{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,14]],"date-time":"2026-09-14T05:05:48Z","timestamp":1789362348437,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":62,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,14]],"date-time":"2026-09-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789344000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) has reshaped STEAM education, with growing interest in its use to enhance children's creative thinking a key cognitive development component. However, systematic synthesis of GenAI's application in child-centered creative learning remains limited. This scoping review explores GenAI's roles, effects, challenges, and future directions.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study follows JBI guidance and is reported in accordance with PRISMA-ScR. Searches were conducted in July 2025 and updated in May 2026 across Web of Science, Scopus, ERIC, APA PsycInfo, ACM Digital Library, ProQuest, and Google Scholar. Publication status and evidence-source type were charted explicitly.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Twenty-four evidence sources were included: 22 primary empirical studies and two secondary syntheses used only for contextual interpretation. Text-based LLMs and multimodal text\/image tools predominated. The primary studies reported possible benefits for divergent thinking, narrative creativity, and creative self-efficacy, but the heterogeneous designs, absence of formal critical appraisal, and inclusion of preprints preclude conclusions about confirmed efficacy.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The emerging evidence suggests that carefully facilitated GenAI may support some forms of children's creative activity, but the evidence base is small, methodologically heterogeneous, geographically concentrated, and partly non-peer-reviewed. Claims about effectiveness, scalability, and equity therefore remain provisional. Future research should use stronger comparative and longitudinal designs and directly include rural, underserved, and low-resource communities before GenAI is presented as a democratizing intervention.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1880052","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,14]],"date-time":"2026-09-14T04:37:33Z","timestamp":1789360653000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The role of generative AI in facilitating children's creative thinking and cognitive development: a systematic scoping review"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Tianyue","family":"Niu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Design, Jiangnan University","place":["Wuxi, China"]},{"name":"Xiamen Academy of Arts and Design, Fuzhou University","place":["Xiamen, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Huiying","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Jimei University","place":["Xiamen, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Patrick","family":"Pang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Applied Sciences, Macao Polytechnic University","place":["Macao, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yiming Taclis","family":"Luo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Applied Sciences, Macao Polytechnic University","place":["Macao, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ting","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Applied Sciences, Macao Polytechnic University","place":["Macao, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"115","DOI":"10.55849\/alhijr.v4i2.985","article-title":"Digital storytelling with generative AI: impact on creativity and engagement in middle school learners","volume":"4","author":"Aldina","year":"2025","journal-title":"Al-Hijr J. 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