient noises –​My Noises For looped percussion/​bass/​electronic sounds –​Launchpad

Further reading   Books for children Benjamin, F. (2007). Skip Across the Ocean: Nursery Rhymes Around the World Collected by Floella Benjamin. London: Francis Lincoln Books. Foster, D. (2016). Dinosaur Rap. Cambridge: Barefoot Books. Harter, D. (2011). Animal Boogie. Cambridge: Barefoot Books. Langham,T. (2012). Creepy Crawly Calypso. Cambridge: Barefoot Books. Mabusi, O. (2022). Dance with Oti: The Bird Jive. London: Walker Books. Morris, J. (2020). The Jackie Morris Book of Classic Nursery Rhymes. Herefordshire: Otter Barry Books.

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6

Drama and imaginative play

In this chapter, I am going to explore how drama and creative, imaginative play are crucial for children’s wellbeing. In many ways, these are linked with Chapter 7, which is based on words and storytelling, but I wanted to separate these two areas as they are a big subject! One of the reasons I love working with early years children is their imagination. If we stop and listen to young children when they are playing, we will often hear some fantastic imaginative conversations happening. We can see imaginative play emerging from children as young as 1 year; for example, a 13-​month-​old feeding their bears or a 15-​month child taking their dolls for a walk in a buggy whilst dressed up as a pirate. The familiar story we often hear from parents is the child was more interested in the box than the present inside –​we are all familiar with the delight from many children when we give them a box and they turn it into a boat or a rocket or a castle. The BBC have a useful page on their Tiny Happy People site written by Dr Clare Halsey offering ideas as to how imaginative and creative play can help develop children’s language and social skills and I provide a link at the end of the chapter. As early years partitioners, this is probably a creative area that many of us feel a lot more confident in, and most settings will have a wide range of small world play and dressing up clothes.

Why is imaginative play important? There is a growing understanding of the role imagination has in our ongoing learning. In her chapter on imagination and creativity, Anna

DOI: 10.4324/9781003312710-7

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Craft refers to how imagining in some contexts involves ‘pretending’. Children pretend in some of their play, actors pretend for their work, but also there is an element of pretending or suspending belief for other jobs such as when a chemist is hypothesising about how two elements might react or a chef is questioning how different foods will react together or designers using imagination or pretending in their designing as they try out different ideas. In a child’s development, imaginative play can be an important part of a child trying out new ideas, and thoughts, and sometimes it can be used to help them understand or make sense of real life situations. We have probably all observed children replaying scenarios they have seen at home. This might be parents making food or sometimes replaying conversations they have heard. Sometimes through a child’s imaginative play situation, we become aware of a concern or it may lead to a safeguarding conversation. Imaginative play can also be beneficial to supporting children’s social development, taking turns and sharing but also becoming aware of how others may feel and developing empathy. One little boy I work with can sometimes be a bit rough with others his age, but we have all noticed the gentleness and kindness he shows when he is playing with dolls. His carer is a foster carer and has some younger children in their home. Through playing with the dolls, he has shown us how he can carefully hold a doll, change their nappy, pat them on the back, gently rock them and sing to them. Watching his play with the dolls demonstrated to me and his educators a side we hadn’t immediately noticed in some of his other play. Imaginative play can also support problem solving skills; this might be through negotiating with others the roles or how the game works, or it might be through problem solving while turning a box into a train or castle.

The resources we provide for imaginative play When you Google children’s imaginative play it is easy to presume we need to spend a lot of money on providing children with expensive resources as the Internet is full of beautiful resources available for children. However, as I am sure many are aware, this is not necessary and I think it is important for us to remind parents or caregivers of this and share ideas with them about how we can encourage imaginative play without spending lots of

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money. As I mentioned above, many young children love a large cardboard box; they love hiding in it and turning it into many different things. In one class I have been supporting this year I arrived one week to find they had had a new delivery of large cardboard boxes in the classroom. I arrived at the end of the week, and the children had been exploring and playing with them throughout the week. One group of children was making a shop, another child made a car to go to the shop and the child I was supporting was making a train. The child I supported wanted some support to attach boxes –​he was problem solving this and giving me instructions as I was his helper. Once he was happy with his train, he then entered the world of his train journey, and invited a couple of other children to join him. He told them they needed to have tickets and he was the driver of the train. This sounds like a usual small everyday event in the life of a nursery or reception class, but this was massive progress for the little boy I support. He was calm, he didn’t become frustrated when his boxes didn’t join or I put the tape in the wrong place. He invited children into his play but also agreed when another child wanted to join in. He looked proud of his train and that his friends wanted to join him. In that small experience of imaginative play with one cardboard box, his wellbeing was high, he felt good about himself and the world around him; this was a big moment for him and me. Fleur Griffiths (2010) describes how she set up a talking table in a nursery where she was supporting their practice. The setting was finding that many of their children were struggling to engage in imaginative play and staff were often spending time settling conflicts. The talking table was a space where children could choose to spend time with Fleur and her apron of pockets which had a few treasures in it! Fleur would share her treasures and invite children to share their treasures. Over the weeks children started to bring in treasures such as things they found at the park, and on their walk to nursery. She would work with a small group of children who had chosen to join her; she would start to tell a story about her treasure and invite the children to join her. In this situation, she was modelling and sharing with the children ways to be imaginative and join in with their friends. Since children have returned to early years settings after Covid, I have heard some settings telling me they have noticed some children are finding it hard to enter into imaginative play. I have also heard some wonder if this is partly due to how much time children spend at home on devices such as iPads. This chapter by Fleur was a helpful reminder to me that as educators we need to

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recognise the importance of imaginative play for children’s communication and language development as well as social skills, but some children need additional support and scaffolding with this –​they don’t always easily know how to enter into this and need adults who can support with them, follow their interests and begin to provide some language and ways in.

How can we support imaginative play? I started the beginning of this chapter celebrating the joy of children’s imagination, but we have probably all worked with some children who find this harder to engage with. I think there are a few ways we can support a child with this, and below are some suggestions: Value and positively encourage a child’s imagination. For example, if you see a child pretending to use something as a phone, join in with this, pretend you have a phone, start a conversation, “oh, hello, are you on your phone? I am on my phone too, who are you ringing? I am ringing Granny”. Show interest in the child’s imagination. If you can see they have turned a box into a car, ask them about it, where are they are going? Use imaginative play when you are out and about. As an example, if you are outside on a walk, talk about what you might find: “ooh, I wonder if we might find a fairy house today, where would it be?”. Be playful. Some children need the encouragement of being imaginative by seeing adults joining in or starting some imaginative play. Some children are happy to lead and have the confidence and skills to do this, but other children need playful adults alongside them, modelling and scaffolding their imaginative play. There are many ways we can do this such as using voices for toys, or sitting in a box and announcing it is a rocket, “Who is joining me for a trip to the moon, what do we need?”.

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Use books to support imaginative thinking. The series of books You Choose by Nick Sharratt and Pippa Goodhart can be a useful pathway to imaginative thinking by using pictures to imagine yourself in different scenarios.

EXAMPLE FROM PRACTICE –​A FAIRY VISITING THE HOUSE When my girls were around 4 and 6, fairies visited our house. My eldest, Lily, was interested in fairies (her younger sister preferred pirates). Lily had made a fairy house using scrap materials and one evening a message in tiny writing was left for her in the house from a visiting fairy. Both the girls were thrilled to discover this in the morning; there were masses of conversations about the fairy, what she might be called, and what she did. They drew and wrote a note back. This continued for weeks. They made presents for the fairy, left the fairy cake and drink, and asked the fairy questions. One morning I overheard them discussing the fairy. I heard Lily announce that her friend Megan doubted if it was real, and thought I was leaving the notes. But after Lily had shown her a note they both agreed it was not me as the writing was too small and too neat! It eventually ran its natural course and came to an end, but the few weeks it lasted were delightful for both the girls and myself. It was such a simple imaginative playtime and had all started by Lily making the house. They didn’t need much encouragement to enter into this small magical thinking world. The girls are now 25 and 23 and still remember the letters and laugh at how they were convinced it wasn’t me because of the neat handwriting!

