People can use visual and performing arts to explore ways of expressing

feelings and sensory experiences in tangible, symbolic form

Use colours, shapes, sounds, movement & other sensory phenomena to
communicate her ideas and feelings about herself and what she knows
about the world
Children express themselves as a means to communicate with
others.
This can be through personal expression, creative exploration, and
action
They express their thoughts and feelings through creative arts
Enables the use of all their senses
Creative and artistic process is a safe way for young children to try out,
explore, experiment, & learn about themselves
Enables children to feel a sense of accomplishment & self-confidence as
they achieve through artistic exploration and expression
Allow creative processes that are child initiated rather than teacher
directed
Enables self expression
Environment needs to be well planned, to enable creativity
This allows children to develop the ability to think creatively
o Finger play enables a child to use their imagination, problemsolving skills, language skills, knowledge of the world, and feelings
to show how her character mores, looks etc
Process approach learning what we are doing, while we are doing it
-experimenting with and discovering new ways to work with art materials
or new ways to move this is process
the creative arts are essential to the intellectual, affective, social and
physical development of children and adults
an awareness of self & an acceptance of differences are facilitated by
personal experiences in creative arts
The creative arts encourage an awareness of the important role of the
affective domain in the development of sensitivity, values, and
perceptions of self and others
culturally sensitive approach to introducing children to art from around
the world helps young learners to construct a worldview of cultural
similarities and to value differences
The arts includes:
o Dance
o Drama
o Music
o Visual arts
o Literature
Varied components include
o Aesthetic perception (impression)-basic arts concepts and skills
o Creative expression (interpretation in action)-factual or contextual
learning about the arts in history and culture

Historical and cultural heritage (exposure to art from around the

world)-higher-order or critical thinking skills to solve aesthetic
problems and analyse works or art
o Aesthetic valuing (appreciation)
Group sharing and reflection as an integral part of the
process of artistic discover
Children naturally combine movement, drama and sound to
interpret stories in ways that are right for them
All students applies to all, regardless of background (e.g. gender, ethnicity,
economic condition), circumstances or ambition
The arts contributes to childrens learning through:
o Improved critical thinking, problem posing, problem solving and
decision making
o Across the curriculum can help children learn cultural awareness
and skills in communication, maths, language, interpretation and
understanding of complex symbols
o Developing fluency in artistic expression & understanding fosters
higher order thinking skills of analysis, synthesis and evaluation
o Multimodal e.g. dance music, drama, sculpture
o Develops imagination & judgement
Art in education is essential to develop innovation and the economic and
cultural growth experience necessary to prosper
Boyers Vision for Creative Arts Education:
o Arts education helps children express feelings and ideas & concepts
that words cannot convey
o Through the language or arts, students see connections & find
patterns in the academic world
o The arts provide the child with a language that is universal
Through the arts e.g. paint, music, clay etc, children discover and develop
concepts such as whether the clay is hard or soft, smoothness/roughness
of different textures
Touching, seeing & hearing are all experiences of the creating child
We are facilitators providing the materials in the environment for our
children to create, question, explore and experience their own ideas in
action
Multicultural art in context-to effectively teach multiculturalism we must
learn as much about the art item, as we can how it is made, what
purpose its creation serves, who was responsible for making it, what the
social origins of the art are, and what historical and aesthetic properties
make the art central to a particular culture
Questions to ask yourself when deciding how to introduce art from another
culture:
o What cultures are represented by children in the classroom
o What cultures are represented by families in your school/community
o What art from other cultures attracts you
o What is it about the masks of west Africa; ancient mosaics of Israel
or the pottery of the pueblo nation that catches your
attention/aesthetic chord
o

