Abstract:

In this paper an attempt is made to answer the question how creative thinking influences the development and learning in pre-school children.

A project has been realized in a private kindergarten and a research has been made through which a positive effect was noted in the application of creative thinking and learning in preschool children.

By using the creative thinking as a methodology that provides a solution-based approach to problem-solving, many ideas are created in brainstorming sessions. It is an interactive and dynamic approach to solving problems that encourages children and educators to develop imagination and creativity.

The initiative for this scholarly work is derived from the preschool children, who wished to materialize their creative ideas. From their everyday games and the representation of certain topics during their stay in kindergarten, through an idea that expressed their visions, they gave a design to this creative challenge and several prototypes of the transformer were made and were tested. They connected all kinds of traffic into one, respectively they developed a 3D vehicle transformer that will travel around the world. During the research, the children integrated their previous knowledge and reconstructed it into a final version, which is a combination of advanced scientific and even engineering principles that include driving, sailing and flying of the transformer.

Through this approach of learning, children do not memorize the learning mechanically, but they cooperated, researched for and linked various information, and gave various solutions to the problem.

In addition to the children's creative prototypes, a 3D animation of the transformer was made, by which the children realized that their ideas can become reality and they get additional stimulation to participate in changing the environment and the world. The animation itself is a new challenge for both the children and the educators to design a transformer in a real - size as a masterpiece that is displayed in a car showroom. This type of activity is a motivation and encouragement for all children, parents and educators to apply this innovative approach to creative thinking and learning, whereby the entrepreneurial spirit will develop as a basis for further involvement in social life.

Keywords:

Early learning, preschool children, creative learning & thinking, innovation, design thinking.