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MOMENT FOR REFLECTION Think about the resources you provide in your setting and the emphasis you put on imaginative play. Do you listen to and document the children’s imaginative play? Do you pay as much attention to children’s imaginative play as you do to other forms of creativity? How do you encourage children’s imaginative play? How do help your children’s parents or caregivers to understand the value and importance of imaginative play?

Documenting children’s imagination At the start of the book, I described how I was involved in the 5×5×5 Project, working with an early years setting and an artist. My role was as a documenter, inspired by the work of Reggio Emilia. For the role I watched, listened, wrote down the words the children used and photographed what the children were engaged in. In many ways, this role was using the observational skills I had acquired and honed since I had originally done my NNEB, but in other ways, it was more than that. This role was not about noticing the progress the children were making such as if they had the skills to use scissors etc., it was about noticing and watching the children’s creative ideas and words and actions, noticing what they were interested in and where those ideas would lead, noticing how their imaginations were sparked and how they entered imaginative play and worlds. At the end of every session, I would share my observations with the educator and artist, and from there we would curate the next session. In the next chapter, I am going to talk about Vivian Gussin Paley’s work of writing down children’s stories, which is another form of documenting. Within the early years, our understanding of how we use documentation has gone through cycles of what we document, how we document and how much we do. I am not going to enter the argument here about too much or too little documentation and observations.

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However, I will say I think the documentation that has come out of Reggio Emilia practice has so much depth to it and I think there is value in that. When I visited some of the infant and toddler centres in Reggio many of them made books documenting some of the learning that had been taking place. One book I bought was called The Park Is from L Bellelli infant toddler centre. It was a paper book made by the centre, simply printed and sold to parents and visitors. The book documented a project the children were involved in from February –​May 2002. The project was based on the children’s reaction and exploration of three sites in the city, which they regularly revisited over this period. The children range in age from 3 months to 36 months. The book documents how the children responded creatively and imaginatively to the sites and throughout the book are many photos and the children’s words, as well as the staff explaining and interpreting what they were observing. One section is on the children’s response to the trees, the questions they were asking, the comments they were making, and the stories they were telling. The project ended with installations of the children’s work made in response to the project. These were exhibited on the sites for one day in May 2002 to share with the wider community the children’s imaginative thinking and their awe and amazement at the environment around them. I realise this is a uniquely Reggio practice, but I think we can learn from the documenting. There is something very powerful about capturing children’s words. When you read observations of a child you might get a picture in your mind of what the child was doing and how they responded, but when you read their direct words, it takes you into their world. As I mentioned at the start of the chapter a child’s imagination can be a fantastic place; to hear their thoughts and words helps us to enter into the world they are in at that moment. One criticism I have heard about the Reggio practice of documenting is that it is too time consuming and unrealistic to be able to do this in the UK. We of course need to take from it aspects that work for us. I have worked with settings who have made up simple books, just to have in their setting, of projects the children have been working on. These are projects based on the children’s interests, the books are full of photos and the children’s words and they tell the story of what the children were exploring, learning and discovering. The children loved revisiting these, showing their families and sharing them with their friends. The staff are also able to use them to document to others what the children have been involved in.

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Follow the child’s lead We know that part of our role is sometimes to facilitate specific learning, and so we may put out an activity that we are hoping to share with the children and scaffold their learning. There are other times when we need to stand back, observe and watch the children playing and learning. Sometimes we have the opportunity to join in, if invited, and follow the child’s lead in their play. A child’s invitation into their imaginative world and play is a privilege and not one we can assume to enter. Some adults can do this naturally, but for others, it can take practice; it might feel awkward, but that’s ok. For me the key is being invited into the play by the child and not assuming they want you to join in. Then the next important factor is to follow the child’s lead; this is not about your imaginative game or world. Below are a few tips on how we can do this: Wait to be invited. Ask the child what they want you to do/​be. Check out as you go along –​is it ok if I do this? Have fun, be playful, and don’t worry about getting it right or wrong or looking silly. Don’t worry about how long or little time this takes. If you can, allow yourself to be in the moment of being a pirate or dragon or cross princess entering the world the child has created.

EXAMPLE FROM PRACTICE –​DINOSAURS IN A SCHOOL One of the little boys I supported this year moved schools during the year, and with the move, we developed a slightly different routine. We would play with the activity I had brought along that week and then, at his suggestion, we would go for a walk on the school grounds. This started with him showing me the new school, but over the weeks it developed into a routine of a dinosaur hunt. Each time we went for a walk, he would enter the world of going on a dinosaur

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trail. He would notice different marks on the ground and announce the dinosaur had been there, he would find broken sticks and tell me the dinosaur was cross and had broken the stick, we found the dinosaur house under a tree and we discovered the leftover tea from the dinosaur (the body of the dead bird). This fantasy and imaginative play developed over the weeks. It was his idea, and he took the lead and invited me into his play. One week he played out being very scared; he was sure the dinosaur was hungry and wanted to eat me, but he was going to protect me. I played along, being scared too. We thought about what we could do, we ran and we hid, we listened to the sounds of the dinosaur and he told me they roar but sometimes they make little sounds too. We eventually got back to the safety of the classroom and announced to his friends the dinosaur was out there. Through this play I discovered so many more things about this little boy; he was showing me he had more of an emotional vocabulary and understanding than I had realised, his language skills were developing at a far greater depth than I had previously seen, and he was showing empathy and kindness and his imagination was fantastic.

How can we support and promote imaginative play in our setting? The resources we provide are a vital part of this and below I have offered some suggestions about resources other than the usual small world/​home corner etc that most settings have. However, it is also about our attitude and response to imaginative play, the attention we give it and the value we place on it. Sometimes imaginative play can be an area we don’t give as much attention to, maybe because we think that most children do this naturally. But I think we need to pay as much attention to the creativity of this play as we do to the other creative areas. Imaginative play is a vital part of a child’s development, particularly their social and emotional development. Many of the children I work with can express themselves and work through their feelings through their imaginative play. Staff don’t always recognise this and sometimes presume they are being violent or aggressive, but often children are using the imaginative play to release some of their strong feelings and

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are problem solving through the play. Vivian Gussin Paley (1990) suggests children are born knowing how to put thought and feeling into play form. She describes how they often play out feelings and worries they have. For example, if they are worried about getting lost, they play out parents looking for a lost child. She suggests this happening a lot of the time in our setting, in the background without the adults realising or paying attention to it.

EXAMPLE FROM PRACTICE –​IMAGINATION ON THE BEACH In Chapter 3 I described the beach school in Cumbria. On their beach they get large pieces of wood washed up. The children use these to turn into many different things; recently they have been cars, bikes, horses, and trains. Currently, there is an old upturned boat at the top of the beach and the children have turned this into a shop, a McDonald’s, a coffee shop and a pirate ship; other times it’s been a building the children are pretending to build. The staff have noticed that the children join in with one another’s play around this boat. When one has an idea, others will add to it, joining in with the make believe world. They have found this play is more social than other play they see back in the setting and that the language they hear during this play is richer and broader in range. They have been videoing the play and on rewatching it they have noticed that children who are quieter inside are often animated and far more chatty when playing outside on the beach, and far more likely to join in with the imaginative play when outside than when they are indoors.

Resources to support drama and imaginative play Puppets Socks to make sock puppets Spoons to make spoon people/​animals

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Dressing up clothes –​this does not need to be specific bought items but could include scarves, hats, adult clothes and glasses without the lenses in. Masks (you can make your own, get the children to make them) Small world play –​people/​animals Large boxes Tubes Guttering Kitchen resources eg wooden spoon, colander, bowls, cups, plates Sheets/​blankets to use for dens Bricks Old phones Loose parts play is a great provocation for imaginative play. Some examples are below; you will notice many of these are similar to what I listed in the craft materials chapter: Natural materials –​sticks, dried and fresh flowers, small pieces of wood, pebbles, shells, pine cones, conkers Beads Glass beads Sea glass Corks Wooden pegs Scraps of material Pom poms Feathers Pipe cleaners Ribbons Nuts and bolts Button Marbles

All the writing above has been about how we encourage imaginative play, which naturally links with using drama with children. Children’s imaginative stories and worlds are often small pieces of drama. Some practitioners and settings like to develop this further by doing some specific drama with children. Below is an interview with Andy. She is a member of the Brighter Futures team, worked originally as a TA at Threeways school (this is the special school in Bath that our team is part of) and then did a drama degree.

