Imaginary Leaps: Children in the lead

Children in the lead

The Early Years artist focuses specifically on children being the drivers of the programme rather than the adults. Only too often, in children’s arts education, the elements used are based on what the artists think the children might like to experience or be entertained with. Imaginary Leaps aims to engage the children in a participatory exploration of which themes, objects, elements and sensory materials they themselves choose to experience and participate in.

This approach gives valuable insights into potentially effective experiential learning approaches for the artist or Early Years provider to use in planning activities, thus allowing the children to lead in the project, rather than solely the adult. This happens in a way that both encourages longer term sustainable ways for early arts learning and champions very young children, increasing the creative works available for them to enjoy.

Working with an object of stimulation and inspiration, there unfolds a process of very simple play with the children with potentially complex outcomes. There is an empathy from the artist, together with the children, to see how they experience the world. It is a transformation from normal, even banal, subjects to something extraordinary, a flowing transformation, this means to give symbolic meaning to an everyday subject or situation, to create something else, something extraordinary. Appropriate resources are key to the effectiveness of the programme for they can create clear visual links to the illustrations, sparking engagement and holistic learning. Many everyday materials and objects can be used for roleplay, storytelling and making activities to facilitate an active learning environment.

The aim of Imaginary Leaps is to support and develop children and parent’s imagination, to be participant and audience for this unique process of learning. The idea is to create “stories” together, and open the door into one’s world of imagination for the start for an extraordinary learning journey. These rich experiences are an affirmation for the child in their ability to communicate with other children and other people, which increases self esteem and confidence. The process brings the human basic feeling of oneself, a feeling of one’s unique value, coming from deeply inner fields of their own personality, not from external incentives or awards. As adults, if we allow ourselves to play in a childlike way, we dive into a deep world, in which we can learn as children do in a deep state of play. We don’t know what will happen. This is a good place to be, and can lead to further creative processes to be investigated.

Imaginary Leaps is an international working practice methodology with a creative open learning process, child-led, with active learning, often innovating original theatrical material through play with young children (under 5s). The sessions explore materials and objects, with music and movement, to stimulate imaginative play, engaging the children as participants and audience in a process of creating characters, stories and mini-worlds.