Eduvest � Journal of Universal Studies Volume 1 Number 8, August 2021 p- ISSN 2775-3735 e-ISSN 2775-3727

EFFORTS TO INCREASE CREATIVITY IN EARLY CHILDREN THROUGH PICTURE STORY MEDIA
Susan Risanti Kurniatin and Rita Aryani Panca Sakti University Bekasi E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]
ARTICLE INFO�� ABSTRACT
Received: July, 24^th 2021 Revised: August, 15^th2021 Approved: August, 17^th2021	The condition of creativity in PGRI Margajaya Kindergarten, Mangunreja District is still low, children cannot concentrate through illustrated stories, children are not interested in listening to illustrated stories, plus teachers do not use learning media in order to attract the attention of students. High creativity encourages children to learn and work more so that one day they can create new things beyond our expectations. Storytelling has a positive impact on the development of creativity. Children are accustomed to concentrating on a topic, dare to develop their creations, organize themselves/self-confidence, stimulate children to think imaginatively, and increase their new vocabulary. To realize this desire, the authors carried out Classroom Action Research (CAR) which consisted of two cycles and in the process was assisted by the principal as well as a companion class teacher. The results of this study indicate that there is an increase in children's creativity through picture stories, namely pre-cycle creativity by 20%, increasing creativity in cycle I by 45% and increasing creativity in cycle II reaching 85%. Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that illustrated stories can increase the creativity of children's work in PGRI Margajaya Kindergarten, Mangunreja District.
KEYWORDS	Creativity, Picture Story, Media, Early Children
	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

INTRODUCTION

�� Every educational process must ultimately lead to the development of the potential of each child so that they become human beings who are faithful and devoted, have noble character, are knowledgeable, capable and so on (Pujiastuti, 2010). These are the goals of National Education Number 20 of 2003 Article 3, namely:

�� National Education functions to develop capabilities and shape the character and civilization of a dignified nation in order to educate the nation's life (Sujana, 2019). National education aims to develop the potential of students to become human beings who believe and fear God Almighty, have noble character, are healthy, capable, creative, independent and become democratic and responsible citizens (Gunawan, 2012).

�� With an understanding of the purpose of education, every educator is not only limited to delivering learning materials, but how the learning materials can contribute to the formation of human beings of faith and piety in accordance with applicable values and develop children's creativity (Kosim, 2011).

�� Children at an early age have extraordinary learning abilities, especially in early childhood (Farhurohman, 2017). Children's desire to learn makes children active and exploratory (ROIHANNAH, 2020). Children learn with all their five senses to understand something and in a short time children move on to other things to learn. It is the environment that sometimes becomes an obstacle in increasing children's creative abilities and often the environment kills the child's desire to explore (Tanjung, n.d.).

�� Story books are liked by almost all children, especially if the story books are in the form of stories with good illustrations and a few games that involve them (Nofianti, 2019). Children will feel involved in adventures and conflicts experienced by the characters in it (Yanti, 2013). So that reading will be more fun. Story books provide a place for children to escape from unresolved problems. Picture story books with fantasy themes help children imagine things that are outside their environment so that the development of children's thinking and creativity is not limited to certain things. Fiction stories make readers imagine about a character, scenery, story setting (Hamdani, 2020).

�� The experiences experienced by early childhood have a strong influence on later life (Rohmah, 2018) Children's high creativity encourages children to learn and work more so that they can create new things beyond our expectations. Storytelling has a positive impact on the development of children's creativity (Masdawati, 2019). Children are accustomed to concentrating on a topic, dare to develop their creations, stimulate children to think imaginatively, improve listening skills, and increase their new vocabulary (Langgadesa, Mursak, & Inayah, 2020).

�� However, it is different for children in PGRI Margajaya Kindergarten, they especially group B children still have low creativity. This can be seen from the daily activities of children who are still waiting for the teacher, cannot express their own ideas if they are not assisted by the teacher, children are still dependent on the teacher in expressing opinions, drawing and coloring.

�� The problems mentioned above are caused by several factors including learning media that are less attractive, learning that only focuses on reading and counting and the use of static methods so that children get bored and are less able to come up with creative ideas (OME, 2016). In addition, the use of the lecture method that is less than optimal is still applied in PGRI Margajaya Kindergarten.

