A Critique of The Giant Book of Creativity for Kids, a Book by Bobbi Conner

Introduction

The Giant Book of Creativity for Kids is a curriculum resource book for Early Childhood Educators written by Bobbi Conner. The book has various activities that encourage creativity in children aged two to twelve. Bobbi has a Bachelor of Fine Arts and was a radio host for the Parents Journal for twenty-four years. Bobbi’s books, articles, and programs have been featured nationwide throughout various forms of media. Although Bobbi has no specialized training or education in the field of Early Childhood Education, she is revered online as a “mother of three children who were raised with a hefty dose of creativity.” Bobbi is the author of other curriculum resource books such as Unplugged Play, The Book of Birthday Letters, Everyday Opportunities, and The Parents Journal to Raise Great Kids. Currently, Bobbi presents workshops and programs to educators, professionals, and parents across the United States of America on topics related to childhood creativity and the importance of unplugged play. The book is well-organized through the table of contents and begins with a section on the principles of childhood creativity.

A Critique of The Giant Book of Creativity for Kids, a Book by Bobbi Conner

Outlined is the importance of creativity and play to the learning process. The table of contents is further organized into three specific age groups: toddlers, preschool, and school age. Those categories are bolded and divided by chapter. Within those chapters are activities such as art, building, music, dance, dramatic, and cognitive activities. Activities are play-based and can be adapted to meet the needs of various interests and abilities. Each activity encourages learning through interactions with objects, people, and information, aligning with applied curriculum principles. The index is also a useful tool for navigating the book, allowing activities to be found by searching alphabetically. In examining the index, it is evident that the activities are play-based. Some play-based curriculum content that can be found in the index includes the Carlton dance, charades, and a woodworking project (Conner, 2015, p. 364). The book also includes a resource page that is divided into the following sections: arts and crafts, building/construction, music, and pretend/theatrics. Each section includes materials that may be needed for each of the activities and websites that Early Childhood Educators can use to purchase these materials. The Giant Book of Creativity for Kids is published by Roost Book Publishing, which is an imprint of Shambhala Publications, and is distributed by Penguin Random House, a nationwide American publishing company formed in 2013. Penguin Random House was created from the merger of Random House and Penguin Group. Roost Book Publishing is an independent family-owned publisher that has been making books for five decades. Their books inspire people and focus on cooking, creativity, family, and nature. Roost Book Publishing has a variety of other books that can be used as educational resources, such as Playful Learning, Tinkerlab, and Made to Play.

Reason for Selection

I chose this curriculum book for various reasons. A primary reason for my selection was that the activities are clearly laid out. Each activity in this book is divided into three main sections: target goal, a clear list of materials in point form, followed by a list of clear and simple instructions. As a beginning Early Childhood Educator, I believe that it is very likely to get overwhelmed when it comes to carrying out activities. With this book, I feel that an Early Childhood Educator can easily find all they need to know to execute the activity successfully. I extremely appreciate that all the activities in this book are child-centered and developmentally appropriate based on the child’s ability and interest. I believe that it is crucial for activities to be developmentally appropriate and child-centered. With child-centered activities, the child learns how to properly express feelings and thoughts, develop social skills, expand creativity, and develop crucial skills needed in life. The activities in this book help keep children actively engaged, provide emotional release, mastery of resolution, and are process-oriented rather than product-oriented, aligning with applied curriculum standards.

Selected Activities

From this curriculum resource book, I chose the following two activities. The silly-song musical theatre intended for preschool-kindergarten children is the first activity. For this activity, the children will dress up using the costumes provided in the early childcare setting, where the child will sing and dance to a silly song. This activity will facilitate movement, communication, and social interaction, which is part of a play-based curriculum. The skill being practiced through this activity is Physical 5.4 Auditory Skills and Music. The children will be practicing this skill during this activity when they show enjoyment when listening to the music. While the silly song is playing, children will become excited and happy when hearing the funny beat, sounds, or lyrics. For my second activity, I chose the Paper-Mache Masks activity intended for school-aged children. This activity will facilitate the choice of autonomy. The child has the freedom to choose what their paper-mache masks will look like. The child will also learn through various interactions with the materials. In this activity, the children will help the adult create the mixture needed to make the paper-mache using cold water, flour, sugar, and hot water. This promotes physical knowledge by giving opportunities for the child’s actions to result in knowledge of the properties, such as form and texture. After making the goop, the children will cut the newspaper into thin strips. The children will then blow a balloon, dip the newspaper into the mixture, and begin placing the newspaper strips onto the balloon. The creative process is child-centered. Once dried, the children will cut the paper-mache balloon in half with the assistance of an adult. The child will have two masks and can freely choose how they want their masks to look. The skill being practiced in this activity is Cognition 4.2 Problem Solving, as the children will plan to achieve a goal. The overall goal is to create a mask, so by following the instructions and steps, the child will accomplish the overall goal and have two masks to decorate with freely chosen materials, such as paint and pom-poms.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this curriculum resource book is user-friendly, and I strongly believe that it can be helpful for Early Childhood Educators to transition into their roles confidently. The physical layout of this book is clear and concise. The activities are child-centered and inclusive of play-based curriculum criteria. The developmental appropriateness of the activities is also noteworthy. I would recommend this book because it has helped me in my professional development.

References

Conner, B. (2015). The Giant Book of Creativity for Kids. Roost Book Publishing.

Applied Curriculum standards referenced throughout the essay.