The Arts and Young Children

In this module, I explored the nature of young artists and what is meant by "the creative arts." I also learned why the arts should be taught in early childhood and what a well-designed arts curriculum looks like. Finally, I learned about the role of the early childhood professional/teacher in creative arts education.

Here are my responses to related questions/prompts.

The Creative Arts and the Early Childhood Professional’s/Teacher’s Role

What are the creative arts?

My response: The arts exist in all societies and have been part of human existence since prehistoric times. Ellen Dissanayake (1995) points out that art creation is taking ordinary things and making them special. She argues that making art is part of being human—a normal behavior in which all people participate. Jessica Davis (2008) notes that as long as people have made tools they have also made art. Through the creative manipulation of visual, auditory, dramatic, and spatial elements, the arts express the history, culture, and soul of the peoples of the world, both past and present.

What is the early childhood professional’s/teacher’s role in early arts education?

My response: To teach children multiple ways to help them communicate and express themselves. Help children get stronger in areas that will developmentally build character. 

The Four Art Forms

All of the arts incorporate creative problem solving, playfulness, and the expression of feelings and ideas. The term “the arts” encompasses all the different ways of doing this. In our textbook, the term “art forms” is used to refer to four unique disciplines, four unique ways of expressing feelings and ideas. What are these four art forms?

My response:

1. Music 

2. Visual Arts

3. Creative movements

4. Drama

Why the Arts?

All of the following have been suggested as important reasons children should be taught the arts. I thought carefully about each item and then ranked each by its importance. I wrote a number in front of each, with 1 being the highest rank and 9 being the lowest. Based on my ranking, I wrote a statement (a paragraph, comprised of 3-5 well-composed sentences) that explains why I feel the arts are essential for young children. I will share this information with parents and others to help them understand the importance of the arts in early childhood.

Here is my ranking.

_6_ The arts are part of being human.

_1_ The arts stimulate brain development.

_3_ The arts promote early literacy.

_7_ The arts improve physical health.

_4_ The arts promote emotional well-being.

_8_ The arts create community.

_5_ The arts foster cognitive growth.

_2_ The arts nurture creativity.

Here is my statement.

The arts are essential for young children because . . .

Art can meet many foundations that is needed for curriculum. When children are having fun, as a group, they are learning to listen to each other (Social Development) as well as working and taking turns (Health and physical Development). Art can be taught to relieve stress and a source of self-healing that will improve the quality of their lives (Emotional Development)

My Personal Arts Timeline

I reflected on all the arts experiences that I personally have had to date, at various ages/stages.  Here is information about my personal involvement in the arts over the years, as well as my responses to related questions.

From birth to age 8 (the early childhood period)

My response: Can't remember much of this age range but I do remember that I loved listening to my daddy stereo system. He had a whole set up with the 8-disc player and 2 big speakers with the 2 mini speakers that went with it. My dad use to play old school songs that I still enjoy to this day. I would like to say that I think my dad is the reason why I love music so much.

From age 9 to age 12

My response: I do this now which is funny to me, but I remember waking up Saturdays and Sundays to my mom BLASTING gospel music while smelling the eggs and salmon patties. Saturdays meant we are waking up to clean the house and Sundays meant we had to get ready for church. What I would do to get to go back to this time! 

From age 13 to age 19

My response: This age group is around the time I started to lose my close loved ones including my daddy. I turned to music really hard. I used it to help cope, calm me down and release. This is also when I started to learn that movement added to music creates a type of sensation that can please the mind, body and soul. Dancing now is something that I do with my family, classroom and friends.  It distracts my pain, and loosen my muscles when I am in a tense phase. I had my first child between this age range. I would walk around and dance with her in my arms or dance with her as she grew up.

From age 20 to age 30

My response: Definitely a time. I took my dancing clubs and dance with my friends and strangers. It's amazing how music can bring people together. I was never an art (drawings, sculptures) person but I went to Cancun for the first time and the pieces there blew my mind.

