Promoting creativity in early childhood education

g) Enabling children to express themselves through drama and game activities h) Using science and math activities i) Making use of out- of- class activities j) Observing children during play and while they are not playing k) Motivating children to carry out activities with their families in the home A general evaluation of the subthemes for the third theme Teachers have emphasized that acting according to standard practices for in-class and out-of- class activities for promoting creativity hinders creative thinking, and that it is necessary to conduct activities with which the children can reflect their individual performance to the max- imum, either during in-class or out-of- class activities. Teachers mentioned the prominence of trips and observation in out-of- class activities and stated that it would be useful to talk to the children about the activities following practice. They stated that using techniques such as scamper, brainstorming, dramatization that attract the attention of children and enable them to think in a different way in in-class activities should be used. Examples for the teachers’ state- ments for the third theme and its subthemes are as follows: • Asking children for their opinions, asking open-ended questions, creating a model, praising creative thinking. Organising out-of- school trips and observations, and later chatting to the students about what they have seen and learnt (T8). • I would encourage them to express themselves by asking open-ended questions during in- class activities and out-of- school activities (T2).

• I would make them create products using their creativity by using natural materials such as fabric, pinecones and twigs during art activities (T15). • During classes I use techniques such as games, drama, scamper, and brainstorming (T8). • I introduced them to activities that would motivate them to do research and create what they think. (STEM activities, coding, algorithm, recycling, ecology and nature activities, the Young Inventor and his Inventions, drama and the Orff approach, audio stories, games, scamper activities etc.) (T16). • We frequently make use of experiments and maths activities (T1). • Patterns with buttons of different sizes, measuring the length of objects, finding pairs, order- ing, making comparisons. Science and nature studies in the garden, creating appropriate environments for them to study and discover stones and leaves (T10). • They should be allowed to act freely and flexibly in the classroom without being dependent on a model, with the guidance of the teacher (T7). • Preparing comprehensive activity plans that enhance creativity instead of steoretype activi- ties (T17). • Families should accept that each child in the family is an individual, determine targets paral- lel to the interests and talents of their children. In addition, they may cooperate with teachers to conduct activities that reinforce the school program and that are related to real life. These PLOS ONE Creativity in early childhood PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0294915 December 6, 2023 14 / 21