Have you ever been to another country? What about children in the
classroom? What did you like about the art & why?
Designing a lesson plan:
o Place books about the art in the classroom
o Display examples of the art in places where children can touch it,
move it around and tell stories about it
o Tell children accurate stories about where the artist lived, worked
and played and why the art was important to what the culture
believed and valued
o Give meaning to what children are experiencing offer suggestions
that enable them to identify and attend to the cultural nuances of
the production of the art
o Allow children to re-create what they see from a piece of art dont
expect them to make the same outstanding piece that matches the
original
o Art from around the world should not be copied it will only have
meaning if children bring their own experiences & personal
interpretations/understanding to the process
Whole child view of the intellectual, social and emotional development of
children is essential
Piaget & Inhelder (1969) intellectual development is a series of stages
through which children make qualitative changes as they acquire new
knowledge
Stages of learning:
o Sensorimotor Stage- infants-toddlers reception of and reaction to
the senses and motor activity-birth to 2 years
o Preoperational Stage-2-7. Childs ability to represent objects and
events through symbolic play, drawing, spoken language, deferred
imitation. Symbolic play blocks become cars; or make believe
you be the father & Ill help you make dinner. A major
accomplishment during the preoperational stage is the onset of
language-p 26. Teachers at this stage, need to provide children with
materials that allow children to become involved in visual arts
experiences Children will use sensory experiences as they feel,
smell, and examine paint, glue, paper and clay. Ensure children
have many opportunities to manipulate clay before giving them
tools to work with clay
o Concrete operational stage-7-11-children must be actively involved
in constructing their own knowledge because they understand only
what they discover or interpret for themselves
Vygotsky and intellectual development. Believed children
learn thought, language and volition (the process of their own
thought processes and what they will do). Vygotsky believes
that learning occurs when assistance occurs from others
within the zone of proximal development. Vygotsky also
believed it essential for children to talk to and interact with
peers and adults as it is through talking, discussing,
o

listening, and problem solving that children develop new

concepts, skills, and competencies
Children need activities that give them something to talk
about a classroom atmosphere needs to be established to
allow this to occur- so children can converse together, role
play, use objects to represent ideas, events etc.
Our role as teacher is to facilitate discussions on how children
worked on a project, how they got the idea for improvisation,
why did they decide to use yellow crayons to represent a
certain food in the kitchen centre
as children talk, listen, and discuss shared experiences, they
gain insights into one anothers perceptions of the
experiences, how others view the world (Seefeldt, 2000, p.
158)
The arts and intellectual development
o Children involved in the creative arts process, expand their skills in
problem solving, language, basic concepts, memory
o Intellectual opportunities through the arts
Children can express what they see, feel, think & want to
communicate
Explore/experiment with sound texture, colour, pretending,
creating
Express ideas and feelings about themselves, their
environment and the world as they understand it
Learn to use judgement without criticism
Use a variety of materials to solve problems
Develop a more mature vocab to use in discussing, exploring
& inquiring about different experiences
Strengthen their ability to imagine, create and observe
Gain confidence in their ability to express themselves
Define problems & seek solutions
Make decisions
Increase their awareness and use of kinaesthetic (learning by
doing) experiences
Develop, visual, auditory, kinaesthetic awareness and change
it to artistic expression
Form concepts of what they want to draw, how they want to
dance, or how they will act out a story
Rearrange & alter materials for self-satisfaction
Lengthen attention span & increase attending skills
Practice resourcefulness & alternatives
Gain a sense of self-direction, initiative & independent
thinking
Emotional and social development
o Erik Erikson psychological conflicts that human beings must
resolve in the development of personality
o Sometimes young children cant pinpoint feelings, or express in
vocab, however they can express & represent feelings through
drawing, painting, pounding clay, or acting out a part