From age 30 to age 50+

My response: I use dancing and music to distract my toddlers in my class. I sing songs for transition time and educational purposes. I use drawings to help improve the children fine motor skills. When someone is sick or not feeling well, I will get the children to draw "get well" cards to express how they feel. I use visual arts to help keep my toddlers engaged with my when we have circle time.

Do you remember more experiences from your early childhood or your later years?

My response: My memory is not the same but what I typed above are memories that I will never forget because it involves some of the people that I love and care for.

Which ones are happy memories?

My response: Dancing with my father, Dancing with my children

Do any memories make you feel uncomfortable?  If so, which ones?

My response: I would say the only one that made me feel uncomfortable was when I use to dance in the clubs with my friends. I thank God nothing happened to me but thinking back, I think most of the "strangers" that I danced with were over my age group. 

What adults participated in creating these memories?  What were their roles?  How did they support or fail to support you? 

My response: My dad was a major role in my life that help contribute my love for music. He loved music as well. Whenever we ride out to different states we wouldn't talk much but listen to music majority of the ride. Whenever I was afraid of something, he would play music to calm me.

How will these memories affect the way you will approach your work with young children in the arts?

My response: I learned to use music in ways to benefit me. I use music to control my classroom, calm my children, teach my children how to self sooth.

A Well-Designed Arts Curriculum

Several theorists have contributed to our understanding of what constitutes a well-designed arts curriculum. Among them, three stand out.  They are:

1.  Jean Piaget

2. Lev Vygotsky

3. Howard Gardner

Creating Visual Art

Artists have been creating visual arts for thousands of years. Much of what is known about civilizations of the past has been shared with us through the culture's visual artworks. Providing young children the opportunity to work with a wide variety of visual arts media in open-ended ways facilitates the growth of both the mind and hand. It is also a link to our past and our future. Early childhood professionals must ensure that all children have the opportunity to explore new media, create graphic symbols, and develop technical skill.

What are the Visual Arts?

My response:

The visual arts involve the creation of two- and three-dimensional images that communicate ideas and emotions. 

How Do the Visual Arts Help Children Grow?

My response:

Through the visual arts children will develop:

• Physically - By using the large and small muscles of the arm and hand and eye-hand coordination to handle the different art media. (Bodily-Kinesthetic) 

• Socially - By working alongside other children and sharing arts materials. (Interpersonal)           

• Emotionally - By learning to enjoy the act of creating visual art and by developing self-confidence in their ability to control a part of their environment as they handle challenging tools and materials safely. (Intrapersonal)

• Perceptually - By exploring new ways to make graphic symbols in two- and three-dimensional space, and by responding to the visual and textual effects they have created. (Spatial)

• Language skills - By learning a vocabulary of visual art words, and by learning how to communicate about their artwork and the work of others, orally, with graphic symbols, and, at the primary level, through writing. (Linguistic)

• Cognitively - By seeing that their creative actions and decisions can cause the effect of producing a visual image, and by developing the ability to compare and evaluate their own work and the work of others. (Logical-Mathematical)

• Visual art concepts and skills - By meeting the Common Core Standards for Visual Art.

How Are Visual Arts Activities Designed?

Visual arts media can be used by children of all ages, but children vary greatly in maturity level and ability to concentrate on a visual arts activity. The choice of an activity should be based, first of all, on each child's day-to-day behavior rather than on chronological age. The presentation of the activity should always be adjusted to the developmental level and needs of the children, as described below.

My response:

• One-on-One - For infants and young toddlers, who still put things in their mouths, the best way to introduce arts materials and tools is to work with just one child at a time. This allows the child to work under close supervision with a caring adult who can provide   immediate positive feedback and share in the child's joyful creation.

• Exploration Centers - Older toddlers and preschoolers will need to spend time discovering how the different art media work. This is the exploration stage. At this level visual art is best presented through art centers where arts materials are arranged in attractive and organized ways that invite independent use. Children should be able to freely choose from a variety of materials and explore on their own as part of their natural play.

• Practice Activities - Once children are familiar with a material, they will need plenty of opportunity to revisit and practice. This is the revisitation stage. Art centers, stocked with beautifully displayed, familiar materials allow choice and continued exploration. Centers allow children to return again and again to familiar materials and tools. In addition, these materials will be at the ready for use in small group or class projects and integrated arts units.

