Which Life Skills Can Young Children Learn Through Creativity And The Arts

If you have heard that the rules around mobile phones and electronic devices in early childhood settings have changed, you are right. If your child attends a childcare centre in NSW, these changes are already in effect.

Here is a plain-English breakdown of what changed, why it happened, and what it means for your family.

Why Did the Laws Change?

The changes were introduced as a child safety measure. In 2025, Australia’s Education Ministers agreed to amend the Education and Care Services National Law to address concerns about the potential for personal devices to be used to capture, store, or transmit images of children in care without authorisation.

The intent is straightforward: children in early learning settings deserve an environment where their privacy and safety are actively protected.

What Changed Nationally

From 27 February 2026, amendments to the national Education and Care Services National Law took effect across Australia. Under these changes, educators and staff who work directly with children are restricted from using personal electronic devices in care settings.

Before this, from 1 September 2025, all early childhood education and care services nationwide were required to have written policies in place addressing the use of digital devices.

What Changed in NSW

NSW moved ahead of the national timeline. The Education and Care Services (Supply, Authorisation and Use of Devices) Order 2025 took effect on 6 November 2025, applying across NSW’s 6,000 or more early learning services, including long day care centres, preschools, and family day care.

Under this order, educators and staff must use service-issued or service-authorised devices rather than their own personal devices when working directly with children.

What Counts as a Personal Device?

The definition is broad. A personal device is any device owned by an individual (not the approved provider) that is capable of capturing, storing, or transmitting an image. This includes:

Mobile phones
Smartwatches
Cameras and tablets
iPads and laptops
Hard drives, USB drives, and memory cards
Wearables such as camera glasses

Who Does the Ban Apply To?

The restrictions apply to anyone working directly with children at a service, including permanent and casual educators, students on placement, volunteers, contractors, and allied health professionals delivering programs on-site.

Parents, carers, and other visitors are not covered by the ban. In NSW, parents and carers remain free to use their personal devices during drop-off, pick-up, centre visits, and events involving their own children. There are also authorised exceptions for essential purposes, including emergencies and health or disability support needs.

What About Screen Time for Children?

These new laws specifically address staff device use, not children’s screen time. Screen time limits for young children are not mandated within childcare regulation at a national level.

The relevant guidance comes from the federal Department of Health and Aged Care’s 24-Hour Movement Guidelines, which recommend no screen time for children under 2 years, and no more than 1 hour per day for children aged 2 to 5 years. These are health guidelines, not regulatory requirements.

What This Means for Your Family

If your child attends a childcare centre in NSW, their service is already required to operate under these rules. Any educator or staff member working directly with your child should not be using a personal device to take photos or videos. Only service-authorised devices should be used for that purpose.

If you have questions about how your centre handles digital devices or image capture, you are well within your rights to ask. Most services will have a written policy in place that covers exactly this.

At Clovel, the safety and wellbeing of every child in our care is at the heart of everything we do. If you would like to know more about how we support your child across our centres, we would love to have that conversation with you.

Children are a curious and inquisitive lot and love to enjoy every moment doing and creating something they love. They do not mind smearing themselves with paint as much as the paper. They will soak a brush in colour and enjoy the sound the brush makes as they move it erratically across the paper.

The attention span of toddlers and preschoolers is short, and they do not necessarily focus on creating a finished product. Many parents do not realise the importance of a “let go” approach where the children can enjoy the process of creation. Children who are allowed to enjoy those moments without external intervention are better off in the long run.

Why Is Art Important?

When a child manipulates a paintbrush or a pencil on a wall or lipstick on a mirror, it helps them improve their motor skills.
Children learn the basics of math by counting pieces and items.
They love to experiment with things around them, such as their toys, mostly by breaking them, and it may be no less than a scientific experiment.
Fostering creativity is all about allowing the child to explore, discover, and experiment. In the process, the child’s mental, emotional, and social abilities get developed. They learn to analyse and solve whatever they are doing.
When you allow children to see the results of what they are doing, it boosts their self-confidence. When they learn through error, they learn to think and develop skills to cope and invent when faced with real-world situations beyond their toddler room.

How to Inspire Creativity

There are very simple ways to foster creativity through art, such as:

Allow Them To Create A Mess – Let the child experiment with paint, crayons, and other mediums, even though they may create a mess. Set a separate place for this activity in or around your house.
Desist From Giving Direction – Encourage your child to experiment without giving instructions about what to do. Let the child decide what he/she wants to paint, draw, etc.
Focus on the Art Aspect – When your child shows what she has painted or drawn; focus on asking about the process. Ask questions like “who is this, and what are you showing in this?” and she will tell you all about her artwork.
Don’t Try To Work With Your Children – It is frustrating for children to see parents drawing something similar to what they are sketching. Be around as a support to encourage and appreciate their art.
Let Their Artwork Be the Way It Is – When a child shows you the final work with enthusiasm, appreciate it rather than suggesting improvements. Let them feel that they have created something good.

Encourage them to be Creative

If your child has an interest in art, encourage him to enjoy the process and allow them to go beyond just playing around with crayons, paints, or markers. Take him with you to collect some natural materials like leaves, flowers, sticks, stones, pine-cones, etc. and ask him to arrange them on a black canvas. You will see your child creating patterns and designs from these materials.

The general impression is that creativity is inborn and rare and does not arise from teaching. Going ahead, your child may not become a Picasso, but having developed the trait may become creative in the field of his or her choice later in life. Creativity is not restricted to art alone but is a trait that is useful in any field like science, literature, architecture, etc. Its seeds can be sown in childhood through art.

If you want to know more about imaginative play for preschoolers at Clovel Childcare Early Learning Centre, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. Just give us a call at 1300 863 986 or fill in this contact us form.

Thanks for reading,
Clovel Childcare
1300 863 986

Lyn Connolly

Founder and Company Director

Lyn Connolly is the Founder and Company Director of Clovel Childcare & Early Learning Centres, a family‑owned group of eight centres across Western Sydney established from her first service at Merrylands. Active in early childhood education since 1977, she also serves as President of the Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA) NSW, representing providers in state and federal consultations, media, and public hearings.

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