Setting up a creative area outdoors in EYFS can invigorate young children’s creativity, says Barbara Isaacs…
Most EYFS settings are well-organised when it comes to providing opportunities for spontaneous activities in your creative area.
You probably have art trolleys or shelves which give children opportunities to select resources and create their own works of art, be they collages, drawings, paintings, prints or cuttings.
Alongside these paper-based activities, you might provide opportunities to use playdough, modelling clay and boxes and other materials such as short pieces of wood to produce three-dimensional constructions too.
Much of the success of these activities depends on the quality of resources and on the adults’ attitude – in particular, our willingness to give young children the time and opportunity to explore what they can do.
The key is to introduce techniques such as printing or marbling and then make them readily available for children to use when they are ready. They need time to experiment and find out what they can achieve.
You may also provide opportunities for creative expression in your outdoor classroom. This may be large constructions or giving opportunities for painting using large brushes.
There is no doubt children benefit from these resources. However, have you ever considered providing the same freedom of access to activities by offering an ‘outdoor art shelf’ in your EYFS creative area?
This can comprise different resources such as twigs, leaves and petals, pebbles and other nature-given resources. Add to it from the garden, during walks in the local park or at forest school activities.
These resources enhance children’s sensory learning and extend your collage and construction resources.
This kind of outdoor provision also encourages social skills and promotes opportunities for children to make individual contributions to cooperative efforts.
Why not create a tree mobile to decorate with a variety of hangings made by different children? Ideas include:
Why not secure a large sheet of chicken wire to your nursery fence, as a base for group weaving? (Be careful to protect the edges as they can be very sharp).
Provide a basket with strips of fabric and ribbons, wools and coloured pipe cleaners, silver foil and strips of plastic sheeting.
You could exchange these resources for natural weaving materials such as blades of grass, leaves, twigs and petals.
Encourage large constructions using large hollow blocks (if your setting is lucky enough to have them). Alternatively, substitute these with cardboard packing cases or plastic crates.
Use the sandpit to create a sculpture with pebbles, shells and twigs available for possible adornment. Provide clay for making pots and animals.
Use the ground to make pictures with coloured chalk or large sheets of paper for footprints, handprints or, if you’re feeling brave on a hot day, a body print.
Outdoor classrooms offer opportunities for large-scale work and for leaving activities unfinished to be continued the next day.
Talking to children about their art projects, inside or outside, can be an interesting contribution to their creative process.
However, tread cautiously – asking direct questions may pressurise children into giving answers. Expressing appreciation of colours, shapes and forms is a good way to begin such conversations.
Some of the Reggio Emilia documentation provides a good guide to gaining a deeper understanding of adults’ role in contributing to children’s creativity.
Finally, having an artist in residence is another excellent way to stimulate children’s creativity, while giving them new ideas about the different techniques they can use.
Remember, at all times it is important to celebrate each individual’s or group’s efforts. Share photographs of their work with children to get further insight into their thinking.
Parents will also benefit from these photos too, by gaining a fresh insight into their children’s creativity.
Barbara Isaacs is the academic director of Montessori Centre International.
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