• Responsive Activities - Once they have gained sufficient fine motor control and arts skill, children will be able to focus and refine the ideas and feelings they are trying to communicate in their artwork. This is the responsive stage. Responsive activities are often based on common experiences shared by the whole class. In these cases, opportunities for the whole class to make paintings or work with clay at the same time make sense. Working together in this way allows children to see how each of them responds in different ways to the same stimuli. But whole class activities should never replace access to a well-supplied art center.

Creating Visual Art

Process Art Versus Product Art

Early childhood professionals must be committed to process art, regardless of the age/developmental characteristics of the children they serve.  To better understand what this means, I read the NAEYC article, How Process-Focused Art Experiences Support Preschoolers (https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/tyc/feb2014/process-art-experiences).  

Here is my explanation of the differences between process art and product art, written in 15 or fewer well-composed sentences.

My response:

Nurturing Creativity

What is Creativity?

If there is one word most often associated with the arts, it is creativity. We even call them the creative arts. However, that doesn't mean that all arts activities are inherently creative or allow children to express themselves creatively.

Creativity has been the subject of much research and analysis, yet there is no generally accepted definition. A creative act can be viewed in many ways. What is thought of as creative behavior in one time and place may not be thought of as creative behavior in another. Different researchers have offered the following descriptions of creativity.

1. UNIQUENESS. Creativity is inventing something truly unique, something that astonishes the viewer or user and produces “effective surprise” (Bruner, 1979, p. 12). Thomas Edison's invention of the light bulb or Georges Seurat's use of tiny dots of color to create the style of pointillism are examples of unique products that are considered highly creative.

2. RULE BREAKING. Creativity is doing something that goes beyond the accepted rules but in a new way that may at first meet resistance but is eventually understandable and acceptable to a wider audience (Boden, 1990, p. 12). For example, the composer Arnold Shoenberg created a mathematically based twelve-tone method of music composition and introduced atonal music that was initially poorly received.

3. PROBLEM SOLVING. E. P. Torrance (1970) described creativity as the ability to see a problem, form an idea to solve it, and then share the results. The innovative American architect Frank Lloyd Wright thought houses should be inexpensive and fit their environment, so he developed slab construction and designed the “prairie home,” which became the prototype for the contemporary ranch-style home.

4. AN INTERACTIVE PROCESS. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1996, 1997) views creativity as a complex process that reflects an individual's motivation to solve a problem, not alone but in interaction with the requirements of a particular field of study and with other experts in that area of study as well as with the public. For example, a choreographer, in a desire to express a particular idea, invents a new style of dance. The resulting performance reflects the choreographer's experiences and knowledge of how the body can move. This piece will then be judged and accepted or rejected by other choreographers, dancers, and the public.

5. MAKING SOMETHING NEW. Jane Piirto believes creativity reflects the “basic human need to make new” (2004, p. 37). In this view, creativity is not something unique to a few people who make big changes in the world - what has been called by Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi (1996) the “Big C”- but is part of each of us (the “little c”), such as that which helps us figure out how to arrange furniture in our classroom for optimal learning or design an activity plan that best meets the needs of our particular children. Creativity is the mechanism by which people use past knowledge and learned skills to meet the needs of a new situation or to solve a problem.

5. CREATIVE THINKING SKILLS. Research by Amabile (1983), Feldman and Goldsmith (1986), Gardner (1993), Csikszentmihalyi (1996), and Gruber and Wallace (1999) identifies the following characteristics of creative people:

• They are passionately interested in and also skilled in a particular area of learning, such as science, the arts, or writing, and can identify areas where new ideas are needed or fit and are willing to try something never done before.

• They have the ability to imagine a range of possibilities. They are playful, flexible thinkers who generate many possible ways of doing something or of solving a problem.

• They are energetic and highly persistent and do not give up, even if they fail many times.

• When something goes wrong or fails, they are intrigued instead of discouraged.

• They set high personal standards for themselves and push themselves to learn more and work harder.

