Creative Thinking, Representation & Theories in Early Childhood Essay

This essay explores creative thinking and representation in early childhood, analyzing observations of a child's activities through the lens of early childhood theories, including those of Piaget, Bruner, and Vygotsky. It discusses how children use various modes of representation—enactive, iconic, and symbolic—to understand and express their experiences. The essay also examines the concept of multimodality, highlighting how children use writing, speech, music, images, and other forms of expression to make meaning. Observations of a child named Holly are used to illustrate these concepts, focusing on her symbolic play, schematic behavior, language development, literacy skills, and mark-making. The essay emphasizes the importance of fostering creativity in children to support their cognitive, physical, and emotional development, and suggests strategies for educators and parents to nurture this creativity.

Running head:EARLY CHILDHOOD STUDIES
EARLY CHILDHOOD STUDIES
Name of the Student
Name of the university
Author’s note

EARLY CHILDHOOD STUDIES 1
Introduction
The creativity of the children reaches its peak before the age of six and after which it
begins to decline with the onset of the formal schooling and development of the drive towards
the community (Olson 2014). By the age of three the children enter Piaget’s preoperational stage,
the hallmark of which is the ability to use symbols and representational thoughts (Olson 2014).
This essay will give a record of observations of a particular child and will analyse her creative
thinking skills. The activities of the chosen child will then be analysed on the light of the early
childhood theories. The paper would give an idea of the various approaches and the strategies
that can be adopted to keep the creative mind of these children, flowing.
A consent letter has been attached as evidence of informed consent from the guardians of
the child before carrying out the observation (Appendix 1). The lecturer has reviewed and signed
the letter and in order to maintain the confidentiality, only a redacted copy is attached.
Discussion
Creative thinking and representation
Bruce, (2004) sees creative individual as those who regularly solve the problems, define
new questions, or in a word they are incredibly and uniquely adept at finding connections
between different things. Creativity is a different way of perceiving in which there are no right or
the wrong answers and only the possibilities (Olson 2014). Creativity in child helps him/her to
develop in several domains of life. Through creative art, the children might be able to represent
experiences that they cannot verbalize. A creative child represent her feelings or experiences in a
creative way. According to Bruce (2015) representation is the way in which we manage to keep

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hold of the past experiences in an ordered way. For example the past experience of having a bad
journey or a bad day in the school helps the child to get prepared in the domain of similar
experiences and to perform better in the future. According to Bruner (in Bruce 2015), the process
of representation works in three interrelated process: through the enactive mode, through the
iconic mode and through the symbolic mode.
The “enactive mode” is the representation of the knowledge through actions. This stage
involve the encoding and the storage of the information. A direct manipulation of the objects
without any internal representation of the object occurs in this stage. For example, a under
enactive mode, the young infants might manipulate objects like using the pencil box as a mobile
telephone and imitating to speak with somebody else over phone. This helps to build knowledge
and proper understanding of the world around them.
The “iconic mode” involves the internal representation in the form of a mental image. For
example, the child drawing an image of a tree or thinking of the image of a tree would be the
representative of this mode. In the symbolic mode, the information remains stored in the form of
a symbol or a code like language (Bruce, 2004). Each of the symbol has a fixed relation to
something in particular. For example, the symbol of tree is represented as the symbol of greenery
in the child or the representation of water becomes the symbol of liquid. These are the three
modes that helps us to interpret how the children represents their experiences through these
modes.
Creativity and the representations are important for the cognitive development of an
individual. Creative and imaginative experience helps to promote an understanding of the
communication, verbal, non-verbal and also encourages possibility thinking and problem solving

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skills in the children (Fox and Schirrmacher 2014). It assists a child in the exploration of the
cultural issues, helps to promote self esteem, helps to increase physical skills in the child and
also enhances the way how a child defines the aesthetic beauty. For example, a child with proper
development of the creative skill is found to emphasize on the beauty of the nature or the beauty
of the colours such that the child is found to decorate his or her books or the room creatively the
use of colourful dolls. Hence, it is important that the educators and the parents understand the
importance of the creativity and representation in a child.
Concepts of multimodality
According to Bezemer and Kress (2015), a mode can be the defined as a culturally and
socially shaped resources for expressing or representing something. As argued by Bezemer and
Kress (2015) children use multiple modes and materials for making meanings and experience
less difficulty in moving between and across the modes (for example, watch a movie about the
dinosaurs, drawing a picture of one, cutting it out and using it as a prop in role playing).
Generally, the different types of modes used by children are writing, speech, music, image,
layout, drawing, colour, visual displays, gaze, gesture, posture, movement and the facial
expressions (Flewitt2012). Symbols are often used as modalities by the children to express their
ideas or perceptions. As per Bruner’s symbolic stage, the information in the children is stored in
the form of a code or the symbol such as language. Each of the symbols generally has a fixed
relation to something that it represents. Music can be used to improve the sensory modalities
among the children (Bretherton 2014). Audio-visual aids can be helpful in children who are
visual learners and might display their creativity in visual arts. It has been noticed that the babies
babble and enjoy engaging in the vocal play (Sadoski and Paivio 2013). Again, infants enjoy

