Early Home Background Features in Relation to Imaginative and Creative Expression in Third Grade

Abstract

A follow-up investigation was carried out on seventy-three third graders from an original sample of 114 mother-child pairs, who were observed and tested when the children were preschoolers. Four third grade criteria of imaginative and creative expression were shown to be related to earlier measures and assessments of imaginative predisposition. Each criterion related to differential features of the early home background. This study endorsed the finding, however, that an optimal balance between involvement, caring and warmth on the part of the preschooler's mother and a willingness to let the child explore at his/her own pace leads to future creative and imaginative expression.