• They are dissatisfied with what already exists or is known or can be done.

• They are intrinsically motivated, willing to work hard and to struggle with frustration, and yet find great pleasure and satisfaction in the act of creation, or flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 2008).

• They have multiple problems and projects that they are working on at the same time.

6. DIVERGENT THINKING. J. P. Guilford (1986) proposed a model of intelligence that includes divergent thinking as one of the basic thought processes. Divergent thinking can be defined as the ability to generate many different solutions to a problem and is a key component of creative problem solving. It is characterized by:

• Fluency - Producing a multitude of diverse ideas or solutions. An example of fluency would be when a child thinks of many different ways to move like a bird.

• Flexibility - Seeing things from alternative viewpoints. Flexibility is seen when a child plays several different roles, such as mother, child, and police officer, in pretend play.

• Originality - Thinking of ideas or solutions that have never been thought of before. An example of this is when a child takes two magazine clippings of different objects, such as a clock and a bird, and glues them together to create a clock-headed bird.

• Elaboration - Improving ideas by adding on or expanding them. Children building with blocks elaborate on each other's ideas when they connect what they have made to someone else's creation, such as when one child makes the garage and the other makes the car to go in it.

Why is Creativity Important?

In our rapidly evolving technological society, creativity and innovation are essential. Our children will grow up in a future that will require them not only to build on the past, but also remain ready to solve increasingly complex problems, ones that we cannot even imagine yet. Howard Gardner (2006) has identified creativity as one of the five different “minds” or ways of processing and acting upon information that need to be cultivated if an individual is to be successful in the workplace. He warns that those without creating capabilities can be replaced by computers.

How Can Early Childhood Professionals Support Children's Creativity?

Creativity is different from the other areas of growth that teachers try to develop in children. It is not something we can teach directly, but we must foster it through our attitude, behavior, and activity choices. Sometimes the children's creative solutions will challenge our tolerance for messiness and disorder. At other times, the inventiveness of a young child will fill us with awe. When selecting and designing arts activities for young children, remember that they will each respond creatively, based on their personally unique previous knowledge, not our preconceived idea of what they will do.

The entire learning environment must be designed around the elements that nurture creative processing. Teachers need to provide opportunities for children to gain knowledge and skill by exploring art media. Children need time to immerse themselves in arts creation, motivated by their boundless curiosity and the search for solutions.

Successful teachers of the arts value curiosity, exploration, and original behavior. They allow children to go at their own pace, figure things out for themselves, and encourage them to try new things. They refrain from making models; from using children's materials in an expert, adult way; and from requiring children to produce artwork that fits an adult idea of how it should appear or sound. They listen to the children and pay attention to what they are thinking. They observe the process that children go through, and pay less attention to the product of this process.

Finally, an enthusiastic teacher of the arts provides the children with many opportunities in which they can safely explore and pursue creative activities without interruption.

The Creative Process

Creativity can be seen as the human ability to use one's knowledge and skill to make plans, to try out ideas, and to come up with a response. This creative process or set of behaviors can be witnessed whenever someone solves a problem or produces a unique response to a situation.

Here are the steps in the creative process:

1. Knowledge - What individuals already know about what they are exploring

2. Motivation - The inner drive to accomplish something

3. Skill - The development of expertise in using tools and materials or in carrying out an action

4. Immersion - Being intensely focused on creating something unique with this knowledge and skill

5. Incubation - A period of time in which individuals think and process what they know and what they wish to do

6. Production - The active pursuit of a solution or expressive act which may or may not lead to a creative product, presentation, or performance; or which may be unsuccessful, resulting in the entire process starting over.

Early childhood professionals must be intentional in their efforts to plan and implement experiences for young children that will support them through every step in the creative process.

Do Schools Kill Creativity?

I watched the TedTalk, Do Schools Kill Creativity? (https://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_do_schools_kill_creativity) featuring the late creativity expert, Sir Ken Robinson. If I were asked to share with my fellow early childhood professionals and/or the parents I serve the 5 most important things I learned from the video that would help me/my colleagues/parents to support rather than kill children's creativity, this is what I would share.

