Creative preschoolers twelve years after

The article discusses the topic of children’s creativity and its research presented in the book Creative Action in Preschool Children (Kubicka, 2003). The book describes the projective method of measuring creative strategies in symbolic-constructive play. In a 1997 sample, 120 children aged 3 to 6 were tested. 12 years later a second version of the method was worked out, and a group of 18 of both the most and the least creative of the original sample was tested again. The pupils were also interviewed for all facts and questions important for the development of creativity both at preschool age and in adolescence. The results show many determinants of the prognostic value of the proposed method and warn against making conclusions about child’s creativity on the basis of simple paper and pencil tests. At the same time the fi ndings suggest the need for more dynamic complex developmental approach to diagnosis of creativity in children in order to uncover the mechanisms of self-development of these functions.

Creative preschoolers twelve years after

The article discusses the topic of children’s creativity and its research presented in the book Creative Action in Preschool Children (Kubicka, 2003). The book describes the projective method of measuring creative strategies in symbolic-constructive play. In a 1997 sample, 120 children aged 3 to 6 were tested. 12 years later a second version of the method was worked out, and a group of 18 of both the most and the least creative of the original sample was tested again. The pupils were also interviewed for all facts and questions important for the development of creativity both at preschool age and in adolescence. The results show many determinants of the prognostic value of the proposed method and warn against making conclusions about child’s creativity on the basis of simple paper and pencil tests. At the same time the fi ndings suggest the need for more dynamic complex developmental approach to diagnosis of creativity in children in order to uncover the mechanisms of self-development of these functions.