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listening to the music and are sensitive to melodic intervals, alert to some of the properties of the
harmony and also demonstrate certain musical preferences.
In the 1 observation, that have tried to explore, how the focus child had used symbolic
representation. It can be seen that Holly had been imitating a wooden block as cell phone and the
elevated ridge s as the numbers and is using them to dial numbers and call his father. Hence, here
wooden block is the symbolic representation of a cell phone. With regards to symbolic
representation, Piaget has argued that the realities might exist to the child and solely as what is
desired during the first stage of the development of the child, with the world of the play and the
world of observation.
In the observation 2, it can be seen that Holly was personifying her teddy and has
arranged a royal tea party. She also poured imaginary tea and sugar in the cup. Imaginary play
and creative play is the natural way for the children to learn about the world that does not involve
the whole body. Children play imaginatively and creatively in various different ways based on
several factors like the play environment, the toys provided (Moore 2017).
In the observation 3, it can Holly is displaying movement and the schematic behavior,
by lining her Barbie dolls for a sprint run together. This activity indicates towards the schematic
behavior of the child. Schemas are behaviors that that children might display when they are
exploring the world and are trying to find out the ways how things work. Moore(2017) have
stated that there are several strategies for extending the schema. "Connecting ", where children
might the join something to form tracks or setting them apart. Positioning is another sort of
schema development that can be seen in Holly as she was lining her Barbie dolls one after
another. Another common schema that can be seen in the child is creation of the shapes

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involving the lines or the circles, which can also be easily identified in case of Holly's activity;
she was creating lines in front of the Barbie dolls like that used in sprints. Trajectory is another
schema that is perceived in most of the children. It mostly involves dropping of the things
repeatedly, which can also be seen is Holly, as she was repeatedly dropping the things.
In observation 4, I evaluated the development of the linguistic skill and the
communication of the child under observation. Children and known to create vocal sounds and
then rearrange it through the auto-linguistic mode. The development of the language skills are is
a three step process. At first the children should hear the words repeatedly to become familiar
with the particular sounds. Then they should make an association between the familiar words and
what the words represents. According to the behaviourist theory, language is conditioned by the
environment to respond to certain stimuli with the help of language. According to Skinner, when
children speak the language of their parents they become more skilful and are rewarded.
Whereas the cognitive theory of the language development proposed by Jean Piaget has stated
that language is made up of symbols and structures.
Observation 5, displays the literacy skills of Holly, and shows that she is quite fluent
with the rhymes. Most of the children develop literacy skills, by hearing others speak and by
observing the communication process (Larson and Marsh 2014). It has been found that literacy
activities that are found to be effective in the improvement and the development of the literacy
skills involve shared reading, selection of the appropriate books, use of the appropriate reading
styles, recitation of the nursery rhymes, singing of the songs and using a variety of interactive
literary games. Holly’s habit of reading nursery rhymes in the preoperational period of a child.
Reading nursery rhymes and recalling previous experiences can be brought under iconic mode.

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Then third step is the practice, where children should need the opportunity to practice
alone for the self-evaluation, make corrections and enhance their skill independently. It is
evident from observation 5, that Holly, had been trying proactively to read her rhymes alone,
without seeking help from any other person.
Observation 6 represented mark making by Holly. Researchers have stated, that mark
making is crucial for the development of a child including physical development, creative
representation, brain and language development. Within an active play based learning
environment; the children will have several ways for representing their feelings and the thoughts.
When the children realize that marks can be used to carry, meanings symbolically, they would
begin to use marks. However, mark making develops concepts of suitable distances, sizes among
children.
It is evident from both observations 3, that Holly displayed enactive mode that is the
visual representation of the images. The child is considering the doll as the sprinters and is trying
to make them run. In most of the observation Holly had demonstrated symbolic representation.
She is in the stage where most of the information is stored in the form the symbol or the images.
Children use their imaginations for creating or pretending they make believe scenarios. In
context of this Piaget had said that the illustration of a child mirrors the cognitive skill of a child.
According to Lev Vygotsky, creativity in children arises from their activity that produces
something new (Moll 2013). Vygotsky believed that the creative process is interconnected to
both the lived and imagined experience and is situated within the child’s play. In agreement to
this Sadoski and Paivio (2013) have stated that pretend play compels the child to construct and
reconstruct the past experiences, which in turn facilitates the development of divergent thinking,
which is an important aspect of cognitive development in the child. Although divergent thinking

