Supporting Children's Communications and Creativity through Music, Dance, Drama and Art: Creative conversations in the early years »

Fleur Griffiths is a retired nursery teacher/ educational psychologist/ senior lecturer in Early Childhood Studies at Sunderland University. In retirement she has worked on a contract basis as an educational consultant in Foundation Stage settings in local authorities. She has also contributed to the delivery of CPD training for teachers in Hartlepool.

There is a growing awareness in Early Years education that an essential part of children’s development involves creative engagement through language, gestures, body movements, drawing and music; creating shared meanings in playful contexts.

Supporting Children’s Creativity through Music, Dance, Drama and Art brings together contributions from a range of professionals and early years practitioners, to help readers implement the themes of the Early Years Foundation Stage framework in a creative way. Emphasising the need for responsive adults and a creative atmosphere for learning, this book covers:

• How to promote a creative classroom effectively
• The importance of talking and listening in groups
• Working with community artists
• Music-making and story-telling in the classroom
• Practical resources and theoretical grounding
• Making use of the ‘talking table’ technique

With practical case studies drawn from a range of contexts, this book highlights the contribution that creativity makes to children’s learning and social development, illustrated through practical suggestions and feedback from tried and tested methods.

Appealing to all with an interest in Early Years practice, this book demonstrates how practitioners can put excitement and inspiration back into the learning process, and guides them to encourage and support the creative capacities of young children.

Acknowledgements xi

List of collaborators xii

Introduction Fleur Griffiths 1

1 Welcome, wonder and magic: words on the fence of a Romanian kindergarten AnnaBella Cant 8

Making time and space Dancing on the decking: an observation Rose Davies 15

2 Listening more and talking less: nurturing children's creativity Kay Rooks 17

3 Enriched environments: a dialogue with people/places and materials Fleur Griffiths Tracy Kirkbride 27

Story making 43

4 Creative conversations: the Talking Table Fleur Griffiths 45

5 From scribble to story: making meaning from drawings Fleur Griffiths Marysia Holubjecki 60

6 Story telling and story acting: putting the action into interaction Evi Typadi Karen Hayon 69

Photographs (plate section between page 88 and page 89) Chris Holmes

Music making Music round a cloth Stephanie Brandon 89

7 Musical movers: creative ideas for using movement with young children Angela Foley 91

8 Improvisation: children making their own music Ken Patterson 104

9 Reflections Fleur Griffiths Rose Davies 116

10 Conversation and the creative self: making sense of research Marion Farmer 119

Index 132