Creativity

Trying a new gesture to make you laugh, finding another use for a familiar object, or turning blocks into a storybook forest are all creative acts. Creativity is not limited to art projects. Children try different forms of expression, give materials new meaning, and turn ideas into something others can see and join.

0–9 months: Try variations within responsive interaction. Children notice the response their action creates and may change what they do to keep the exchange going.
9–18 months: Give familiar things new possibilities. Movements, sounds, and everyday objects can be combined and used in different ways, especially when an adult responds.
18 months–3 years: Bring ideas into pretending and making. Materials take on roles and contexts, and children begin to share imagination with others.
3–5 years: Enrich expression and creations. Roles, plots, and materials become more connected, and one idea can be expressed in several ways.

Below are selected skills to notice at specific ages. Age is a developmental reference point; understand each skill alongside what you see in everyday life.

6 months

Modifies reactions (expressions and actions/behaviors) based on other people's responses.

What to notice: After you respond, does your baby change their expression, sound, or movement to continue the interaction? Notice adjustment based on feedback, not whether they invent something entirely new.

How to support it: Interaction gives children immediate feedback and room to vary expression. Respond attentively to the signal your baby already offers, imitate it or make a small change, then wait.

Keep in mind: The goal is to make experimentation meaningful, not to keep entertaining until the baby performs or to treat repetition as a lack of creativity.

12 months

Uses gestures playfully through songs, finger plays, or games.

What to notice: Does your child bring movements or gestures into songs and games as a playful form of expression? Notice how they participate with their body, not whether they copy every adult movement accurately.

How to support it: Familiar rhythm and interaction make it easier to try expressive movements. Model something easy to join, follow your child's own version, and allow pauses, repetition, and change.

Keep in mind: Keep it playful rather than requiring a synchronized performance or using memorized lyrics as the measure of imagination.

15 months

Finds new things to do with familiar, everyday objects (such as using a cooking pot for a hat or a spoon as a drumstick).

What to notice: Does your child discover that a familiar object can be used in another way? Notice whether the new use creates a different effect. When the object represents something in a story, symbolic play is involved too.

How to support it: Creativity can begin by using familiar materials differently and comparing what happens. Offer safe objects with more than one possible use, acknowledge your child's attempt, and demonstrate one new possibility only if needed before stepping back.

Keep in mind: Do not correct everything to the original use or demand novelty for its own sake.

2 years (24 months)

Engages in pretend or make-believe play with other children.

What to notice: Do your child and a peer bring objects or actions into a shared pretend situation? Look for some shared meaning and response, not a complex role agreement or sustained cooperation.

How to support it: Shared pretending asks children to express their idea while noticing another person's play. Model simple roles in a familiar situation, help each child understand the other's action, and gradually step back.

Keep in mind: Brief parallel play or different levels of participation are still normal; adults do not need to script the whole story.

2½ years (30 months)

Uses imagination to explore possible uses of objects and materials.

What to notice: Does your child give a material an imagined identity, use, or story and continue playing in line with it? The key is new meaning, not simply choosing an unfamiliar object.

How to support it: Imagination lets children move beyond what a material literally is. Understand and join the meaning your child gives it, use a few open responses to extend the idea, and narrate only when language support helps.

Keep in mind: Avoid correcting the play to match reality or requiring an adult-level plot.

3 years (36 months)

Uses materials such as paper, paint, crayons, or blocks to make novel things.

What to notice: While making something, does your child bring in their own idea and let materials represent an object or new combination? Notice how the idea enters the work, not whether the result looks original or polished beside a model.

How to support it: Materials give imagination something children can manipulate and revise. Offer open choices, first understand what your child wants to make, and help only with expression or actions that are difficult.

Keep in mind: Respond to specific ideas, allow plans to change, and avoid replacing imagination with one template.

4 years (48 months)

Pretends to be something else during play (teacher,superhero, dog).

What to notice: Does your child use movement, tone, or events to portray a role? Notice whether they enter the imagined identity; costumes, props, and memorized lines are not required.

How to support it: Role-play combines observed characteristics with imagination. Join as a supporting character, provide useful life experience and a small demonstration when needed, and help roles connect.

Keep in mind: Respect reasonable departures from reality, and do not treat a portrayed character as evidence of the child's real personality or feelings.

4½ years (54 months)

Uses multiple means of communication to creatively express thoughts, feelings, or ideas.

What to notice: Does your child express one idea through different forms such as words, movement, or drawing, or change forms to help someone understand? Notice creative communication, not only mastery of several tools.

How to support it: When one form is not enough, children can draw on others to make an idea or feeling visible. Show that several forms are possible, take the child's chosen form seriously, and respond in ways that help clarify meaning.

Keep in mind: Do not recognize only complete speech or realistic drawing.

5 years (60 months)

Uses imagination with materials to develop more elaborate creative works (inclduing works of art).

What to notice: Does your child add details, relationships, or events to a creation and keep adjusting the materials? Elaborate means a richer idea and process, not a product that meets adult aesthetic standards.

How to support it: A fuller creation involves selecting materials, organizing details, and revising while working. Listen to your child's intention, provide resources and limited technical help, and invite comparison with their original idea.

Keep in mind: Keep key creative decisions with the child and allow work to continue over time.

Sources and notes

Better Parenting’s child-development framework draws in part on the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework: Ages Birth to Five. For this pathway, you can also review Head Start’s Creativity Effective Practice Guide. Official framework sources inform domain, sub-domain, goal, and developmental-progression terminology where applicable. Better Parenting independently organizes the parent-facing What to notice and How to support it explanations and connects them with its own activity library.

The ELOF itself is not a curriculum, assessment, or checklist. Better Parenting’s Skill Assessment and Growth Path are Better Parenting product features, not Head Start assessment tools.

Skill wording and age references on this page come from the Better Parenting child-development framework. A child may show different behaviors in different situations, so understand these examples alongside everyday experience rather than treating one activity as a judgment of an entire sub-domain.

This page helps you understand what you can observe and how you can offer support. To explore your child's current position in this sub-domain, open the corresponding Growth Path in the Better Parenting app and use the Skill Assessment.

Better Parenting Content Team | Updated September 2, 2026