Emotional and social opportunities through the arts

Work as individuals/groups
Take turns, share materials-space-equipment
Respect others rights, opinions & feelings
Develop group leadership & followership qualities
Discuss, explore, & inquire about different experiences in the
arts
Respect themselves through their accomplishments
Share personal concerns, feelings & positive regard for one
another
Plan, problem solve & maintain an environment of positive
support for self and others
Use participatory methods for decision making
Feel influential and of value to the group process
Build self-esteem
Support social development by sharing & asking questions
Express deeply personal thoughts and feelings that may be
otherwise unacceptable
Identify fears & learn to manage them
Excel in a particular area & feel recognized
Gain a sense of acceptance in a group
Feel that their efforts are worthwhile
Feel valued by others
Develop communication skills
Every art encounter requires that children use intellectual, social and
emotional skills, concepts and knowledge through the creative process
Aesthetics concerns feelings & responses to colour, form and design
When children have opportunities to view & explore beautiful things in
their classroom & in the world, they begin to appreciate the uniqueness of
a pleasing and sensory- rich environment (Schirrmacher, 2002) in Edwards
Parsons (1987) stages in the development of aesthetic responses
o 1. An interest in colour favourites, pictorial representation, a
personal connection to the subject, and an enjoyment of painting
o 2. Beauty/realism characterized by the viewer liking a painting
because it is beautiful & represents reality
o 3. Observer notices what kind of feelings the work or art produces,
regardless of the subjects beauty/realistic qualities
o 4. Style & form-when the viewer is aware of their ability to interpret
a painting
o 5. Autonomy-judgement is individually based, yet the observer has
the need for discussion/intersubjective understanding
When using this model, teachers can ask appropriate ?s to
individual children and in small groups so that children can
express their thoughts about a particular work of art & can
listen to the ideas, feelings & thoughts of others
Howard Gardners theory of multiple intelligences
o 9 separate & distinct intelligences
Linguistic
Logical-mathematical
o

Spatial
Bodily/kinaesthetic
Musical
Interpersonal
Intrapersonal
Naturalistic intelligence
Existential intelligence (the intelligence of big ?s)

Sensory awareness development

TOUCH:

Use a 'feely bag' or 'mystery box' in which diverse things are placed,
e.g., a chamois, steel wool, a stone, etc which are changed regularly
Messy play activities such as gloop and jelly
Encourage children to bring in 'found objects, from nature and put
them in a special place on a table
Collect nature materials to use in creative arrangements
Collect textures, bumpy, smooth, rough, slippery, fuzzy, furry, and
scratchy.
Make a collection of texture rubbings from the environment.
Pass around favourite objects and discuss the way they feel
Do a nature walk around the playground and feel a tree
Take off shoes and walk with a partner on the lino, carpet, concrete,
grass
Foot printing, hand printing, fingerprinting (be careful of slipping and
the mess
Pretend you are holding a pineapple, a kitten, a brick, an echidna, etc
Collect and use textured objects for collage activities

SMELL:

Close eyes and smell a range of things from perfume, a flower, pencil
shavings, pepper, etc
Sensory responses can trigger 'emotional recall' of some place or
experience, e.g. the bakery, chemist, garage, hospital, butcher's,
hairdresser's
Some environments have particular smells, e.g. a gym, the swimming
pool, your kitchen, think about what your favourite meal smells like,
etc.

HEARING:

Go on a listening walk holding hands with a partner-encourage

drawings or paintings of what was heard-predominant sound
Close eyes and listen for sounds in the environment-identify them
How many sounds can water make?
Listen to different types of music-paint to music, e.g. Mozart, Bach
What colours would different sounds have?
Have a range of mystery sounds for the children to identify

SIGHT:

Try 'looking walks' in the neighbourhood, the playground. Make it a

time for looking and touching when children really feel the textures
around them.

Collect objects from your walk and examine them for colour, texture,
shape,
Patterns.
Observation games, e.g., change objects in the room and get them to
identify which ones are gone. Rows of objects-close eyes and alter
their positions or remove,
Get an ants-eye view of the world-draw it; a birds-eye view, etc
Look at the world through cellophane papers and observe how it
changes
Explore glass prisms for rainbows, etc
Observe the way a flower changes over a week and do
drawings/paintings of it.