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Since her degree, she has been working with Brighter Futures and using drama in her work with children.

Interview with Andy Hattersley –​Drama Sonia

How do you use drama in your work with children?

Andy

I have used it a lot over the years, with storytelling. I do a lot of puppet work and mask work. I have used trestle masks a lot. These are masks that have a Grecian feel to them, they have over the top expressions, really happy or sad. They work well for children who are nonverbal or shy, or unsure about drama. They are useful for storytelling about emotions; they see the face and use their body language to express that feeling or emotion shown on the mask. The masks encourage you to think about what your body does when you are feeling a certain way.



I enjoy doing immersive theatre, using drama in a multi-​sensory way, hearing, smelling, and seeing things, that work well as all children can tap into that, whatever their needs or abilities are. When I was working with a group of autistic children, we did a session about what it would be like to go to another country. We started with pretending to go on a plane and they clicked themselves in, then they had a little card that was their boarding pass. We did the flying and landing and they put their feet in the sand when they had landed. We thought about what that felt like, we had music in the background. We also looked at masks from different countries and where they use masks in carnivals and celebrations. It ended up like a big party. Also with immersive work, you can bring a story to life. At Threeways we were often able to use The Egg theatre. Once we did Red Riding Hood –​the children put on the costumes, on the walls of The Egg I projected woodland images and we had plants for them to see, touch and smell and interact with in the way they wanted. That is what is so empowering with immersive drama, children can take from it what they want, and develop it in so many different ways.

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I also use drama in forest school. The outside immediately gives them a different space to ‘play’ in, especially if you add costumes and props. For instance, if they are interested in fairy tales they can make potions in buckets, wands from wood/​ twigs etc. I’ve also done Alice in Wonderland where they dress up and go around outside pretending to follow the White Rabbit. Also, I’ve had them make up stories about things they have found in nature e.g. a magic pinecone etc. while they sit around a firepit. Sitting around a firepit always allows for great storytelling sessions and naturally just being outside is such a wonderful way to connect them to nature which is a huge part of my work and also is so important for wellbeing.

Sonia

What I love about that example is it’s from Threeways. As a school they have such a range of abilities and disabilities; it’s a great example of how drama can work across ages and abilities, enabling them all to take part.

Andy

So often the creative arts are underfunded in mainstream schools. To kick start it you can help teachers think about how you can weave it through the curriculum. At Threeways we once did a medieval banquet. We were all different characters for it and, as part of it, we had to make the food. Once the food was made, we sat and ate together, we talked about their characters and the stories, what would the person do and feel like. They were each wearing costumes and got into the characters, wandering around the room, greeting one another and playing the part. It can be interwoven through the curriculum. If children have lived it and breathed it, it often stays in their memory longer.

Sonia

Did you use storytelling in your nurture work?

Andy

Yes, there is a good book called Creative Drama for Emotional Support by Penny McFarlane (2012) that I used a lot. One of the children I worked with had difficulty establishing the difference between fact and fiction, which is not uncommon. This

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child would find it hard to understand the difference between reality and fantasy; they would often go into a fantasy world and find it hard to come out of it. I made a room up, using Penny’s ideas. The room was divided into half and one half we told stories that were made up like fairy stories and the other half we would talk about things that are true like how many pets you have, what you had for dinner, who is in your family. I put in a lot of fantasy costumes on one side with fairy lights and on the other side, I put a table, and a chair, not much in it, but more based on reality. They had to step from one side to the other, telling me something made up on the fantasy side and something real on the other side. Sonia

How do you think drama is helpful for wellbeing?

Andy

Playfulness is so vital. When you are pretending to be a character it permits you to be as crazy as you want. Putting on a costume can help them to enter a world of play and make believe. You are creating worlds and making stories; as they grow more confident, they begin to lead you and share their ideas and invite you into their make believe world. Drama can help with playfulness and curiosity, explorative and more awareness, often noticing more of what is around them. Sometimes I make fairyland or I use a tunnel and torches with cellophane over the end to create different colours, watching their awe and wonder and delight as they explore. It builds their self-​esteem as they discover new things they can do. They can immediately enter it and there is no right or wrong.

Sonia

What are your top tips for staff opening up the world of drama with children?

Andy

A good way of entering this is using puppets or dressing up; it doesn’t have to be complicated. With the puppetry you could use shadows puppetry, such a simple way, using different voices and movements with your hands.

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Or you could change the classroom. If you have a week focussing on a theme, e.g. a nature week, turn the classroom into a jungle, have plants, wear masks, have costumes, use words and music about the subject. Changing the classroom into an immersive space, enabling you all to fully enter into it.



Another activity to do is move around the room leading by your nose. You all get into characterisation, children love it … or move around the room with your tummy leading you.



The main thing is play in the space with the children. It isn’t about you being brilliant at drama, it’s about enabling play and imagination, which early years are often so good at. It’s about making space for creating different worlds and spaces.

Introducing children to plays In other chapters, I have written about the importance of introducing children to artists, musicians and dance. It is the same with drama and plays. Some of the children you work with may have been fortunate to go to the theatre aimed at children, maybe a pantomime. But for many children and families, this is unaffordable. However, we can introduce children to plays and productions, and some schools and settings occasionally buy in a theatre company to perform at the school/​nursery and this is amazing, but you can also access some great productions online. CBeebies have made a series of Shakespeare plays for young children. The most recent production ‘As You Like It’ is being performed at The Globe and will be filmed and made available on iPlayer. You may question the idea of young children being introduced to Shakespeare, but have a look. In typically CBeebies’ way they have made it accessible, and understandable while staying true to the play. A link to these is at the end of the chapter. Also on their website, they have a range of other productions from Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, the Snow Queen, and Hansel and Gretel. These are all lovely examples of plays performed for children in a free and accessible way and are a great way of opening up the idea of theatre and drama

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and plays. Maybe you can watch it in your setting, turning your setting into a theatre, turning the lights down, closing the curtains and having some popcorn.

A FINAL MOMENT FOR REFLECTION Before you move on to the next chapter, take a moment to think about how you use drama and imaginative play in your work. Are there ideas from this chapter that you want to try maybe for yourself and then with the children? My takeaway from this chapter is to do some more puppet work with children; I have used this a little but I would like to explore this more. I am ending this chapter with some practical ideas you can try.

Practical ideas to support imaginative play and drama Boxes –​Have a large box or several that you can fit into your space. The children will turn this into something, probably many different things. Once it has broken, it will eventually, replace with another. Sock puppets –​These are so simple to do. You could add eyes and mouth etc. by sticking things onto the sock, or very simply have some clean socks, put your hand into them and turn them into a puppet. Turn your space into a new land –​Using children’s current interests turn your classroom or room into a different space, for example, a jungle, dinosaur land, a beach or a castle. I know one nursery where the children were fascinated about how you can bring the outside to the inside. In response to this the staff turfed one room; they took everything out and just had turf in the room when the children arrived on a Monday morning. Shadow puppets –​You only need a light source and your hands for this and there is a link at the end of the chapter to show you how to do it.

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Go on a discovery journey –​Tell the children you are going on a discovery walk. Take a walk together and see what you can find; there might be evidence of dinosaurs or there might be bears. You could plan this and leave things to find on the route, e.g. treasure if they are interested in pirates, or you might not plan and all use imagination and see what you find. Put on a puppet show –​You might start by doing one to show the children, using toys if you don’t have puppets, or making your puppets. Or you may do one with the children together. You could film these and later show the parents. Make a den –​Make a den with the children using blankets and sheets; you might have an old clothes horse you can put them over, a table or use some sticks. Put some torches, blankets and cushions in the den. Encourage the children to think about what their den is going to be, what they can do and who they can be in the den. Make masks and become different people or animals –​turn yourselves into that animal or person, thinking about how they would walk, what they do or say or the noises they make.

