Kindergarten science: Creative learning during the last year in kindergarten

Dijete je istraživaĉ od samoga roĊenja te od prvoga dana života teži otkriti stvari i pojave u svojoj okolini, njihovu meĊusobnu povezanost i njegov utjecaj na njih. U takvom je djetetovom ponašanju lako uoĉiti i njegovu potrebu za inventivnošću i kreativnošću. Unatoĉ razliĉitim definiranjima pojma kreativnosti, teorije prepoznaju istu bit, odnosno osobine kreativnosti. Kreativni pojedinac uočava, doživljava i kombinira stvari na nov, svjež, neuobiĉajen naĉin te kreativni pojedinac proizvodi nove, neuobiĉajene ideje i djela. Koliko su kreativnost i njezino poticanje važni u odgoju i obrazovanju predškolskog djeteta, vidljivo je u Nacionalnom kurikulumu ranog i predškolskog odgoja i obrazovanja (2014), ĉija naĉela poĉivaju na vjerovanjima da je svako dijete kreativno biće sa specifiĉnim stvaralaĉkim i izražajnim potencijalima te se kreativnost smatra sastavnicom cjelokupnog odgojno – obrazovnog procesa vrtića i utkana je u sve segmente kurikuluma. TakoĊer, jasno je da su kreativnost i igra meĊusobno povezani, jer igrom dijete pronalazi i iskazuje svoju originalnost, fluentnost, sposobnost preoblikovanja, analize, sinteze i povezivanja dijelova u cjelinu. Da bismo s djecom provodili bilo kakav oblik odgojno – obrazovnih aktivnosti, potrebno je razumjeti djetinjstvo kao razdoblje brzog i složenog razvoja kao i da utjecaji iz ranog djetinjstva utjeĉu na kasniji razvoj; a dijete kao jedinstveno i cjelovito biće sa svojim individualnim razvojnim karakteristikama. Nadalje, djeca najbolje uĉe u igri i uz istraživaĉke i druge aktivnosti koje su za njih svrhovite te se time osnažuje njihov samoorganizacijski, istraživaĉki i otkrivaĉki potencijal. Da bismo im to omogućili, potrebno je poslužiti cjelokupno, poticajno ljudsko i predmetno okruženje. Odnosno, pružiti im poticajne istraživaĉko – spoznajne predmete i aktivnosti koje potiĉu istraživanje i razvoj djeĉjeg znanja, promišljanja i iskustva o pojedinim stvarima i pojavama u njihovom okruženju.A child is a researcher from birth and from the first day of life strives to discover things and phenomena in his environment, their interconnectedness and its impact on them. It is easy to notice the child's need for inventiveness and creativity in such behavior. Despite different definitions of the concept of creativity, theories recognize the same essence, or characteristics of creativity. The creative individual notices, experiences and combines things in a new, fresh, unusual way, and the creative individual produces new, unusual ideas and actions. The importance of creativity and its encouragement in the upbringing and education of preschool children is evident in the National Curriculum of Early and Preschool Education (2014), whose principles are based on the belief that every child is a creative being with specific creative and expressive potential, a component of the entire educational process of the kindergarten and is woven into all segments of the curriculum. In addition, it is clear that creativity and play are interrelated, because through play the child finds and expresses his originality, fluency, ability to reshape, analyze, synthesize and connect the parts as a whole. In order to carry out any form of educational activities with children, it is necessary to understand childhood as a period of rapid and complex development, as well as that the influences from early childhood affect later development; and the child as a unique and complete being with its own individual developmental characteristics. Furthermore, children learn best in play and with research and other activities that are purposeful for them, thus strengthening their self-organizing, research and discovery potential. To enable them to do so, it is necessary to serve them the entire, stimulating human and subject environment. That is, to provide them with stimulating research - cognitive subjects and activities that encourage research and development of children's knowledge, thoughts and experiences about certain things and phenomena in their environment