Promoting creativity in early childhood education

mentioned by teachers were that they need to discover the inner world of the child, conducting attention and coding activities, and giving children some responsibilities in the family. A general evaluation of the subthemes of the second theme The suggestion most emphasized by teachers for promoting creativity in the preschool stage is the need for creating an environment that keeps the curiosity of the child active and enables the child to express herself/ himself. It was stated that a process in which children are asked open-ended questions that would make them think would contribute to promoting creative thinking in children. Teachers stated that activities which are not structured and ones which the child could shape using her/ his interest are more functional, and that they are an impor- tant factor that supports creativity. It may be said that especially manipulative materials enable children to think in different ways. The prominence of games, the fact that games open the doors to the inner world of children, that children may face different challenges and create authentic solutions through games are among the suggestions of teachers. The following state- ments of teachers draw attention in their suggestions for promoting creativity and creative thinking in children: • Creativity develops in environments in which the child can express herself/ himself with self- confidence and show her/ his curiosity (T1). • Children should be supported to express themselves by asking open-ended questions (T15).

• Open-ended questions, art, music, movement, and dance activities enhance creative expres- sion. They should be given opportunities to create their own stories by looking at illustra- tions in books. Children may create new objects using their imagination by using games such as puzzles and building blocks. Using play dough may be effective in gaining creative skills by creating the objects in their imagination (T1). • We may give them different materials and ask them to create new things, or we may give the same materials at different times and expect them to create different things each time (T3). Table 5. The teachers’ opinions on supporting the creativity and creative thoughts of children. Theme 2: Promoting Creativity Subthemes Creating suitable environments Creative environments and structured activities Theatre and drama Open-ended questions Different environments and activities Creating awareness Discovering your own potential Getting into the world of the child Solving problems together Giving responsibilities to children Promoting vocabulary Stereotyped attitude Respect to individual differences Gamification Promoting attention https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0294915.t005 PLOS ONE Creativity in early childhood PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0294915 December 6, 2023 11 / 21