References C Beebies Presents. Available at: https://​www.bbc.co.uk/​ipla​yer/​epis​ode/​ b09xj​by9/​cbeeb​ies-​prese​nts-​shak​espe​are-​cbeeb​ies-​the-​temp​est?serie​ sId=​p08k2​p7h C Beebies Shakespeare. Available at: https://​www.bbc.co.uk/​ipla​yer/​epis​ ode/​b09xj​by9/​cbeeb​ies-​prese​nts-​shak​espe​are-​cbeeb​ies-​the-​temp​est Craft, A. (2002). Creativity in Early Years Education. London: Continuum. Griffiths, F. (2010). ‘Creative conversations. The talking table’. In Supporting Children’s Creativity Through Music, Dance, Drama and Art. Creative Conversations in the Early Years, ed. Fleur Griffiths. Abingdon: Routledge. Halsey, C. ‘Why imaginative play is so great for your child’. Available at: https://​www.bbc.co.uk/​tiny-​happy-​peo​ple/​why-​imag​inat​ive-​play-​is-​ so-​great-​for-​your-​child/​zyy3​p4j McFarlane, P. (2012). Creative Drama for Emotional Support: Activities and Exercises for Use in the Classroom. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Paley, V. (1990). The Boy Who Would Be a Helicopter: The Uses of Storytelling in the Classroom. Harvard, MA: Harvard University Press. Sharratt, N. and Goodhart, P. (2018). You Choose. London: Penguin.

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Useful information and links How to make puppets –​https://​www.netm​ums.com/​act​ivit​ies/​top-​pup​pet-​ mak​ing-​ideas-​for-​kids/​5-​fimo-​fin​ger-​pupp​ets How to make shadow puppets –​http://​dra​ma4k​ids.com/​act​ivit​ies/​31-​how-​ to-​make-​hand-​sha​dow-​pupp​ets Introducing children to drama –​https://​www.bri​ghth​ubed​ucat​ion.com/​teach​ ing-​presch​ool/​71436-​incorp​orat​ing-​act​ing-​and-​drama-​into-​presch​ool/​ Lion and the Mouse Puppet Show –​www.yout​ube.com/​watch?v=​JGRU​ KdiU​rfU

Further reading   Books for children Hissey, J. (2013). Ruby, Blue and Blanket. London: Scribblers. Hoffman, M. (2007). Amazing Grace. London: Frances Lincoln Books. Hoffman, M. (2008). Princess Grace. London: Frances Lincoln Books. Love, J. (2019). Julian is a Mermaid. London: Walker Books. Sharratt, N. and Goodhart, P. (2018). You Choose Your Dreams. London: Penguin. Sharratt, N. and Goodhart, P. (2021). You Choose Fairy Tales. London: Penguin.

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Words, storytelling and poetry

This chapter focuses on the written word, storytelling and poetry. In this chapter I explore story making and listening to and telling stories. I look at Vivian Gussin Paley’s work on storytelling and share examples from practitioners who use a lot of storytelling in their practice. I also share ideas on how we can use storytelling outside and how we can use stories from across the world. I interview a poet in this chapter and find out ideas about enthusing children with a love of words. I love books. I am known amongst friends and family that if an issue arises I will always either have a book to help children understand it or I will find a book. I have a mini library of children’s books, that overspills from my home office to my living room, landing, bedroom and spare room! Some of the books are ones that I had as a child, or my children had, many are books I use in my nurture work or training or simply because I like them. I always buy children I know a book for a birthday/​Christmas/​baby gift. I want to share my love of books with children. The first book I read to my daughters when they were both a few hours old was Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney (2014) and then my husband and myself continued to read to them until they were young teens; they then chose for us to stop but have continued to be lovers of books themselves. I love books for a whole variety of reasons. Reading a book can transport me to a different place and different time; when I am stressed, I can lose myself in a book and forget my stresses for that time. Books of course educate and inform me. They have helped me to understand the lives of others, and they have also helped me to understand myself better. I read a huge range of books from crime fiction, feminist novels,

DOI: 10.4324/9781003312710-8

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nature books, education books, history and classics. My love of books came from my parents who read a lot and my many visits to the library. When I was a child I visited the library every week and it was often the highlight of my week. In our village we have a bus stop library where people leave books and swap –​it is interesting to see how many people in my village like crime novels! I mentioned above that I have a mini library and I am known to suggest books, particularly for children, around an issue. I have found books are a wonderful way of helping children to know it is not just them. Also books are useful for adults when they need to explain something to a child and they can’t find the right words. Of course, I probably would believe that books are vital as I am a writer; this is currently my tenth book. My first book was a picture book for children, Mummy’s Got Bipolar (2016). I wrote the book because my Mum has Bipolar and when my children were growing up there wasn’t anything available to explain the illness to them. I was also working with a child where Bipolar was in the family, and the professionals and family were not sure how to explain the illness. I have learnt over the years that when a child reads or hears about a situation that is similar to one they are in, they can feel less alone, less confused and less different. Books can be powerful. I use books a lot in my work, especially books about feelings and emotions, but I use them in many other ways too. This year I worked with one little boy who was from a farming family who was insistent that women were not farmers! I wanted to help him understand women could be farmers and found various books such as the Usborne Complete Book of Farmyard Tales (Armery 2013) and Katie Morag and the Two Grandmothers (Hedderwick 2010) to help him see women farmers. I also discovered a book this year about a Dinosaur who had eczema called The Itchy-​Saurus (Wellesley 2018); this was helpful for a little girl who was refusing to take her eczema cream.

MOMENT FOR REFLECTION Think for a moment about your relationship with books. Is there a particular book that is important to you?

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Do you have a favourite children’s book? –​that might be a very difficult question. At the end of the chapter I asked all the contributors to name three favourite children’s books and it was a challenge for everyone to keep it to three!

Helping children become familiar with stories In our schools we are expecting children from a younger age to be able to write their own basic stories and this is only possible if children know stories, have heard stories and know what a story is and how stories work. We need to share as many varied stories as we can, and hopefully help children to gain a love of stories and words. In 2008 Pie Corbett developed a story making project with his colleague Mary Rose. This came out of a teacher research project where they were exploring how children could build a bank of stories and narrative patterns to help them in their own story making creations. They developed a simple format of teaching the children a story in a multi-​sensory way. They would use actions for the key connections in the story, and they also drew a story map and would use acting and props to help tell the story. The idea was that they would initially tell the children a story and then the children would join in using the map and the actions and retell the story. The retelling involves the whole class saying the same words at the same time whilst using the actions alongside the verbalising, with the map being used as a guide. The hope is that as children learn stories, they are then able to use the format of storytelling to tell their own stories. There is a link to Pie’s idea on the foundation years website at the end of the chapter and a YouTube link of him showing how to use a story map. Around 2010 a lot of early years settings and reception classes were using this idea but, sadly, more recently it seems to have been largely forgotten, although I did have one teacher this year who was using it. When we talked about it she believed it was still a valuable tool for helping children to learn stories and felt it was beneficial for them to help children in their storytelling.

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Listening to children’s stories –​helicopter stories Vivian Gussin Paley (1990) wrote a book describing her practice of listening to and paying attention to children’s stories. This is quite an old book now, but it is one I have revisited several times over the years of my career as it has so much depth and I believe it is still as relevant today as it was in 1990. She describes in her book how her teaching developed when she started listening to the children’s stories and recognised the depth of them, the problem solving which was taking place and the learning the children were engaged in through their storytelling. Vivian used to tape record the children’s play. She would then take home the recordings and write up the transcripts, and then reflect on what she was hearing and what she thought the children were doing, revisiting the next day to see if her hypothesis was correct. As well as recording the children’s play she also set up a story list. Children would arrive each day and ask to go on the story list. They would then share their story with the class. The child would tell their story to Vivian, she would write it down and later they would act it out, with help from others in the class. This has become known as helicopter stories.

EXAMPLE FROM PRACTICE –​HELICOPTER STORIES IN SCHOOL One teacher I worked with a few years ago used Vivian’s idea. She introduced the idea in January, after some training she had attended in the previous term. Initially, the children were unsure but over the weeks we saw all of the children choosing to engage in this. At the beginning she did it twice a week but it became so popular they ended up doing this daily. Children would arrive at school and announce to her they brought in something for their story. This was a group of children who were finding the engagement in phonics and reading books a challenge; they were disengaged from a lot of the more ‘formal’ teaching. But they loved the helicopter stories; they were enthusiastic and motivated. The teacher was encouraged by their enthusiasm, and she was fantastic at holding the space for them to tell their story.

