Cultivating Creativity at NPCC

Made in the image of God, the Creator, the children at NPCC are encouraged to cultivate their own creativity. An act of self-expression and growth, creativity helps children express their thoughts and feelings, and provides them with the opportunity to test new ideas, explore ways of thinking, and solve problems. At NPCC, we are working to create a culture that values the uniqueness of each individual, one that cultivates creativity in a way that classrooms focused on conformity fall short.

Here are several ways that we foster creativity in the children at NPCC:

• We provide them with objects full of potential and possibility – the world is full of invitations to create, from more traditional toys like Lincoln Logs and Legos, to less traditional ones such as scrap wood and spare tires.

• We allow them the time and autonomy to explore – We build unstructured time, which we refer to as free play, into our daily schedule. As adults, we are sometimes tempted to think of free time as wasted time, but we want our children to practice and value the gift of having time to be, not just to do.

• We praise the process over the product – Instead of focusing on the end result, we emphasize the journey.  Since creativity is an integral part of our curriculum, the accomplishment lies in the process of trying something new or thinking about something differently, not in the way it turns out.

• We embrace the mess – Certainly, this is an easier task to accomplish at a child care program than in a living room. Whether on a practical or metaphorical level, the process of growing and creating can be messy for all of us. We want our children to feel safe taking the risk of making a mess or a mistake, knowing that messes can be cleaned up and will be forgotten while the joy of learning and creating will be remembered and celebrated.

Cultivating creativity in children is an important part of preparing them for a life that supports rich relationships, enables valued contributions at work, and reinforces a meaningful spiritual life.