Inspiration...

What will you do today and tomorrow to inspire your kids? Will you use tools and materials to inspire them to be creative? Will you use words and stories to share inspirational thoughts? Will you cuddle and be gentle to inspire more supportive relationships? Will you capitalize on teachable moments to inspire problem solving and critical thinking? Will you encourage acts of kindness to inspire empathy?

Think about it....

What kinds of things inspire you?

Things that you see? Things that you do? Things that you listen to? Can you use your "inspirational" moments to draw from so that your enthusiasm from being inspired, inspires others?

Think about it....

We can all take a moment or a few moments to be inspired and foster inspiration. I would imagine that some of the greatest people in the world became great due to their ability to inspire and be inspired.

I recently sent these sentiments via email to the head teachers to provoke some out of the box thinking. Now more than ever, there are so many things that adults and children are exposed to that can be inspirational. It may be spiritual for some, in the form of pictures or music for others. Some people read for inspiration and some people just take the time to stop and really see things that they might look at or see every day. Inspiration may be in the form of good deeds, helping others or just offering a kind word to others to inspire them to achieve or grow. Colors, sounds, scents and touch often evoke inspiration. For some, it's more tangible and for others it's a quieter form of reflection.

When Einstein met his baby sister for the first time his supposed response was, "Where are the wheels?"

This quote illustrates divergent thinking in a humorous way. It is the thinking about an object or material in a different way or from another perspective. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines divergent thinking as: "creative thinking that may follow many lines of thought and tends to generate new and original solutions to problems." This type of thinking may be compared to convergent thinking which looks for one best solution. As educators of young children, we want to actively nurture divergent thinking and creativity through the play activities and environment we provide. As Elizabeth Jones notes in Spotlight on Play, "Play relies on divergent rather than convergent thinking: It asks, "What are all the ways...?" rather than insisting, "This is the right way." Our goal is to allow for as many opportunities as possible to use open-ended toys and materials. We encourage the children to be involved in the process rather than using the materials in one way to produce a product or specific end result.  

Children often become accustomed to using materials and toys in one prescribed way. They need the support and encouragement of parents and teachers to brainstorm creative alternatives. One morning in Preschool 3, the teacher filled a table with a collection of 'loose parts.' The items included old CD's, small colored stones, a foam frame with small openings, a basket and paper tubes. As soon as one of the children came in and sat down at the table, she asked her teacher, "What do I do?" The child was waiting for the teacher to give her directions for using the materials in the 'right' way. The teacher responded by asking her what she thought she could do with them. With no expectations, rules or need to 'get it right,' the child was uninhibited in her play. As other children joined her, they played together to explore multiple uses for the materials. 

Divergent thinking is required for creativity and is enhanced through opportunities for problem solving, exploration and self-expression. All ideas and solutions should be encouraged and validated. "When you validate the different responses received, children realize that it's OK to find their own individual solutions and to not have to compete with one another" (Pica, 2009). Another example from the preschool classroom was their use of boxes of all different sizes (boxes are a very open-ended material). After reading the book, Not a Box, one day, we introduced several empty boxes into the block area. The children clamored for a turn to use the boxes during free choice time. Given free reign, they each had a unique idea for using the boxes and played with them for several days. Each child's idea was recognized by the teacher, leaving the children with the knowledge that all of their ideas were valuable.

Children develop creativity through unstructured play with divergent toys. Materials such as water and sand, mixing bowls and cardboard boxes provide children with opportunities to create, innovate, problem-solve and think critically. Timeless toys such as wooden blocks, markers and Legos also give children the gift of free and open play.

Resources:

Jones, Elizabeth "Spotlight on Young Children and Play: Playing to get SMART" (NAEYC Publication)

Pica, Rae "Can Movement Promote Creativity?" (Young Children, July 2009)

Not a Box by Antoinette Portis (reviewed in this newsletter) illustrates how a simple box will go as far as the imagination will allow.

The character in this story is a bunny who plays with a cardboard box. The bunny uses his imagination while he plays with the box. Throughout the book the bunny is asked what he is doing with the box and the bunny responds by saying, "it's not a box." Some of the ways the bunny played with the box were pretending it was race car, robot, hot air balloon, and a building. We incorporated this story in the block area by bringing in cardboard boxes for the children to play with in our classroom. The children strengthened their imaginations as they pretended the boxes were a school bus, bouncy car, turtle, house, and a rocket ship.

I know UCDC is a laboratory school, but what exactly are the students observing?

"The University Child Development Center serves the University of Pittsburgh and other institutions of higher education as a laboratory setting, whereby individuals interested and/or involved in the study of young children can come and use the Center in a variety of ways. Enabling students and faculty members to observe, participate, interact, conduct research, and complete practicum, intern, and student teaching experiences are some of the ways that the Center is a part of the academic mission of the University. Students attend a thorough orientation introducing them to the fundamental aspects of the program operation before they begin working with children. This orientation includes health, safety, and emergency procedures; proactive discipline techniques; child abuse and neglect reporting procedures; and regulatory requirements. The training is given by their immediate supervisor when completing an internship at UCDC and their supervisor follows up with training that expands on the initial orientation as needed.  

Visiting individuals are always supervised by the classroom teacher. Those individuals interested in conducting research must submit a formal request to the Director. If the Director feels that the request is in order, that it is appropriate for the children at the Center, has merit, and has the appropriate approvals, then parents/guardians will be asked to consider having their child participate. No child will participate under any circumstances in any formal research without the parent/guardian's expressed written consent. Whenever possible, the results of a research project will be shared with parents/guardians once it is completed. Informal observation and interaction with children by University faculty and students are encouraged and supervised by classroom professionals.

Goals for the students include:

• Have a rich, rewarding experience.
• Play a role in daily activities and planning with teachers and children.
• Expand knowledge in early childhood by observing, questioning, experimenting, evaluating, and sharing.
• Realize that each child is unique because of individual needs, abilities, and potential.
• Encourage the use of new ideas and experiences.
• Realize and respect the influences of home and community involvement as they affect the development of each child.
• Identify a measure of growth in themselves as a result of their participation."

(Sung to the tune of "The Hokey-Pokey")

The children of Toddler 2 really love this song and can be seen dressing up in their winter gear while belting out these lyrics! It's also a nice song to help your child get dressed in their winter layers too!

You put your right mitten in,
You take your right mitten out.
You put your right mitten in,
And you shake it all about.
You do the winter pokey, [shiver]
And you turn yourself around.
That's what it's all about!

You put your left mitten in....
You put your right boot....
You put your left boot....
You put your long scarf in....
You put your warm cap in....
You put your snowsuit in....