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I noticed how every child felt held, nurtured and valued in that space while they told their story and then later acted it out, not only by the teacher by also by their peers. I also noticed how the children were encouraging one another. They would praise their friends for the story they heard and sometimes they would later collaborate on another story. At the time I was working in seven different schools, and this teacher was the only one that year using that format, yet from my observation the storytelling massively supported the children’s language development, understanding of stories, social skills, listening skills and emotional development.

Story sacks The idea for story sacks originated from Neil Griffiths whilst he was a head teacher of a primary school (see a link to his website at the end of the chapter). He originally developed them with a group of parents from the school. Story sacks are very simple; a bag or pillowcase containing a book and supporting props/​materials linked to the story. You use the props to support the storytelling and involve the children. You can also have activities linked with it. For example, you might have Play-​Doh® or art materials or a game that can be linked to the story. Story sacks also sometimes contain a non-​fiction book linked to the subject. As an example, with a story sack for Goldilocks and the Three Bears, you may have a fact book about bears. I have found story sacks support children in the retelling of the story themselves; sometimes they use the objects to act out the story or re-​imagine it afterwards. You can buy some beautifully made story sacks, but my preference is when they are homemade. I have made several over the years and the ones I use most are: Lost and Found –​Oliver Jeffers In this story sack, I have A windup penguin A boy made from a toilet roll with a knitted hat A small boat with a lolly stick for oars An upside umbrella made from a paper cake case

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A tin of sensory blue and green rice for the sea A can of a crazy soap The Very Helpful Hedgehog –​Rosie Wellesley In this story sack, I have A soft toy hedgehog An apple A tub of dried leaves, conkers, acorns A toy donkey Due to the type of work I do with children, the story sacks I use are often a way of helping us explore feelings, emotions and situations. I keep the sacks quite simple for my work, but you can make them in whatever way you want. With the Helpful Hedgehog one, I often use it in the autumn and make a sensory dried leaf box with it. We will share the apple after the story and often go on to play hiding games in the sensory box, hiding different objects, noticing how they feel etc. The Lost and Found story sack is a really useful one to use with children who are needing a calming sensory experience. As I have mentioned in my book on working with children with social, emotional and mental health needs, sensory rice and crazy soap are two of my go-​to sensory play tools for supporting a child; you can find a link to the sensory rice recipe below and you can buy crazy soap from supermarkets and Amazon. I am currently in the summer holidays and over the next few weeks I plan on making a Colour Monster story sack for the start of the new school year and I’m going to craft some felt colour monster toys to go with it.

MOMENT FOR REFLECTION Think about how you use stories with the children in your setting. Do you use any of the above ideas? How do you encourage children to tell their own stories? Do you write them down? Record them? Video them?

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Words and imagination One of the reasons I love stories and words is the way they are interwoven with imagination. Children’s imagination is a wonderful gift, but as I have mentioned previously, it’s a gift that sometimes gets lost as children grow older. In Annabelle Cant’s (2018) chapter within Fleur Griffiths’s book, she describes how she uses storytelling with her children in the Romanian pre-​ school she works in. She vividly describes how important wonder is in her work. She says on page 12: Wonder is the key to knowledge Wonder is willing to know more Wonder is questioning everything Wonder is the way from the unknown to the possible.

She goes on to describe how she uses children’s ideas and imagination in her storytelling and will start by asking them questions such as: What did you dream of last night? What makes you smile? Did you see any animals on the way to the nursery? What were they? Close your eyes and tell me what it feels like to be hot/​cold/​frightened/​ excited.

She then describes how she uses these ‘wondering’s’ from the children and weaves them into a magical world. I love her emphasis on wonder. We often think about wonder with exploring the outdoors. However, here she is relating wonder to everything; that sense of wonder and awe and what is going on in our hearts, our heads and around us. Often young children have this and I love how she can tune into that.

Storytelling Some people are gifted storytellers. I don’t know if you have had the opportunity to hear a great storyteller? I was speaking at a conference a few years

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ago and one of the other speakers was Katrice Horsley. She is a professional storyteller and, for a while, she was the UK’s storytelling laureate. In her storytelling, she can captivate your attention, she can transport you in moments to another place –​she is so skilled at storytelling and it is a joy to listen to her. However, not only is her work about entertaining through stories but she has also set up an organisation called Narrative 4 Change. She describes how her own story is one from a challenging start in life, where the stories around her were one of deprivation and a ‘problem family’, and yet she imagined and grew into a different story for herself. Through her organisation, she works with educators, businesses, and communities to help them think about the stories they have created about themselves and the stories they want to create about their future. She also talks about the power words can have on ourselves and others, and the power of representation. A link to her website is at the end of the chapter.

EXAMPLE FROM PRACTICE –​STORYTELLING IN A LOG CIRCLE Some people are fantastic storytellers. Last year I visited a nursery in our area called Free Rangers and I sat in on a storytelling session that children were choosing to be part of. This nursery is based outside all year round; the children sat on logs in a circle. The practitioner had a pillowcase filled with a lot of different objects. The practitioner started her story and then the children took turns finding something from the pillowcase and the worker wove this into her story. The story involved a journey to a faraway land, she encountered different animals, and people along the way to help her, and she experienced danger from bandits and help from a little old man. When the storytelling started, I imagined it would last around 10 minutes and be a ready prepared story. However, this was storytelling on a whole other level, she was creating the story as she went along based on what the children chose and how they were responding. She started with 10 children and then more came along and joined her; by the end 23 children were sitting and captivated by her story. It lasted 40 minutes. Every child was

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absorbed by hearing her. This was one of the most skilled storytelling sessions I had encountered, and I was captivated along with the children. When I spoke to her afterwards and asked how she prepared for it, she said she didn’t, she just used the props the children pulled out and thought of something to link to the prop. She said she has been storytelling since she was a child.

EXAMPLE FROM PRACTICE –​CHILDREN CREATING STORIES WHILST PLAYING On my visit to Widcombe Acorns I observed how the children were working in the woodwork area. They were busy making magical lands with wood and creating stories about the lands they had made. There was a pirate land and a sparkle land. It was great to see the combination of the craft with woodworking alongside the children’s desire to create stories; a great example of children using storytelling in their everyday play and adventuring. The children told their stories as they made, and then at the end of the session, the staff made sure there was time for the group to hear their stories about the land they had created.

Props to support storytelling In my example from Free Rangers nursery, the practitioner had simple everyday props in her pillowcase, which she used these to trigger ideas for her storytelling. These are very simple to make yourself, or you could get the children to help you to find props that could be used. You can now buy storytelling dice or pebbles that work similarly or you can make your own by painting on some pebbles or cutting out pictures and sticking them on. I give some ideas of what you could use in your prop bag or on your pebbles below. Other props that can support storytelling are linked to specific stories rather than generic ideas. You could make wooden spoons of the characters

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of the Three Little Pigs or pebbles with pictures of those from The Gruffalo; these work in a similar way to puppets of the characters. Adults and children can use these to retell or adapt the story. You can also use picture cards to provide an idea for storytelling, which you can buy or collect yourself. As an example, each year I go to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year photographic exhibition which is shown in Bristol where I usually buy a few postcards of the photos; I use these with the children I work with, sometimes using them to make up stories about what we can see on the postcard or in other types of storytelling. Emily Neuberger (2012) suggests that children have nuggets of ideas and stories in their head, and we can support them to extend these, and to extend their imagination, by helping them to share these ideas and stories. She suggests that by offering creative ways to explore these we are boosting the children’s mind and wellbeing. She has a lovely book offering 40 craft projects and activities around story telling.

MOMENT FOR REFLECTION Do you use storytelling in your setting? Are you able to make up a story on the spot? It is a skill but it’s worth trying. Children often love it when adults make up a story and, if we can model it to them, it helps them to have a go.