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is not a symptom of creativity, but it certainly plays an important part in the development of
creativity in children. Literature over time had supported the fact that that divergent thinking is
an important cognitive process that is related to pretend play and the fantasizing the world.
In the iconic mode, the information is stored visually in the form of images. Although
this mode cannot be found in any of the activities of Holly, but is common in many children
between 1-6 years. Traditionally children keep the images in their mind by using picture books,
photographs, interest tables. For example, after a child have visited the pond for collecting frog
spawn, the interest table might be completed with photographs of the events.
The symbolic mode happens when the information are stored in the form of the symbol or
language. This can be considered as the most adaptable form of representation and the actions
and the images have a fixed relation to what they represent. Bruce, (2012) has mentioned that
children as a player relates her knowledge of the play or the game to a reality. As mentioned by
Cecchin (2013)Gregory Bateson’s theory of play and fantasy connects the communication to
play and identifies that the signals are adapted in the play and points out that the signals are
adapted in the play to reveal the information regarding whether the action is imagery or real. A
symbolic representation and imitation in Holly might be due to the preexisting schema of a
telephone that actually she or her mother uses to contact his father. According to Piaget, the
representation process develop quickly from the toddlers’ time upto the beginning of the
statutory schooling that is around the age of six to seven. Unlike Brunner Piaget had confirmed,
that the growth of the children acts in a network like process (Bretherton 2014).

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A critique of how contexts and relationships support the young child
My child care setting provides ample opportunities and services to the child in order to
ensure a physical and cognitive development of a child. The caregivers and the educators have
experiences dealing with children with proper certificates. It is ensured, that a collaborative
partnership is done with the families and the communities to ensure activities that are culturally
sensitive age appropriate. Family participation in early childhood setting is an important aspect
that needs to be followed. The setting ensures that families participate in childcare activities
along with the children. Children are allowed for both indoor and outdoor activities. Lots of
equipment are provided to assist the children explore their creative sides. The classroom and the
teaching conducted are based on the Reggio Emilia approach that values each and every child as
strong, resilient and capable. It has to be remembered that each child brings potential and
curiosity and this innate curiosity motivates them to understand their world and flourish within it
(Cecchin 2013). The educators develop special bonds with children who allow them to express
about their thoughts, feelings and the ideas. It is made sure that the basic rights of the children
are maintained, such giving autonomy to the children in play activities, eating and toileting
activities, ensuring privacy and confidentiality. In my child care center I have noticed that
children feel more relaxed, when they interact with the educators, who are familiar to them and
their families are also able to trust the key person more as the needs are being met. As per the
EYFS guidelines, the role of the educator is to modify the environment of the child care service
according to the needs of child, to understand the nursery ambience and develop a trustworthy
relationship with the child.
It is ensured that the children are absolutely comfortable with the staff and the ambience
of the early childcare setting. In order to maintain a constant contact with the educators and the

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parents, meetings and workshops are being conducted on a regular basis. It has been found that
parental involvement in early childhood learning enables children to learn better. The parental
involvement helps to extend the teaching outside the classroom and helps to create a more
positive experience for the children. We are trying to the make this institute accessible to all,
those promoting equality in terms of education. The friendly group of the educators and the
caregivers helps the children to adapt more quickly to the environment. The curriculum and the
activities are selected as per the age and according to the EYFS framework. According to
Vygotsky, the curriculum and the activities chosen has to be developmentally appropriate for the
children in order to make the connectedness between child and the real world (Gillen and Hall
2013). The activities must be planned such that it encompasses not only what the children are
capable of doing on their own, but also what they can understand with the help of others.
Instructions has to be planned to provide practice in the zone of proximal development (Moll
2013). The centre provides child-centered education and care and ensures that all the grievances
of the child are met. One of the important aspect of this setting that the curriculum followed and
classroom supports inclusive education, thus expanding the hands of help for children with the
special needs (Au 2013). Developing an inclusive classroom not only assists the children with
disability but also helps to foster sense of responsibility in the ones without any special needs. In
this setting it is ensured that educator to children ratio is as per the EYFS guidelines. There are
provisions, where in some classed the toddlers are allowed to mix with the infants and also
access their toys. As obtained from EYFS guidelines, some of the child educational settings
chose to mix their reception classes with the infants in the nursery. Interesting STEM activities,
storytelling activities and role playing, ensured development of new schema and cognitive
learning (Bruce, 2004). Each of the children are given the right to express themselves and

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develop their physical and emotional development. According to Bruner, every child is able to
grasp complex information, if the ideas are channelized in a simple form. Initially the concept
should be made to understand in a simpler form followed by the complex concepts, as the child
grows.
Conclusion
Creativity and symbolic representation are important characteristics of young children. I
had observed how a child, named Holly represented her creative thinking skills by suitable
symbolic representation. In order to explore this, paper has explore some of the aspects like
literacy skills, language, skills, mark making, imaginative behaviors. All the observations have
been linked with early childhood theories that have helped me to understand how the
development process on a children occurs through various modes and social processes. The
observations focused on the development of different schema in the children evidences by the
activities. Furthermore, the paper also gave an account of how the environment of a childcare
setting influences the physical and the intellectual growth of a child.

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References
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Bruce, T. 2004. Developing Learning in Early Childhood. Paul Chapman Publishing: London.
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Bruce, T., 2012. Early childhood education. Hachette UK.
Callaghan, T. and Corbit, J., 2015. The development of symbolic representation. Cognitive
processes, 2, pp.250-295.
Cecchin, D., 2013. Pedagogical perspectives on play. In Children's Play and Development (pp.
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Gillen, J. and Hall, N., 2013. The emergence of early childhood literacy. The Sage handbook of
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