Visual arts education in elementary school plays a crucial role in developing students’ creativity. However, instruction is still often focused on providing examples, so students’ opportunities to explore and develop ideas independently remain suboptimal. This study aims to describe the implementation of material-exploration-based visual arts instruction in developing the creativity of fourth-grade students at SDN Cikahuripan. This study employs a qualitative method with a descriptive approach. The research subjects consisted of 30 fourth-grade students at SDN Cikahuripan. Data collection was conducted through observation, interviews, documentation, and the researcher’s direct involvement in the teaching process. The data were analyzed through the stages of data collection, data reduction, data presentation, and drawing conclusions. The research findings indicate that material-exploration-based visual arts instruction provides students with opportunities to actively engage in the learning process—from gathering materials from their surroundings and developing ideas to creating collage works based on their individual imaginations. This approach fosters a diversity of ideas, unique artistic outcomes, a willingness to experiment, and students’ self-confidence in expressing their ideas. Furthermore, the teacher’s role as a facilitator helps foster a more active and meaningful learning process. Thus, material-exploration-based visual arts instruction can serve as an effective alternative for developing creativity among elementary school students.