Ideas for storytelling props/​images Below are a few ideas of props and images you could use in storytelling Props: Hats/​scarves Small house People figures Animal figures Vehicles Torch

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Map Feather Bowl Cup Shell Flower Key Images: Sun Moon Cloud Rain Castle Flower Tree Sea Person Animal Balloon Cake

Representation in books Children need to see examples of people like them represented in stories; to help them imagine what their lives could be and to help them to feel included and have a sense of belonging. Slowly representation is beginning to grow in books, but it is still shamefully low. There are a growing number of children’s books with black and Asian children as well as white children on the pages. There are more books with pictures of children with disabilities on the pages doing everyday things and not just a book about their disability, but these are still small in comparison to the white able-​bodied characters many children’s books show. There are a growing number of

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books reflecting diversity in family structures and gender identity. It is good these numbers are growing, but we need to have more of this. The Reflecting Realities Survey of Ethnic Representation within UK children’s literature by the Centre of Literacy in Primary Education found that in 2020 children’s books featuring a minority ethnic character had risen to 15 per cent from a level of 4 per cent in their initial 2017 report (CLPE 2021). The rise is positive, although that figure is still incredibly low. The Little Box of Books website writes about the lack of disability representation in books. They write about the need for disabled children to see themselves represented, not just as side characters or a character to have sympathy for but as the main character. In this article, they recommend some books, and a link is at the end of the chapter. One of the reasons comedian Rosie Jones wrote her children’s book series, The Amazing Edie Eckhart, was due to never seeing characters in books when she grew up where the main character was disabled, like her. In an interview with the Book Trust (2021), Rosie says “People with disabilities are just like everybody else –​we are funny, challenging, flawed, brilliant, courageous, stubborn, diverse and unique! And we absolutely deserve to be the hero of the story”. If you want some ideas for books that have positive representation, the website of the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education has a wide selection of recommended book lists. Also the book publisher Barefoot Books have always published a wonderfully diverse range of books. Links are provided at the end of the chapter.

MOMENT FOR REFLECTION Have a look at your children’s book collection –​this might be your collection at home or the one in your setting. How diverse is it? Do you need to expand your collection? There are many places to source books, not just new. World of Books is a great online second hand book shop where I purchase a lot of books, as well as charity shops, jumble sales, etc.

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Poetry What is your relationship with poetry? Are you someone who reads poetry for pleasure? Maybe you write poetry, or maybe you are someone who is not quite sure how to access poetry. It has taken me a while to get into poetry. My experience of poetry at school was limited and not great, possibly similar for a lot of people, but over the years I have learnt to enjoy poetry and recognise it is so varied that I don’t have to enjoy all of it. If we can introduce young children to poetry, it can be a fantastic way of helping them to discover a love for words. Poetry is particularly good for wordplay, for being silly with words; young children often love this. Michael Rosen has been fantastic for introducing young children to poetry. If you are not familiar with his work he has a YouTube channel of him performing lots of his poetry. Other names that you will probably be familiar with –​Julia Donaldson, Alan Ahlberg, Spike Milligan and Roald Dahl –​have also written poems for young children. There is a great website called The Children’s Poetry Archive that has a large mix of poems you can listen to. It has age categories as well as themes, so you can find poems for the age of your children, the link at the end of the chapter. Links for these are given at the end of the chapter.

EXAMPLE FROM PRACTICE –​WORD PLAY IN THE CARPARK When our daughters were around 3 and 5 we started to play a game when we parked the car at the IKEA car park. The car park is split up with letters. The game aimed to come up with a sentence based on the letter we had parked in. The rules were each word had to start with the letter we had parked in. One person would start and we would all add to it. The rhyme needed to make sense, so it wasn’t a string of random words, but it could be a silly sentence. An example might be ‘big brown bears bothered bees’. To start with, the girls would manage a few words together, but this silly game stuck. Over the years we have had many trips to IKEA, and despite now being adults we still do the same game if any of us are together and they still use it if they

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are visiting with friends. Over the years the sentences have of course become more complex, darker in their teens, and ruder! I must admit even when I visit on my own, I still have to play the game in my head.

Links with your community In the other chapters, I have encouraged you to make links with your local community, inviting artists and musicians to share their work with the children. It’s the same for writers, storytellers and poets. Do you have anyone in your local community who you could invite in to share with the children their writing? Another link to make is with your local library. If you have a local library, do you make visits with the children? Is this possible? Libraries are a vital community resource.

Interview with Harry

As part of this chapter, I am going to interview Harry Baker, who is a poet who tours the world. He was the youngest World Poetry Slam Champion in 2012, has done several TED Talks and is regularly on Radio 4, Radio 2 and TV. There is a link below to his website. If you listen to some of his performances you will notice how wonderfully playful he is. In this interview, I am going to explore Harry’s creativity, words and playfulness. I have known Harry since he was a baby (he turned 30 this year!). I am a friend of Harry’s family and I was his and his brother’s nanny when they were little. I must admit I feel hugely proud to see him and hear him perform.

Sonia

With your poetry, you don’t specifically aim for children, but your work is so family friendly, it works across the ages, is that intentional?

Harry

Yes, I do a lot of work in secondary schools. That makes sense as that was the age I started writing poetry. A lot of the themes were around self-​esteem and fitting in. What I hadn’t anticipated

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with going into school, depending on the year group, it can be a very different experience. With year 7 and 8 students, it’s showing them poetry can be fun and playful and encouraging them to give it a go. With years 9, 10 and 11 they are so much more self-​conscious and reluctant; with those ages it is about the process of writing and getting what is in their head down onto a page. Even if they don’t want to share that in a group, as that is their worst nightmare. I will go and see what they are doing and that is much more of an individual thing.

I now also go into primary schools, and I have now started to go down the years. I used to do years 5 and 6 but recently I worked with years 3 and 4 as well. Because the poems were not specifically written for those age groups, I was cautious about how it would go down, but what I love about performing to younger students is they are so willing to enjoy the sound. Even a poem like Paper People has all kinds of references to political events from 10 years ago, but they will laugh out loud at the playfulness and the sounds. For some students when they notice there is rap or musicality to a poem they will start moving and dancing in their seats. At this age, it feels like there is a much more visceral reaction to the actual performance. There are some poems like ones about dinosaurs that work better but I have learnt that performing with younger years it is important to have conversations between the poems and get their input. So it’s not about me presenting for an hour, it’s about me making them feel part of it. In my Bumble Bee poem, I will ask them what word rhymes with bumble and they are excited to have that and do that. I think it is such a natural thing to play with words, and in late teens or as adults we have unlearnt it. It’s refreshing to go back into that space, even my Falafel poem which in my mind is in another language and is not going to make sense, but that is so much more fun to do with younger years than older years because they don’t need to know what it is or expect to know what it is, they just accept it and I think there is something about playfulness that is exciting. I have very rarely written stuff with a specific age group in mind, but I have learnt to trust the

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audience don’t need to get every single reference to get something from it. I don’t want to be patronising as I know they are younger; I want them to take it and see. Sonia

Have you used any poems with your nieces? As they are little aren’t they? How old are they?

Harry

They are 4 and 6. What is interesting is the first one they responded to was a song I wrote in lockdown, it’s called So Viele Leute, it’s all in German, it makes no sense, it’s partly the music having an added thing to it, but they were jumping around the room singing along. Especially with that one, it’s not about what it means it’s about how it sounds. Joel and Kat (their parents) have introduced them to the dinosaur and the falafel poems. Flo knows what they are that I do poems.

Sonia

For me, it’s the playfulness that comes out in your work and the love of words, your imagination and the way you can be performing and ask people to give you words. That is one of the funniest things about going to one of your performances; when people throw out random words at your request and you somehow make up something on the spot. I imagine children will love that, as there is no right or wrong way about it.

Harry

What I love about getting the words and doing the interactive bits is how it can be so much funnier when it goes wrong or knowing it can go wrong. If you go with this polished idea of it is going to be amazing, then it can be much harder for people to get behind it. But if there is an element of risk or vulnerability everyone is on that journey together.

