Creative expression begins early in life. Babies are top-notch explorers who will experiment with toys, touch and taste everything within reach, discover their body parts and mastering their body movements. Toddlers love repetition and would still be giggling with enthusiasm even when they have heard the same fairy story the hundredth time. Preschoolers starts to draw recognizable pictures and can piece together simple puzzles and the kindergarten children starts to exert their independence on doing things for themselves and start to master the more advanced motor skills like throwing, catching, jumping and cycling. Select activities that encourage them to make decisions and develop their creative skills.

Children are creative on their own but when they are provided with appropriate kindergarten activities, their creative skills are further enhanced. Here are some creative 30 minutes craft activities which you can play with the children -

1. Magic Dots

Draw about 20 to 30 dots on a piece of paper. Challenge the child to imagine a picture and connect the dots to draw out the picture. This activity encourages the child to see things in different ways and artists are known to have this natural mental ability to see things in different ways.

2. Picture the Story

Read a 5-minute story like The Three Pigs and when finished ask the children to draw pictures about the story. This activity encourages imagination and fosters an interest in reading. You can create more of the same nature of kindergarten activities by reversing it, the child to draw any pictures and tell a story.

3. My Scrape book of Values

Select several values concepts like love, happiness and peace and discuss briefly what they mean to the children. Ask them to select one value and cut pictures from old magazines or newspapers which symbolize the value they have chosen and stick them on a cardboard. This activity helps in their social development where they learn what behavior is acceptable and expected in any environment. You can try many simple kindergarten activities which promote social development like challenging them to think of ways to recycle the newspapers.

4. My Yarn Picture

Choose simple themes like making a sunflower picture or a big tree. If the sunflower theme is chosen -

- draw out the sunflower on a piece of paper
- use a brush to sweep glue on the spot where you want to stick the yarn
- after it is finished, you can color it with water color.
This activity refines fine motor skills and is very fun and creative for the children.

All the above kindergarten activities encourage the children to express their own creativity, originality and individuality and are also open-ended activities that encourage discovery, exploration, experimentation and invention which are vital "ingredients" for child development.

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