Grasping the dynamics of creative play

In this article we give a brief overview of research findings presented in a recent paper 'Exploring the Pedagogic Culture of Creative Play' in Early Childhood Education available in the Journal of Early Childhood Research. The central focus of the journal article is on children’s creative play but from the perspective that the world is complex and cannot neatly be comparmentalised. From that perspective, we present an understanding about how the interlinking elements of a particular context shape how children’s creative play presents itself. We do not suggest that there is a typology or framework to follow which will result in children’s creativity. Rather we suggest that creativity is highly context specific and even small changes in the context will shift children’s creative experience. We say this from a positive stance because it provides opportunities for children’s creative expression to flourish in a multitude of different ways and provides practitioners opportunities to facilitate various aspects of creative play by considering the composition of the pedagogic culture.