UNDERSTANDING THE CREATIVE PROCESS

Creative process-is a sequence of steps/stages a creative person proceeds

in clarifying a problem, working on it, producing a solution that resolves
the difficulty.
Creative product is the output of the person, the material or the concrete
result from the process
Process & the product are both important
Often difficult to pinpoint where the process ends and the product begins
Imitative procedures as found in colouring books and workbooks, makes a
child dependent in their thinking; making the child inflexible because he
has to follow what he has been given
o They dont provide emotional relief because they dont give the
child an opportunity to express their own emotions, or promote
skills and disciplines
o They condition the child to adult concepts which he cannot produce
alone and which therefore frustrate his own creative ambitions
Experiential approach when we engage in an activity or process and do
now know what the steps will be along the way- we dont know what the
outcome will look like; we are not aware of how we will reach an outcome
or if there is even an outcome
Experiential we are guided by our experience, perceptions, imaginations
interaction with material other than people
Experimental the scientific approach to discovery
o We experiment, we examine the validity of a hypothesis or make a
test to validate the truth
Wallas Model of the creative process
o Proposed 4 primary stages in the creative process
Preparation-process of gathering info, reviewing data or
materials, identifying the problem, locating resources needed
at the beginning to tackle the task
Incubation-letting things develop without consciously working
on them-the unconscious takes place while we are involved in
different/unrelated activities
Illumination-the light bulb moment
Verification-when the excitement has passed and we test the
concept/critically analyse the solution
Balkin adds to Wallass model the re factor

Rethink; reconsider; replace; refine; redo; reaffirm; reprocess;

rewrite; reconceptualise
Torrances characteristics of creativity
o Identified 4 characteristics/abilities essential to the creative process
Fluency-ideas-verbal/nonverbal, allows a free flow of
associations related to ideas and thoughts
Flexibility-explore different ways of approaching
problems/solutions-looking at things from different
perspectives
Originality-to have a new idea or to produce something
unique- recreate something that already exists
Elaboration-embellish or extend thoughts/ideas add detail
or finishing touches
Learning and meaning come to a person through 3 main sources
o Cognition-conveyed through knowledge, comprehension,
application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation
o Affect-revealed through receiving, responding, valuing, organizing,
and characterizing by values
o Psychomotor-evidenced by body awareness, spatial awareness,
balance, and fundamental motor skills
When children are involved in expressing their feelings and in using their
power of imagination, sensory responses and thinking processes, growth
in all 3 domains of learning is broadened and deepened
WHILE WE TRY TO TEACH OUR CHILDREN ALL ABOUT LIFE, OUR
CHILDREN TEACH US WHAT LIFE IS ALL ABOUT Angela SCHWINDT
THE TEACHING/LEARNING ATMOSPHERE
o Psychological safety must be a safe environment where everyone
feels accepted by each other- sharing of information-building a
sense of community
o Comfort zone-secure enough to take risks, accept mistakes,
acknowledge our accomplishments and appreciate the
accomplishments of others
o Encouragement everyone maintains an open and inquisitive mind,
encourage self-direction, self-motivation and autonomy by initiating
activities designed to extend knowledge, explore possibilities and
expand horizons
o Fulfilment-our own beliefs and values about the arts & creativity are
shaped by our experiences. We are open and receptive to learning
and affirm our fulfilment with enthusiasm and satisfaction
The authors students identified the following aspects as necessary to
enter into and respond to the creative process:
o Being assured that I will not be expected to be talented
o Being accepted by my peers
o Trusting my professor to be nonjudgmental
o Belonging to a community of learners
o Having some choices in decision making
o Genuineness on the part of the professor
o Opportunities for co-operative learning
o Appreciation of my cultural values
o Shared problem solving
o

o
o

Clear expectations of my role in the class

Activities that foster cooperation rather than competition

ENCOURAGING PLAY AND CREATIVE DRAMA IN THE CLASSROOM

Childrens play is the primary vehicle that enables children to learn about
themselves and others and about the world in which they live and to
progress along the developmental sequence from infancy to middle
childhood
Levels of social play
o Solitary playo Onlooker play-child may talk to others, or ask ?s about the play of
other children, but doesnt enter into the play with others
o Parallel play-children may play with the same or similar materials,
but play independently. They dont share toys each child is
independent of what others are doing e.g. putting puzzles together;
building with small blocks
o Associative play-children play together, but play is loosely
organized- they may use each others toys, ask ?s, but play is not
organized into specific situations e.g. children might decide to play
tag and begin by chasing each other around the playground-some
may continue & some may decide not to participate in the activity
o Cooperative play-involves organization and shared goals. Each child
assumes a specific role & the play of the group is dependent on the
cooperation of each member. Play is organized for a purpose with a
division of responsibilities e.g. hospitals some children be the
doctor, others the patients or nurses
Sociodramatic play-play in which children assume roles and act out
episodes
SDP often described as play that involves social role playing with others
and refers to childrens pretend play when two or more children assume
related roles and interact with each other
Children construct knowledge from within, and play does more to facilitate
this process than all the teacher talk heard on this planet
Sociodramatic play holds great value for children it is through
sociodramatic play that children re-create what they know about
themselves, others, and the environment, and they do so by their own
choices/decisions
Creative Drama:
o Is more structured than sociodramatic play-moves beyond
sociodramatic play in scope and purpose
o It may make use of a story with a beginning, middle and an end
however always improvised drama. Dialogue is created by the
players, whether the content is taken from well known story, or as
an original plot. Lines are not written down or memorized. With
each playing, the story becomes more detailed and better
organized, and has no time designed for an audience
o When children are involved in creative drama they interpret
suggestions, stories or events using their own actions and dialogue

