Promoting creativity in early childhood education

When Table 3 is studied, it is observed that preschool teachers participating in the study men- tioned the following categories on the prominence of creativity and creative thinking in the preschool stage: a) The relationship between imagination and creativity enables the child to express her/ his thoughts b) It enables the child to gain communicative skills c) It develops the child’s problem-solving skills d) It enables the child to create cause- effect relationships e) It enhances the child’s curiosity and the wish to discover f) Contributes to scientific research g) Enables the child to develop a different point of view h) It provides hands-on learning to the child It may be said that the categories least mentioned by the teachers are that it makes each child feel special, it enables self-realization, and it contributes to the social skills development of the child. A general evaluation on subthemes of the first theme When the opinions of preschool teachers on the theme ‘the prominence of creativity and crea- tive thinking’, are studied it is observed that teachers believe that creativity and creative think- ing develop the most when children use their imagination and the power of thought, and that the preschool stage was a very important stage for developing these skills as their imagination is at its peak during the preschool stage. When the teachers were stating their opinions on the prominence of creativity and creative thinking during the preschool stage, they focused on the

fact that it would help children to express their emotions and thoughts, and help them in gain- ing communicative skills. They have also stated that the problem-solving skills of children would develop, and that they could understand cause- effect relationships between events in this way. Examples for the teachers’ opinions on the first theme and its subthemes are pre- sented as follows: Table 3. The teachers’ thoughts on creativity and the prominence of creative thinking in the preschool stage. Theme 1: Awareness on Creativity Subthemes for Theme 1 Supporting imagination The skill to express emotions and thoughts Problem solving Vocabulary Feeling special Self-realization Curiosity and Discovery Looking at events with a different view Effective Learning Support for Social Skills https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0294915.t003 PLOS ONE Creativity in early childhood PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0294915 December 6, 2023 8 / 21