ABSTRACT
Children’s mark-making, drawing, painting and 2-and 3-dimensional representation are sometimes considered as aspects of ‘creative development’ (DfEE 2000), along with other areas such as movement, dance and music. I am mindful that all of these other areas deserve attention, but feel that this is best done by others with much more expertise than mine (see, for example, Pound 2003, Storr 1993, Trevarthen 2002 for musical thinking). The focus in this chapter is on the ways in which children use visual representation both as a tool for making sense and meaning, and as a way of communicating. Young children’s creativity is a very important part of this, but it is also a part of every other aspect of their lives, not confined to particular subjects. The National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education (NACCCE) define creativity as ‘imaginative activity fashioned so as to produce outcomes that are both original and of value’ (1999:29). In keeping with this definition, creativity and creative thinking is looked at in more detail in the following chapter and should be read as including all areas of young children’s experience.
