Creativity is the means by which we can take that which we already know and generate something new from it. Without creativity, then we can only know what is taught to us. With creativity, the scope of applicaton of what we learn is essentially limitless, and it makes the process of learning much more valuable. It also enables us to solve problems, so by encouraging the children to be very creative in the early years we can help them to be great thinkers when they are older.

We enormously encourage creativity at Educate for Life schools. A larege part of encouragin creativity is actually really easy; it is not to get in the way of it. First, we let the children talk in the classroom, move around and get engaged in whatever takes their interest. This gives them the opportunity to see things from different perspectives, which helps them build up different ways of using or knowing the same thing, giving them a broader repotoire of ability and linking together deas in different ways, so they can be more creative. By letting them engage in something that catches their attention, even if it isn't exactly what the lesson dictates, it helps the children develop concentration and focus by merely not preventing it! And as children get engaged in things, they tend to discover different ways of manipulatig their environment, thus expanding their creative ability.

Children are naturally pretty creative beings, to one degree or another. They create fantasy worlds in their minds, make toys and props out of nothing and generate their own games and stories. Much of encouraging creativity is just creating a forum for it, and by doing that at school is demostrates that creativity is a valuable asset. We tell stories to each other, make up songs, paint, draw, create models, play games and mess about in the mud. We make materials from our surroundings, such as paint from flowers and brushes from roots. Normally in schools all paint and toys are bought, but this cost money and gives the impression that we need things from the outside in order to be creative. By creating these things themselves our children can know that they are their own masters of creativity, which gives them a fantastic attitude to 'having a go' and thinking around problems.