Opportunities for creative thinking in an out-of-school learning environment: perceptions and experiences of children attending the Discovery Campus

Creative thinking emerges as a critical skill that adds meaning to individuals’ lives in today’s competitive world. One of the learning environments aimed at developing this skill is the Discovery Campus, which serves as a children’s university. This qualitative study aimed to investigate the perceptions and experiences regarding creative thinking of 32 children aged 11–13 who regularly attend the Discovery Campus in Gaziantep, Türkiye. The participants were selected through criterion sampling, a purposive sampling method. Data were collected via written interview forms and analysed using the content analysis method. The findings indicated that participants perceive the Discovery Campus as a learning environment where, in addition to acquiring new knowledge, they can apply what they have learned, discover their own potential, and develop original ideas. It was determined that creative project ideas aim to develop solutions to problems based on the needs of humans, society, and living organisms; and that experiences at the Discovery Campus are associated with an approach based on hands-on learning, material use, enquiry, observation, and imagination, which differs from formal school environments. Furthermore, in the children’s narratives, it was observed that opportunities for creative thinking are shaped by the processes of conducting research, focusing on areas of interest, participating in workshop activities, transforming ideas into projects, and sharing the developed designs. Accordingly, in order to support children’s creative thinking processes, it is recommended to expand science centres that bring together different disciplines and provide opportunities for practical application and project production.