In fact, activities that can be done to develop children's creativity include music, visiting exhibitions, watching puppet shows, sports, storytelling and others that can be done by teachers (Ambarini, 2017). The teacher has done one way, namely the storytelling method, but the method used is still monotonous and refers more to the teacher center, the teacher only tells stories according to language that only the teacher can understand, so that learning activities become meaningless for children.

�� Based on the existing problems, the purpose of this study was to find out how to increase creativity in early childhood through illustrated story media in group B in TK PGRI Margajaya, Mangunreja, Tasikmalaya, and to find out whether using illustrated story media can increase creativity in early childhood. in group B in TK PGRI Margajaya, Mangunreja, Tasikmalaya.

RESEARCH METHODS

This research was conducted at PGRI Margajaya Mangunreja Kindergarten, which is located in Mangunreja District, Tasikmalaya Regency. The time of the research was carried out in the 2020/2021 semester I academic year between July, August and September 2020.

The method used in this research is Classroom Action Research, because CAR is a way to achieve goals in improving and solving problems in learning in a cyclical manner so that children's learning outcomes will increase. The PTK model that will be used is the Kemmis and Taggart model. The research was conducted using a spiral system of repeated reflections that formed a cycle according to the level of need in the research, starting from planning, then action, followed by observation, and the stage of reflection. Sulipan argues that Classroom Action Research (CAR) is research oriented to the application of action with the aim of improving, quality or problem solving in a group of subjects. This research was conducted collaboratively between school principals, classroom teachers and researchers to equalize understanding, agreement on problems, decision making that gave birth to similar actions aimed at increasing the activity and creativity of early childhood.

Based on the description of the opinion above, it can be concluded that classroom action research is an activity carried out to solve a problem by improving and improving the quality of action involving collaborators and collaboration of researchers and ordinary people. This research is a collaborative classroom-based research, which is a practical, situational and contextual research based on problems that arise in daily learning activities in Kindergarten. Principals, teachers and researchers always strive to obtain optimal results through effective methods and procedures so that it is possible to take repeated actions with revisions to increase children's activities.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

1. Pre Cycle

Based on the results of observations and interviews, researchers and teachers felt the need to improve the quality of learning and creativity. For this reason, researchers discussed to determine the next steps. Researchers and teachers agreed to carry out the action on Wednesday, July 18, 2020.

Based on the process of creative activities through illustrated story media in the pre-action shows the results of 20% or 20 x 20 children = 3 capable children and 17 unable children. 100

2. Cycle I

a. Cycle I. action planning

This planning activity was carried out on Monday, August 6, 2020. On that occasion the researchers discussed with the principal and teachers about the things that would be done in the first cycle of action implementation activities, the things discussed included (1) Researchers equating perceptions with the principal and teachers regarding the research to be carried out, (2) The researcher proposes the use of picture storybook media for learning

to increase creativity, (3) The researcher proposes a learning plan in the form of RKH (Daily Activity Plan) and the teacher agrees, (4) The researcher proposes observation as the main instrument for assessing creativity improvement, (5) determining the schedule for the implementation of the action.

There are several things planned in cycle 1, namely:

1. Researchers prepare in advance the media to be used, namely picture story books.

2. The researcher conditions or sets the class into a big circle.

In planning the implementation of learning there are still shortcomings so that the average score for planning the implementation of learning is 45% (good enough).

b. Action Execution

The action was carried out based on the Daily Activity Plan (RKH) which had been prepared by the researcher and the principal of the TK PGRI Margajaya TK Mangunreja Tasikmalaya Kindergarten.

a) Initial Activities

� The teacher asks the children to line up to enter the classroom

� The researcher who was accompanied by the principal as well as the class teacher conditioned the children's seats into a big circle where the researcher was the center of the circle. It aims to create a safe and comfortable learning atmosphere and direct communication is established.

� The researcher opened the lesson with greetings, prayers and singing a good morning song.

b) Core Activities

� Researchers put forward the theme and lessons to be taught.

� The researcher communicates the rules that must be obeyed during the storytelling activity.

