How Playgroups Nurture Creative Play in the Early Years

Creative play is at the heart of how young children learn, connect, and make sense of their world. Early learning opportunities grounded in creativity empower children to explore, imagine and develop confidence across all early years learning developmental domains. Research consistently shows that creative play is essential for healthy childhood development and long-term learning outcomes.

But, What is Creative Play?

Creative play refers to any open-ended activity that allows children to express their ideas, experiment, problem-solve, and follow their own curiosity. This can include drawing, painting, storytelling, dramatic play, building, music, and movement. It is child-led, imaginative, and free from rigid rules or expected outcomes. Creative play can help children express emotions, develop identity, and explore concepts such as shapes, colour, space, and experimentation through arts and crafts.

Creative Play in Playgroups: Everyday Learning Opportunities

Playgroups are uniquely positioned to offer rich creative play learning opportunities that support children’s development while strengthening family and community connections.

Benefits of Creative Play at Playgroup

Playgroups naturally offer:

• shared spaces and materials for open‑ended exploration
• collaborative play experiences that support social development
• opportunities for parents to observe, join in, and extend play at home
• environments aligned with principles of child‑led learning and parent-child connection in various environments

Research on play-based learning emphasises the role of sustained time, engaging materials, and environments that promote curiosity all have a positive impact on a child's early learning journey.

Creative Play Ideas for Children in The Early Years

Drawing Invitations

For Ages: 12 months – 5 years
Materials: Large paper rolls or other recycled paper items, chunky crayons, pencils, washable markers
Ideas:

• Tape large sheets to the floor or wall for full‑body drawing movements.
• Offer prompts such as “Draw your favourite sound” or “What does the wind look like?” to spark imagination. If your child need some inspiration, you could look at some picture books together and then re-interpret the pictures in your own way or go for a nature walk to collect some items to draw.
• Try textured drawing surfaces (cardboard, sandpaper, fabric) to promote sensory exploration.

Drawing allows children to express thoughts and emotions before they have the language for them, supporting cognitive and emotional development through open‑ended exploration.

Painting Explorations

For Ages: 18 months – 5 years
Materials: Paints, brushes, sponges, natural objects (leaves, sticks), spray bottles
Ideas:

• Messy painting: Use hands, feet, or objects dipped in paint to enjoy sensory-rich learning.
• Nature printing: Collect leaves and sticks during outdoor play and use them to stamp patterns.
• Colour mixing trays: Offer small amounts of primary colours and encourage children to discover new shades independently.

Painting stimulates cognitive growth through experimentation and supports fine motor development and emotional expression.

Storytelling and Books as Play

For Ages: 0–5 years
Materials: Picture books, puppets, soft toys, story stones, felt boards
Ideas:

• Story baskets: Pair a favourite book with themed objects children can explore as the story is read.
• Story stones: Paint simple symbols (sun, tree, person) on stones and invite children to create their own stories.
• Family storytelling: Encourage children to “tell” a story using dramatic gestures or by arranging objects.

Storytelling builds language, communication, imagination, and emotional regulation as children make meaning through narrative.

Dramatic Play

For Ages: 2–5 years
Materials: Dress‑ups, scarves, kitchen play items, recycled boxes, toy phones
Ideas:

• Home corner: Encourage children to take familiar roles (parent, baby, shopkeeper) and build social skills.
• Community helpers play: Provide props for doctors, firefighters, or teachers.
• Box worlds: Large boxes become cars, rockets, shops, or puppet theatres.

Dramatic play strengthens social‑emotional development, communication, creative thinking, and problem‑solving through role exploration.

Building and Construction Creativity

For Ages: 18 months – 5 years
Materials: Blocks, wooden planks, cardboard tubes, recycled materials, natural loose parts
Ideas:

• Block challenges: Invite children to “build something taller than you,” “create a home for an animal,” or “make a bridge.”
• Loose‑parts play: Offer open‑ended materials (bottle tops, natural items, boxes) to inspire innovation.
• Collaborative builds: Support children working together to design towns, farms, or imaginary landscapes.

Building nurtures spatial awareness, problem‑solving, early STEM skills, and collaborative learning.

Music and Sound Play

For Ages: 0–5 years
Materials: Homemade shakers, drums, scarves, wooden spoons, pots and pans
Ideas:

• Sound exploration: Let infants shake rattles and explore pitch, rhythm, and tone.
• Movement to music: Play a variety of genres and encourage children to respond with body movements. Pop on our Sing&Grow album which is perfect for little bodies to move to and based on the expertise and skills of our Registered Music Therapists.
• Instrument‑making: Create shakers from bottles and drums from tubs for children to decorate and play.

Music supports sensory, emotional, and language development, while promoting rhythm, memory, and motor coordination.

Movement and Dance

For Ages: 0–5 years
Materials: Scarves, ribbons, cushions, mats, hoops

Ideas:

• Free dance: Encourage children to move freely to fast, slow, loud, and soft music. Check out the Sing&Grow album.
• Obstacle paths: Use cushions and hoops to create safe, imaginative movement trails.
• Ribbon dancing: Let children explore movement through swirling, twirling, and stretching.

Movement play supports gross motor development, expressive communication, and emotional wellbeing.

Creative play is a foundation of early learning. It nurtures the whole child, cognitively, socially, emotionally, and physically, while supporting exploration, resilience, and connection both with themselves and the world around them. In playgroups and early childhood settings, creative play learning opportunities foster strong developmental foundations and meaningful connections with family and community.

For more creative play ideas, Play Matters members can access hundreds of learning activity sheets and videos in one handy location. Membership is free and opens the wonderful world of playgroups – whether they are Play Matters facilitated, affiliated, school-based, community or organisational.

Check out the postcode finder to find your next creative play experience.

References:

• Queensland Department of Education. Age-Appropriate Pedagogies: Play-Based Learning. Accessed January 27, 2026. https://earlychildhood.qld.gov.au/newsResources/Documents/age-appropriate-pedagogies-play-based-learning.PDF
• Album: Let’s Sing&Grow. Accessed January 27, 2026. https://open.spotify.com/album/5H5hsA4rcbT4VbMMpX9IKa
• Aspire Early Education & Kindergarten. The Role of Creativity in Early Childhood Education. Accessed January 27, 2026. https://www.aspireearlyeducation.vic.edu.au/resources/the-role-of-creativity-in-early-childhood-education/
• Aussie Childcare Network. Play Principles. Accessed January 27, 2026. https://aussiechildcarenetwork.com.au/articles/childcare-articles/play-principles
• Creative Learning & Play. Creative Learning – Reggio Emilia Approach Booklet. Accessed January 27, 2026. https://www.creativelearningandplay.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/CreativeLearning-Reggio-Booklet-15-Aug-18.pdf
• Thompson J, Pearce N. A Toolbox for Engaging Children in Play and Creativity for Learning Across the Domains. ERIC. Accessed January 27, 2026. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1340669.pdf