Sonia

Within the early years we do a lot around storytelling, using both books and imagination, but I am not sure we use poetry as much. There is Michael Rosen, who is of course a well-​ known great early years poet. I wonder if a lot of adults are scared about poetry. I wonder if their own experience at

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school wasn’t great about poetry? I wonder if that puts them off engaging in it and using it with children? What are your thoughts on that? Harry

My earliest memory of poetry is being read poems by mum and dad or my grandparents. It was things like Michael Rosen and Don’t Put Mustard in the Custard. I found out my niece knows those poems now. Also, things like Benjamin Zephaniah; there is such joyfulness in his wordplay. I think as an adult there is a common thing with people that they don’t get poetry or it doesn’t make sense to them and so it is hard to know where to begin. Because I do it all the time, I have learnt there are ones I like and don’t like and that is fine. I think if it is something you can discover on your terms or look at a few different things, then it feels like there is a sense of ownership. I think if your main experience of poetry from school was World War One poetry, that is a very specific thing, it is not all poetry. It was a massive historical event and there are important pieces that came out of it. When I go into schools the first thing I will do is get them to write a list of things they love and then pick one and write a poem about it. I think if you are writing something that means something to you, you are already on that journey and playfulness can come into it. I think poetry can be such a powerful tool to talk about more difficult things and more personal things, but I don’t think that needs to be day one of the journey. Even my poem about mum having chemotherapy came from a playfulness with language. Wordplay doesn’t have to be just puns or be ridiculous; think about the words you want to use and the impact they can have, that can be such a freeing thing. The most obvious way that works with students and younger children is through rhyming, even with my nieces. I haven’t sat down and written poems with them, but we will sit down and try and think of a rhyme. It’s a natural fun thing to be able to do, which can then develop into stuff later on.

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A FINAL MOMENT FOR REFLECTION Before you move on to conclusion, take a moment to think about how you use words, poetry and storytelling in your work. Are there ideas from this chapter that you want to try maybe for yourself and then with the children? My takeaway from this chapter is to use more poetry with children; while writing this chapter I have purchased a few more poetry books and plan to use these more. I am ending this chapter with some practical ideas you can try.

Practical ideas to try to support words, storytelling and poetry Create story sacks –​You could make these with the children. Choose a favourite story and get the children to find some objects that link to the story, maybe find a game or activity that could also be used. Story pebbles –​Make these with the children. Together find some pictures from magazines or the Internet and stick them onto the pebbles using Mod Podge® glue. A link with further guidance is at the end of the chapter. Make some nonsense poems together –​Make your own setting’s book of nonsense poems. Encourage the children to tell you their ideas for you to include. The children may like to do illustrations with it. Carpark word game –​If you are in a carpark create a sentence based on the letter you have parked in. Or you could use this idea in other places. For example, when you enter a shop choose an item such as cakes and make up a sentence involving cakes. Create a storytelling space –​Create your own storytelling space; you could have one inside and outside –​it might be a cosy corner inside or

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part of a den space outside. The children can help you think about what is needed in the space, maybe cushions and drapes, or blankets, or maybe a circle of logs outside like Free Rangers use. Make a story treasure map –​Make a story treasure map together and then go in search of the treasure. Go on a story walk –​Go on a walk together in your local area and create a story about what you are seeing. You might create a story about the shop you pass or the cat you see, or the tree you pass.

Contributors’ list of favourite children’s books Sonia’s list Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers The Colour Monster by Anna LLenas Princess Smarty Pants by Babette Cole Harry’s list Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak Don’t Put Mustard in the Custard by Michael Rosen Here We Are by Oliver Jeffers Emma’s list Pip by Tony Mitton The Elephant Tree by Penny Dale Just In Case You Want To Fly by Julie Fogliono. Andy’s list The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen Dogger by Shirley Hughes Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl Kate’s list Each Peach Pear Plum by Allan and Janet Ahlberg The Koala that Could by Rachel Bright and Jim Field Window by Jeannie Baker

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Jamel’s list Whatever Next! by Jill Murphy So Much by Trish Cook Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss Claire’s list Mr Ben by David Mckee The Snowman by Raymond Briggs Five Chocolate Biscuits by Peter Day Iain’s list Just William by Richmal Compton We Are Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney Juliette’s list Colin and Lee, Carrot and Pea by Morag Hood The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams What the Ladybird Heard by Julia Donaldson Rosie’s list Where’s My Teddy? by Jez Alborough Dinosaurs (or Aliens) Love Underpants by Claire Freeman and Ben Cort The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister Hope for the Flowers by Trina Paulus The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy

References Armery, H. (2013). The Complete Book of Farmyard Tales. London: Usborne. Baker, H. (n.d.). Dinosaur Love. Available at: http://​www.yout​ube.com/​ watch?v=​LdjN​w8SZ​c5U Barefoot Books –​https://​www.barefo​otbo​oks.com/​uk/​ Centre for Literacy in Primary Education. Book list. Available at: https://​clpe. org.uk/​books/​bookli​sts Children’s Poetry Archive –​https://​childr​ens.poetry​arch​ive.org/​expl​ore/​ ?age=​250

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CLPE (2021). CLPE Reflecting Realities –​A Survey of the Ethnic Representation Within UK Children’s Literature. Available at: https://​clpe.org.uk/​resea​rch/​ clpe-​ref​l ect​ing-​realit​ies-​sur​vey-​eth​nic-​rep​rese​ntat​ion-​wit​hin-​uk-​childr​ ens-​lit​erat​ure-​0 Corbett, P. (2008). Storytelling and Story Making. Available at: https://​foun​ dati​onye​ars.org.uk/​files/​2011/​10/​Story-​Telin​g_​St​ory-​Maki​ng1.pdf Griffith, F. (2018). Supporting Children’s Creativity Through Music, Dance, Drama and Art. Abingdon: Routledge. Gussin Paley, V. (1990). The Boy Who Would be a Helicopter: Uses of Storytelling in the Classroom. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Hedderwick, M. (2010). Katie Morag and the Two Grandmothers. London: Red Fox Publishers. Horsley, K. Storyteller. Available at: https://​www.narra​tive​4cha​nge.com/​ about-​n4c Jeffers, O. (2015). Lost and Found. London: HarperCollins. Jones, R. (2021). ‘Meet Edie Eckhart, comedian Rosie Jones’s new children’s character: People with disabilities absolutely deserve to be the hero of the story’. Available at: https://​www.booktr​ust.org.uk/​news-​and-​featu​ res/​featu​res/​2021/​decem​ber/​meet-​edie-​eckh​art-​comed​ian-​rosie-​jones-​ new-​ childr​ e ns-​ charac​ t er-​ p eo​ p le-​ w ith-​ d isab​ i lit​ i es-​ a bs​ o lut​ e ly-​ d ese​ rve-​to-​be-​the-​hero-​of-​the-​story/​ Jones, R. (2021). The Amazing Edie Eckhart. London: Hatchette. Llenas, A. (2016). The Colour Monster. Dorking: Templar Publishing. Little Box of Books –​https://​littl​ebox​ofbo​oks.co.uk/​dis​abil​ity-​in-​childr​ ens-​books Little Angel Theatre presents Michael Rosen Clever Cakes –​www.yout​ube. com/​watch?v=​-​rHC​DLN6​9IY Mainstone-​Cotton, S. (2016). Mummy’s Got Bipolar. Bath: Jonson. McBratney, S. (2014). Guess How Much I Love You. London: Walker Books. Michael Rosen poetry –​http://​www.yout​ube.com/​Micha​elRo​senO​ffic​ial Neuburger, E. (2012). Show Me a Story. North Adams, MA: Storey Publishing. Wellesley, R. (2012). The Very Helpful Hedgehog. London: Pavilion Children’s. Wellesley, R. (2018). The Itchy-​Saurus. London: Pavilion Children’s.

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Useful information and links Harry Baker –​https://​www.har​ryba​ker.co Neil Griffiths –​https://​corner​tole​arn.co.uk/​about-​neil/​ Pie Corbett using a story map –​//​www.yout​ube.com/​watch?v=​Jdv​JZD-​cplg How to make a story sack –​https://​litera​cytr​ust.org.uk/​resour​ces/​howmake-​and-​use-​story-​sack/​ Using story bags/​props –​https://​www.the​empo​were​dedu​cato​ronl​ine.com/​ 2018/​11/​story-​bag-​bas​ket-​or-​prop-​box.html/​ How to make story pebbles –​https://​hap​pyho​olig​ans.ca/​story-​sto​nes/​ How to make sensory rice –​https://​the​imag​inat​iont​ree.com/​easi​est-​way-​to-​ dye-​rice-​for-​sens​ory-​play/​

  Books for children Poetry Agard, J. and Nichols, G. (eds). (2002). Under the Moon and Over the Sea: A Collection of Poetry from the Caribbean. London: Walker Books. Mitton, P. (2001). Pip. London: Scholastic Children’s Books. Morris, J. (2006). The Barefoot Book of Classic Poems. Cambridge: Barefoot Books. Rosen, M. (1993). Poems for the Very Young. London: Kingfisher.