� The researcher mentions the title of the story, the characters in the story, the publisher and the author of the story.

� The researcher starts the story with the media of a picture story book.

� The researcher reviews the content of the story in the picture story book. In this activity, the researcher gives children the opportunity to explore. Researchers try to stimulate children with questions such as who still remembers what the title of the story was...? Who are the characters in the story and the characters in the story?

c) Rest activities

� The researcher asked the children to wash their hands

� Researchers ask children to pray before and after eating

� Researchers ask children to play

d) Final activity

The closing activity is in the form of reviewing the contents of the illustrated story (review), such as asking questions about the content of the story, the name of the character, and the character possessed by each character singing children's songs, praying to go home and saying hello.

c. Observation

Observations were made during learning activities, especially in the classroom. Observations were made to determine the increase in children's creativity during storytelling activities. Based on observations made by researchers and school principals, and class teachers, the following results were obtained:

a) At the first meeting the children still felt unfamiliar with the learning process using picture story books as media.

b) At the second meeting, the children enthusiastically took part in learning using picture story books as media.

d. Analysis and Reflection

Based on the results of these observations, researchers and teachers conducted an analysis of the learning process and increased creativity of early childhood. This analysis was carried out by school principals, classroom teachers and researchers by discussing, evaluating the learning process that had been passed, and looking at existing deficiencies. The results of the analysis show that:

a) There has been an increase in children's creativity when compared to creativity before the action, but the results are not maximal and satisfactory, it means that researchers and teachers need to improve the learning process.

b) There is a decrease in concentration due to the absence of motivation or appreciation from researchers for their creativity,

c) The creativity of children in one class is still not evenly distributed, there are children who have more creativity but some are still low.

From the results of the analysis, researchers and teachers feel that the results of this study have not been maximized. Therefore, researchers and teachers make plans for actions in the cycle next.

3. Cycle II

a. Cycle II Action Planning

This planning activity was carried out on Wednesday 5 September 2020. After discussing, finally the researcher and the principal of the classroom teacher agreed on several things that should be done in increasing creativity through illustrated stories.

Items discussed included:

a) Researchers equate perceptions with school principals and teachers regarding the research to be carried out.

b) The researcher proposes the use of picture storybook media for learning to increase creativity.

c) The researcher proposes a learning plan in the form of RKH (Daily Activity Plan) and the teacher agrees

d) The researcher proposes observation as the main instrument for assessing creativity enhancement.

e) The researcher determines the schedule for the implementation of the action. During the discussion, it was agreed that the researcher was the implementer of the action and the principal and class teacher helped during the learning process and as observers.

There are several things planned in cycle 1I, namely:

a) Researchers maximize action, namely interacting with students, providing motivation and providing reinforcement in the form of rewards such as very good or good.

b) To overcome children's boredom with one story title, researchers, school principals and teachers plan to replace story books with colored ones.

c) Researchers give additional time allocation so that children have more time to explore.

In planning the implementation of learning the average score for planning the implementation of learning is 85%.

b. Action Execution

The action was carried out based on the Daily Activity Plan (RKH) which had been prepared by the researcher and the principal of the TK PGRI Margajaya TK Mangunreja Tasikmalaya Kindergarten.

a) Initial Activities

1) The teacher asks the children to line up to enter the classroom

2) The researcher who was accompanied by the principal as well as the class teacher conditioned the children's seats into a big circle where the researcher was the center of the circle. It aims to create a safe and comfortable learning atmosphere and direct communication is established.

3) The researcher opened the lesson with greetings, prayers and singing a good morning song.

b) Core Activities

1) Researchers put forward the theme and lessons to be taught.

2) The researcher communicates the rules that must be obeyed during the storytelling activity.

3) The researcher mentions the title of the story, the characters in the story, the publisher and the author of the story.

4) The researcher starts the story with the media of a picture story book.

