The Imaginative Child - Development of Creativity in Children

Sammanfattning: The constant flow of new products and information we are faced with today demands us to be prepared for rapid changes. To have creative skills becomes more and more important in multiple areas of our lives, from solving everyday problems to providing ideas and associational thinking at work. Some of our most important tools of creative thinking are collected at an early age, when we develop in relation to our surrounding conditions such as relationships, education, society and products. To give children the opportunity of evolving their creative skills is to give them essential tools for the future. Due to the structure of the school system, Swedish children does today have a larger possibility to develop their creative skills in their home environment, according to Eva Hoff (adjunct lector in psychology at Lund university). (1) The first years of school (starting at the age of 6) is often a big transformation in life. Although, this time is also very important for the individual development and can for some serve as a template for the next-coming years of education. During the first years of elementary school it’s important to provide children with a base for creative recreation and source of inspiration which is constant. “If children have the freedom to deciding what knowledge they want, and what to do with it, the creative ability is strengthened”. (2) Matti Bergström (professor in physics and researcher in brain science at Helsingfors university) Since the products and situations triggering a child’s imaginary creativity is individual and sometimes varied from day to day, it’s important to provide children the opportunity of choosing what things to interact with. To inform the user of what possessions and opportunities to activity that are available it’s also important to have them visually displayed. This due to children often forgetting about things in hidden drawers. The final result is a peepshow cabinet providing the child the possibility of storing his/her belongings is shelfs and boxes and offering visual display of both 2D and 3D belongings. The possibility is given to the child to interact with his/her possessions, rearrange them, but favourites in focus but also to bring them else where as boxes can easily be taken out and carried. The doors of the cabinet gives the child the choice to close of impressions. The perforations in the doors gives a glimpse of what’s inside and can inspire the child to open up for creative stimulation. The peepshow cabinet combines theese features in one furniture, providing the child a possibility of finding inspiration, privacy and access to belongings within the doors of his/her personal space. The expectation with this product is that the child shall find inspiration from his/her own products and projects to devleop new ideas, or to alter already existing ones. The goal is also to, with the design, give a feeling of personal space within the doors. A place where the child feels that he/she can close off the world around and go into his/her own world of products, ideas and inspiration. A personal creative get away and imaginary world hidden behind two doors. The main part of this project was made during spring 2012. It was finalized during spring 2017. 1.http://www.academia.edu/2154917/Hoff_E._2010_._Lekfulla_barn_ blir_kreativa_vuxna._Tvärsnitt_3_14-17 2.http://www.lararnasnyheter.se/pedagogiska-magasinet/2010/05/07/ kreativt-kaos