Creative play helps children flourish as confident, resilient and happy individuals and it is vital for child development.

And a new resource from the Care Inspectorate, Scotland’s social care scrutiny and improvement body, aims to encourage all care services that work with children to unleash their creative potential.

Our Creative Journey is a resource exploring and sharing good practice examples from across Scotland of how expressive arts benefit children

The resource has been developed on a collaborative basis with a number of partner organisations, who worked with practitioners to tell their own stories, with individual children and parents involved. Examples include art, drama, pretend play, music and song, model making, loose-parts play, storytelling and dance. Our Creative Journey brings to life how taking part in expressive arts can transform children’s experiences. 

Minister for Childcare and Early Years Maree Todd said: “We all know that children learn key skills through creative activities such as story-telling, drawing, outdoor play, music and drama. And it is important that everyone working with children feels confident and inspired to deliver these activities. This guide will help achieve that and I am delighted to be launching it today.

“The more we do to support children to get the broadest possible experiences in their early years, the better the start they get in life. We can do this by giving children the chance to play, to paint, to pretend, to develop their talents, their imaginations and their potential as part of their early learning offer, when at home with their families, or in their communities.” 

Karen Reid, chief executive of the Care Inspectorate said: “Seeing children and young people play creatively inspires us all.

“By highlighting good practice, we want to be a positive catalyst for change and improve the impact that all early learning and childcare services have on outcomes for children.

“Creative play helps children flourish as confident, resilient and happy individuals and it is vital for child development. Creativity is a key ingredient for children to learn how to follow their curiosity, solve problems and make sense of the world.

“And we want to support all care services to embrace creativity in all aspects of care.”

The resource is primarily aimed at practitioners but it will also be of interest to parents/carers and anyone looking after or working with children or young people, including statutory social work and education, voluntary sector support services and activity-based provision.