5) The researcher reviews the content of the story in the picture story book. In this activity, the researcher gives children the opportunity to explore. Researchers try to stimulate children with questions such as who still remembers what the title of the story was...? Who are the characters in the story and the characters in the story?

c) Rest activities

1) The researcher asked the children to wash their hands

2) Researchers ask children to pray before and after eating

3) Researchers ask children to play

d) Final activity

c. Observation

a) At the first meeting the children still felt unfamiliar with the learning process using picture story books as media.

b) At the second meeting, the children enthusiastically took part in learning using picture story books as media.

d. Analysis and Reflection

�There has been an increase in children's creativity when compared to creativity before the action, but the results are not maximal and satisfactory, it means that researchers and teachers need to improve the learning process.

b. There is a decrease in concentration due to the absence of motivation or appreciation from researchers for their creativity,

c. The creativity of children in one class is still not evenly distributed, there are children who have more creativity but some are still low.

From the results of the analysis, researchers and teachers feel that the results of this study have not been maximized. Therefore, researchers and teachers make plans for actions in the next cycle.

4. Discussion

Before discussing the results of the study, as for the overall process and research results can be seen in the following table.

Table 1

Aspect	Pre Cycle	Cycle I	Cycle II
Method	Storytelling	Storytelling	Storytelling
Media that used	Not used media	Picture story books	Picture story books
Creativity indicators	�Creative reactions �Attention span �Organizing/self-confidence �New vocabulary �Imagination development	� Creative reactions � Attention span � Organizing/self-confidence � New vocabulary � Imagination development	� Creative reactions � Attention span � Organizing/self-confidence � New vocabulary � Imagination development
Learning process	Opening Core Closing	Opening Core Closing	Opening Core Closing
Time learning	30 minutes	30 minutes	45 minutes
Observation	Children are not very interested, children are less concentrated, children often chat with friends. In children's learning still foreign	Children begin to be enthusiastic in learning, so learning is good.	Children are very enthusiastic about the learning process so that in learning better than cycle I
Analysis and Reflection		There was an increase in creativity in children compared to the Pre-Cycle, although it was not maximal.	Weaknesses in Cycle I can be resolved properly in Cycle II, as seen by the achievement of the established indicators.

Table 2

Aspect	Cycle 1	Cycle 1	Cycle 2	Cycle 2
	�First Act	ti Second Act	First Act	Second Act
Creativity	(30%)	(45%)	(60%)	(85%)
	There are 6 of 20 children involved in creative activities	There are 9 of 20 children involved in creative activities	There are 12 of 20 children involved in creative activities	There are 17 of 20 children involved in creative activities

�� Based on the table above, children's creativity continues to increase from cycle I to cycle II. Based on the analysis conducted by researchers about the increase in creativity that is influenced by the media picture story. Through illustrated stories, children can ask questions, guess and then find answers (creative reactions) to the storylines they hear, children's attention spans about stories become longer because children concentrate on stories, children are also able to organize themselves because children learn and an amazing experience that will build confidence in what is delivered.

�� In addition to using the illustrated story method for two cycles, the creativity of the PGRI Margajaya Kindergarten Kindergarten students for the 2020/2021 Academic Year showed an increase. Based on the results of the initial observation, there were only 3-4 children or 15-20% which showed the creativity of the 20 children who were present at that time.

�� However, after taking action in cycle I and cycle II, the observations made by researchers and teachers showed the following results:

1) After reading a story with a different title, the child becomes more enthusiastic in responding to the content of the story;

2) After being given motivation, the children became active to appear in front of the class while telling stories without waiting for orders from the researcher;

3) There was a very satisfying increase in creativity in this second cycle, namely in the first cycle the first action reached 6 children or 30%, in the second action it reached 9 children or 45%, while in the first cycle the first action reached 12 children or 60 % and in the second action has reached 17 children or by 85%.

CONCLUSION

Based on the analysis and discussion, it was concluded that to increase the creativity of children in PGRI Margajaya Kindergarten for the academic year 2020/2021, researchers carried out classroom action research using the illustrated story method for two cycles. The learning process in each cycle follows a standard procedure, starting with (a) initial activities, (b) core activities and (c) final activities. However, at each meeting the researcher gave a little variation with the aim of providing a new experience and so that students did not feel bored during teaching and learning activities.

