Enhancing preschoolers’ creativity through humorous picture books with the mandala chart approach

The development of creativity in preschoolers is a crucial foundation for later problem-solving and creative thinking. Picture book instruction, integrating visual, linguistic, and emotional experiences, provides a rich context for cultivating creativity. Humorous picture books elicit positive emotions and cognitive flexibility, thereby fostering creative thinking. However, how to apply structured thinking strategies to help preschoolers systematically expand and organize creative ideas remains underexplored. This study compared the effects of humorous picture book instruction with and without the Mandala Chart approach on preschoolers’ creativity. Participants were ninety preschoolers aged 4–6 years from three mixed-age classes, designated to Experimental Group 1 (humorous picture book with Mandala thinking), Experimental Group 2 (humorous picture book without Mandala thinking), and a Control Group (no intervention). The eight-week intervention consisted of two 50-minute sessions per week. Preschoolers completed a Story Creation Test before and after the intervention. Results revealed that the group receiving humorous picture book instruction combined with the Mandala Chart approach outperformed both groups in graphic creativity, verbal creativity, and humorous expression. Furthermore, the humorous picture book group also scored higher than the control group. These findings suggest that humor-oriented teaching can enhance preschoolers’ creative performance, and that integrating structured thinking strategies yields additional benefits. The integrated model offers valuable implications for designing preschooler creativity and humor education programs.