o
o

Formal costumes and scenery are INAPPROPRIATE for creative

drama, although simple props such as hats, scarves etc already in
the classroom, can be used for enhancing imaginative expression
and action
Creative drama goal is not to perform for an audience, but used to
enhance childrens creative expressiveness through artistic,
intellectual and socially shared experiences
It is a means of self expression that encourages movement, gesture
and verbal and nonverbal communication
Teachers can plan for these experiences e.g. after a trip to a farm, a
bakery or a grocery store, children will often act out the people and
events they encountered along the way. You can encourage them to
assume the roles and activities of the people they met by providing
a supportive environment for them to re-enact what they have
heard/seen incorporate literature after reading a story,
encourage children to develop creative drama to act out the
characters etc
Plan creative drama activities for some of the movement and music
ideas e.g. encourage them to use words and actions to describe the
process of growing, being in the rain and almost touching the clouds
if children are exploring space and force, ask them to pretend they
are pushing a heavy wagon filled with something special and are on
their way to an adventure
Suggest to children they are holding an imaginary box. Inside the
box is a kitten with very soft fur-ask the children to handle the
kitten, look at it, tell what they would like to do with the kitten, and
then pass it on to another child
Creative drama comes from within a child, is created by the child, is
based on the childs experience and understanding and is always
IMPROVISED drama
Childrens THEATRE is very different from creative drama. Is
audience centred and has public performance as its goal. Refers to
formal productions rehearsed for an audience-it is directed-dialogue
is memorized-and props, costumes and scenery are important to
the production-best suited for primary students
GARDNERS THEORY OF MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES:
Intrapersonal intelligence-refers to our ability to access our
own feelings-the range of emotions and affective states we
experience on a day to day basis and to draw upon them as a
means of understanding and guiding our behaviour
Creative drama promotes rich and meaningful dialogue that
allows children to reflect on and explore their own feelings
Provides for the healthy release of feelings through
appropriate and acceptable channels
Through all areas of creative drama, children can experiment
with ways of interpreting strong feelings by assuming roles
that lie outside of their personal, affective states

Interpersonal intelligence-turns outwards to others. It is our

capacity to discern and respond appropriately to the moods,
temperaments, motivations, and desires of other people
Through creative drama activities, encourage children to
make noises using parts of their bodies other than their
voices e.g. click their tongues, clap their hands, breathe
loudly, stamp their feet, or tap parts of their bodies
Seize the opportunity to use real life challenges of children to
help them access their own feelings ask children to think of
something in school they would like to change & name the
reasons they cant-ask children to pretend what would
happen if their wish to change something really did come
true
Give yourself permission to stand back and be a facilitator
ENCOURAGING PLAY AND IDEAS
See PROP BOX
For early childhood classrooms, descriptors for assessing
would be better determined through observation, role
playing, creative drama situations, and free play, using
checklists such as:
Uses imagination
Engages in role play
Makes believe in regard to object
Makes believe in regard to actions and situations
Is persistent
Interacts with other children
Communicates with other children
Creative drama offers one of the richest opportunities for
creative growth is encompasses the greatest variety of
experiences because it deals with thought, feeling,
imagination, movement, vocalization and words, and the
opportunity for self understanding and our understanding of
others