Learning to tell stories through picture story books can increase creativity in early childhood. This is evidenced by the increase in the average value of the child's creativity ability class, from before the action/pre-cycle was 30%, increased in the first cycle to 60%, and increased in the second cycle to 85%. So the research results are quite satisfactory and have met the criteria for the success of the action with an average value of more than 75%. So that the picture story book is an effective medium to increase creativity in early childhood group B TK PGRI Margajaya. This is because picture story books stimulate children to think creatively, children's attention to the learning process is getting longer, children are able to organize themselves or train self-confidence in children, stimulate children's imagination, increase vocabulary so as to produce original stories.

��

REFERENCES

Ambarini, Ririn. (2017). Character Building And Creativity In Early Childhood Through Total Physical Response Warm Up Game. Jurnal Kependidikan: Penelitian Inovasi Pembelajaran, 1(1), 150�162.

Farhurohman, Oman. (2017). Hakikat Bermain Dan Permainan Anak Usia Dini Di Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini (Paud). As-Sibyan: Jurnal Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini, 2(1), 27�36.

Gunawan, Heri. (2012). Pendidikan Karakter. Bandung: Alfabeta, 2(1).

Hamdani, Beny. (2020). Peningkatan Kreativitas Anak Usia Dini Melalui Cerita Bergambar Di Sekolah Dasar Zaha (Zainul Hasan). Jurnal Ika Pgsd (Ikatan Alumni Pgsd) Unars, 8(1), 79�88.

Kosim, Mohammad. (2011). Urgensi Pendidikan Karakter. Karsa: Journal Of Social And Islamic Culture, 84�92.

Langgadesa, Yun Ratna, Mursak, Muliati, & Inayah, Faidhul. (2020). Efektivitas Penggunaan Cerita Anak Dalam Mengembangkan Kreativitas Menggambar Siswa Sd Di Kecamatan Banawa Kabupaten Donggala. Jurnal Kreatif Online, 8(4).

Masdawati, Masdawati. (2019). Peningkatan Kreativitas Anak Usia Dini Melalui Cerita Bergambar Pada Anak Didik Kelompok B Tk Miftahul Jannah Padang. Ensiklopedia Education Review, 1(1), 111�118.

Nofianti, Rita. (2019). Inovasi Media Pembelajaran Cerita Bergambar Dalam Upaya Meningkatkan Kreatifitas Anak Usia Dini Di Paud Ummul Habibah Kelambir V Medan. Jurnal Abdi Ilmu, 12(2), 112�118.

Ome, Ridawati. (2016). Pemanfaatan Alat Permainan Edukatif Media Puzzle Untuk Mengembangkan Kreatifitas Anak Didik Kelompok B Pada Tk Islam Maradekya Kota Makassar. Fip.

Pujiastuti, Ginanjar. (2010). Implementasi Pembelajaran Matematika Dengan Strategi Learning Starts With A Question Dan Strategi Questions Student Have Terhadap Prestasi Belajar Matematika Ditinjau Dari Keaktifan Belajar Siswa (Eksperimen Pembelajaran Matematika Di Kelas Vii Smpn 1 Bendosari). Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta.

Rohmah, Umi. (2018). Pengembangan Karakter Pada Anak Usia Dini (Aud). Al-Athfal: Jurnal Pendidikan Anak, 4(1), 85�102.

Roihannah, Roihannah. (2020). Peningkatan Kreativitas Anak Di Tk Nurud Dholam Bugih Pamekasan Dengan Menggunakan Metode Bercerita Bergambar. Seminar Nasional Hasil Pengabdian Kepada Masyarakat, 4(1), 247�253.

Sujana, I.Wayan Cong. (2019). Fungsi Dan Tujuan Pendidikan Indonesia. Adi Widya: Jurnal Pendidikan Dasar, 4(1), 29�39.

Tanjung, Isnanizar. (N.D.). Penggunaan Permainan Balok Dalam Meningkatkan Kreativitas Anak Usia 5-6 Tahun Di Tk Al Kausar. Elementary School Journal Pgsd Fip Unimed, 4(1).

Yanti, Yarni Eli. (2013). Peran Pendidik Paud Dalam Mengembangkan Kreativitas Anak Usia (5-6 Tahun) Melalui Cerita Bergambar Di Taman Kanak�Kanak Bakti Pancur Batu. Unimed.