Allowing children to explore media and materials enables important
learning, but how can practitioners support children's creativity and
understanding? Nicole Weinstein explains.

EYFS: Exploring and using media and materials: children sing songs, make music and dance, and experiment with ways of changing them. They safely use and investigate a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function

Creative Development seemed to become a whole lot more complicated under the revised Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). First, there was the name change - to Expressive Arts and Design - which left practitioners feeling uncertain about what this actually meant. Then, as if it was not big enough already, Design and Technology was moved into this area of learning from Knowledge and Understanding of the World. The early learning goal 'Being creative' was removed to become a characteristic of effective learning - 'Creating and thinking critically'. And finally the goals for this area of learning were condensed into two aspects, adding little clarity in the process.

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