Creative Play
How do you engage kids in problem-solving activities? Creativity is a way to open the mind and allow children to learn in a way that does not involve a screen. In this day in age, it has become harder to engage children with ways to problem-solve as well as develop foundational skills that will help them in the future.
By: Lauren Wuthrich
THE GAP
When Maria Montessori, a physician from Italy. realized the gap between children and their own way of learning. She began to create teaching methods that quickly spread to the United States.
An area and idea of the first look into a classroom. This is a creative area made for kids to do activities.
The Growth of An Idea
People say that Maria Montessori was ahead of her time and saw the future and what it desperately needed. Montessori schools have excelled throughout the US and are open for children to come into a room and be curious and learn how to love learning. Wabash has the privilege to have one of these schools located almost right in the middle of town.
Montessori School of Wabash is a beautiful building right in town with areas for classrooms and outside activity areas.
“Our care of the child should be governed, not by the desire to make him learn things, but by the endeavor always to keep burning within him that light which is called intelligence.” – Dr. Maria Montessori
The Montessori School at WPC
Montessori School at WPC
In this building in Wabash, kids are encouraged to sit on the rug and move around throughout the day. You do not see your average classroom setting with rows of desks or raising of hands. Throughout the day, children from ages 18 months to 9 years old can cycle through different stations, getting to have the creative time of learning and also just having fun. Kids will go outside for a portion of the time to grow in skills such as observation, and they will also work inside the classroom for the majority of the time, focusing on problem-solving and gaining some of their own independence.
Children engage in different rotating activities.
The Struggles of Creative Learning in the Day and Age We Live In
Dr. John A. McCracken talks about the struggles creative play hit when faced in this day and age as well as when Montessori schools began to grow. Accessibility to materials, ways to get people to try it out, and finding ways to make the school a fit for a majority of children were all struggles that Montessori has faced.
The Excel
Since they have started to create ways in this new day and age to still find fun ways to learn and grow in the classroom, children are still enjoying Montessori Schools. People get on waiting list to get their kids in and to have them thrive in this classroom setting.
Here is a little girl from the Montessori School who is excelling through the program since she has started. She was excited to share what she likes to do at school. She mentions puzzles, brain breaks, and bingo. All these activities are used in a way to make them get creative and grow.
What's Next
Montessori continues to grow throughout the United States and will work to gain popularity as the next coming of age grows. As for creative play in this society, it will continue to change with the times. I find that it is up to the next generations to lean into it and continue to engage with it.
John McCracken shares on the importance of imagination that comes from creative play as well as how children thrive in that.
Outdoor area where kids are encouraged to play at Montessori.