Diverse books Antony, S. (2019). Amazing. London: Hodder Children’s Books. Beaty, A. (2016). Ada Twist Scientist. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers. Beer, S. (2021). Love Makes a Family. London: Caterpillar Books. Brannen, S. and Soto, L. (2021). Uncle Bobby’s Wedding. London: Hodder Children’s Books.

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Bryon, D. (2019). Look Up. London: Penguin. Cathpole, J. (2021). What Happened to You? London: Faber and Faber. Cherry, M. (2019). Hair Love. London: Puffin. Elliot, R. (2010). Just Because. London: Lions Children’s. Krebs, L. (2009). The Beeman. Cambridge: Barefoot Books. Love, J. (2019). Julian is a Mermaid. London: Walker Books. Muhammad, I. and Ali, S.K. (2020). The Proudest Blue: A Story of a Hijab and Family. London: Walker Books. Sissay, L. (2022). Don’t ask the Dragon. London: Canongate Books.

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Conclusion

My hope is that this book has allowed you to think about creativity, your practice and your work with children. As I mentioned at the beginning, I think creativity is such a valuable resource to us all. As early years practitioners, we are in the position to introduce and offer up ideas and opportunities to children. These creative opportunities may go on to become part of the children’s wellbeing toolkit that they take with them through life. Throughout the book I have been able to interview some fantastic practitioners and artists and have had many inspiring conversations. I am hugely grateful to them all for their time, and for accepting the various emails from me asking for their music choices and children’s book favourites! I hope the Spotify playlist (found under Creativity and Wellbeing in Early Years Playlist) is something you can enjoy too; who knows, you might discover some new music to listen to. I have felt inspired through writing this book. My wish at the start was to share ideas and discover more as I was researching, and I hoped I would be inspired in my ongoing practice. This has turned out to be the case as when I was writing it I have tried out new things and have gained more ideas for the new academic year. My hope is you too have taken away some ideas and inspiration, and I hope there may be some new things for you to try. I said in Chapter 3 that I had a fear of drawing and my takeaway was to learn to draw. Iain bought me some beautiful drawing materials as part of my 50th birthday present and over the

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DOI: 10.4324/9781003312710-9

Conclusion

summer he has given me a few drawing lessons. I have discovered I love using graphite! And that, surprisingly, drawing can be freeing. Thank you for taking the time to read this book; your time is precious and I hugely appreciate you reading my words. I hope you can take a moment now to go and do something creative. Sonia

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Index

Ahlberg, Alan 137 Aldridge, James 38 Amazing Edie Eckhart (Jones) 136 art galleries 44 artistic abilities 9 art materials 39–​41 art play 63 Artsmark 22 art therapy 32, 49 Baker, Harry 138–​42 Barton, Geoff 5 Battelley, Helen 84 Bellelli, L.: The Park Is 113 Blackburn, Carolyn 84 The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (Perry) 49 Boyce, Tom 49 Brand, Laura: The Joy Journal for Magical Everyday Play 62 Brandon, Stephanie 82 Brodie, Kathy 15 Campbell, Jamel 24, 82, 84–​7 Cant, Annabelle 131 child development 23 children: creativity and wellbeing 24; imagination, documenting 112–​14; stories, listening to 128; wellbeing 26–​7, 49; words and imagination 131 child voice project 2

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Clegg, Alistair Bryce: 50 Fantastic Things To Do 41 Collins, Anita 82 Complete Book of Farmyard Tales 126 Corbett, Pie 127 Cotton, Iain 51–​3 craft 60–​1, 108; in environment 65–​6; making with children 66–​8; outdoors 68–​73; practical ideas to support 77–​8; role of adult in supporting 73–​6; Steiner and Montessori practice 65; support wellbeing 62–​4 Craft, Anna 6 craft-​type activities 62 creative activities 73, 83 creative diversity 24 creative environment 12 creative exploration 14 creative movement 89 creative practice 15 creative programming 21 creative projects 42–​3 creative therapeutic outlet 20 creativity-​focused education systems 6 Crookes, Richard 46–​8 Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly 26 cultural creative awareness 24 cultural diversity 24 cultural heritage 24

INDEX

Culture Health & Wellbeing Alliance 22 Dahl, Roald 137 dance 84–​6, 89–​91; practical ideas to support 100–​1 Day, Clare 69–​73 diverse range of creativity 16–​17 Donaldson, Julia 137 Dower, Ruth Churchill 7, 38, 89 Doyle, Phoebe: Early Years Educator Magazine 89 drama: practical ideas to support 122–​3; resources to support 117–​21 dyeing fabrics 77 Early Years Educator Magazine (Doyle) 89 Edison, Thomas 9 education in UK 4–​6 education theory 65 Edwards, C.: The Hundred Languages of Children 28 Emilia, Reggio 1, 12, 13, 27–​34, 112, 113 environments 10–​14 experiential education project 26 Fancourt, Daisy 23 Fawcett, Mary 1 50 Fantastic Things To Do (Clegg) 41 Foley, Angela 84 Fouracre, Mandy 89 Gandini, Lella 28 Gogh, Van 42 Goldilocks and the Three Bears 129 Goodhart, Pippa: You Choose 111 Gormley, Antony 44 Griffiths, Fleur 42, 109, 131 Griffiths, Neil 129 Guess How Much I Love You (McBratney) 125

Halsey, Clare 107 Hattersley, Andy 118–​21 Hay, Penny 1 Horsley, Katrice 132 The Hundred Languages of Children (Edwards) 28 imaginative play 107–​8; practical ideas to support 122–​3; resources to support drama and 117–​21; support and promote 115–​16; supporting 110–​11 Jobs, Steve 9 Jones, Rosie: Amazing Edie Eckhart 136 The Joy Journal for Magical Everyday Play (Brand) 62 Katie Morag and the Two Grandmothers 126 Kitty and Al Tait (2022) 20 Kluger, Jeffrey 5, 9 Laevers, Ferre 26 Lerner, Claire 83 Leuven scale for wellbeing 26 The Lost Words (Morris) 45 Lowenfield, Viktor 38 Macfarlane, Robert 45 Making Winter (Mitchell) 62 Marsh, Juliette 28–​32 maths/​science/​STEM, creativity in 14–​16 McBratney, Sam: Guess How Much I Love You 125 McGuinness, Emma 74–​6 mental health charities 20 mental wellbeing 11, 84 Milligan, Spike 137 Mitchell, Emma: Making Winter 62 Mohammed, Ruksana 6 Montessori 65 Morris, Jackie: The Lost Words 45

151

INDEX

mother–​child attachment 23 Mummy’s Got Bipolar 126 music 81, 91–​100; benefits of 82–​3; with children, sharing range of 88–​9; practical ideas to support 100–​1; and wellbeing 84–​7 musical instruments 93–​9 Nelson, Caleb Azumah 101 Neuberger, Emily 134 Newman, Sue 82 Nichols, Wallace J. 11 Paley, Vivian Gussin 112, 116, 125, 128 The Park Is (Bellelli) 113 Parlakian, Rebecca 83 Parmar, Kate 55 Perry, Grayson 21, 60 Perry, Philippa: The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read 49 physical environments 10 play-​based approach 7 play therapy 32 poetry 137; practical ideas to support 142–​3 Reflecting Realities Survey of Ethnic Representation 136 Robinson, Ken 4, 5, 7

152

Rooks, Kay 42 Rosen, Michael 137 Sacks, Oliver 11 Sakr, Mona 26 Sargent, Marianne 38 self-​confidence 83 Serveta, Maria 15 Sharratt, Nick: You Choose 111 singing 87–​8 The Singing Medicine Project 84 Snell, Adrian 93–​9 story sacks 129–​30 storytelling 131–​2; practical ideas to support 142–​3; props to support 133–​4 teacher research project 127 traditional art books 45 UK, creativity and education in 4–​6 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 28 Watkins, Sarah 68 wet felt method 77 World Health Organization (WHO) 22 You Choose (Sharratt & Goodhart) 111 Young, Susan 91