Cultivating Creativity: Leveraging Process Art + Play to Prioritize Agency, Flow and Belonging, by Shannon Merenstein, Bar Rucci and Dahlia Rao

Sponsored by ChildCare Education Institute

As early childhood educators, we all know that play-based, open-ended experiences in preschool set the stage for literacy, strengthen vocabulary, and engage the brain in higher-level thinking, like asking questions, generating ideas, and problem-solving. Most of all, programs in which children feel safe to explore and have agency over their choices are joyful environments where the children and adults build imagination, flexible thinking, and confidence. This webinar is ALL about bolstering creativity through process art and play. Whether your classroom or program is already a joyful mecca of creativity, or you need a boost to shift from more teacher-directed or guided art-making experiences to child-initiated experiences, this webinar is for you.

In this inspiring presentation, Shannon Merenstein and Bar Rucci, co-founders of The Creativity Project, and Dahlia Rao, Director of Hatch Partners in Play, will show you exactly how to move along the continuum to open-ended art and play experiences that truly nurture creativity, belonging, agency, and flow. You will learn the incredible benefits of open-ended material exploration and how tapping into your own creativity and joy can help you and learners see the incredible possibilities of everyday materials, not special art supplies or play materials. This webinar will explore how simple shifts in how we think about materials, the environment, and the learners can contribute to a classroom of children in flow, expressing and exploring, teaching each other, and learning joyfully. You will learn three specific invitations and environmental changes you can make tomorrow to promote problem-solving, creative confidence, and wonder in the classroom. These extraordinary presenters will also provide key tips for seeing and documenting the incredibly meaningful learning in these open-ended art and play experiences.

You will leave this webinar with a free printable that communicates to families and other stakeholders the critical need for time and space for open-ended art and play and the impact these experiences have on whole child development. You will also receive a Playbook to jumpstart or reignite this practice immediately!

In this presentation, you will:

• Reflect on your practice in inviting and supporting open-ended art and play.

• Understand the differences between guided/directed art and play and experiences that prioritize choice and agency.

• Recognize the benefits of process art and play for the whole child.

• Plan for an open-ended experience with everyday materials in your classroom.

• Embrace a flexible mindset and belief that children are capable and full of creative potential