1. To support (rather than kill) children's creativity, adults should rethink the fundamental principles on which we are educating our children.

2.  To support (rather than kill) children's creativity, adults should see our creative capacities for the richness they are and seeing our children for the hope they are.

3. To support (rather than kill) children's creativity, adults should be careful with the gift of the adult imagination. 

4.  To support (rather than kill) children's creativity, adults should educate the child's whole being so they can face their future. 

5.  To support (rather than kill) children's creativity, adults should rethink our view of intelligence.

Artistic Development

How Do Young Children Develop in the Arts?

Creative arts for the child involve more than the simple manipulation of materials at an art table or putting on unusual clothes in a dramatic play center.  There is a developmental process at work.  A number of researchers/theorists have studied children’s development in the arts, including Lowenfeld, Gardner, Kellogg, and Kindler and Darra, and their work helps us interpret children’s creative processes and products, and plan for their future work.  The artistic development of individual children is a combination of the biological maturation patterns of the body and brain, mediated by social and cultural factors and experiences.  Children’s artistic growth is not a step-by-step process but rather a multifaceted way for children to develop in the arts through new methods of expression and communication.  Table 3-2 on pages 61-62 of our textbook provides a good summary of children’s development in the arts.  Early childhood professionals have a responsibility to document and share this growth with the aid of cameras, video recorders and portfolios.

Developmentally appropriate practice, the hallmark of quality in early childhood education, is based on the idea that early childhood professionals must know how young children typically develop, what variations may occur in this development, and how to adjust their teaching/curriculum to meet the needs of each individual child.  To do this we must ask ourselves the following three questions, which are the basis of developmentally appropriate practice and which help us select the best arts activities for the children we serve:

• What is known about child development and learning?  This knowledge helps us identify the child’s expected developmental level by directing us to look at the child’s similarity to others of the same age.  This is called normative development.  In order to plan appropriate arts experiences for young children, early childhood professionals must know what children are generally like at various ages so they can make decisions about which arts activities/experiences will be safe and appropriately challenging.

• What is known about each child’s individual development?  This knowledge helps us discover what makes each child uniquely different from others so we can better meet individual children’s needs during arts (and other) activities.  Children have unique strengths, needs and interests, due to maturational differences, developmental delays, physical challenges or other factors.  Early childhood professionals must know about a great deal about the individual children they serve in order to plan arts activities/experiences that meet individual children’s needs and interests.

• What is known about the social and cultural context in which children live?  This knowledge helps us better understand the communication style, cultural beliefs and attitudes, strengths and desires of both the child and the child’s family.  Some children have been exposed to images and art forms in the home, community and media, while others have not.  Some children have received encouragement to pursue arts activities and positive feedback on their explorations, while others have not. 

What is Known About Child Development in the Arts?

According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children's Position Statement on Developmentally Appropriate Practice (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009, pp. 1-31), being knowledgeable about normative development, or what children are generally like at various ages, allows teachers to make initial decisions about which activities and experiences will be safe, but challenging, for young children.

The following information is intended to provide general guidelines from which appropriate arts activities may be selected.

INFANT. In our textbook, the term infant is used to refer to children from birth to 18 months. Infants have the following characteristics:

• Explore first with mouth and later with eyes and limbs

• Use movements, gestures, and vocalizations to communicate

• Have very limited self-regulatory skills and require constant supervision

• Show development of physical control from the head down and from the center of body out to the limbs

• Are strongly attached to caregivers and respond best in one-on-one settings

• Have short memories and attention spans

• Can learn to respond to simple commands

TODDLER. In our textbook, the term toddler is used to refer to children between the ages of 18 months and 3 years who may exhibit the following characteristics:

• Need to explore with all their senses and may still put objects in their mouth

• Have limited self-regulatory skills and require close supervision

• Engage in parallel play

• Show developing control over large muscles in the arms and legs

• Have short attention spans, usually less than 10 minutes, and need simple materials to explore

• Need to repeat actions

• Say names of objects and understand more words than they can say

• Are developing a sense of self

THREE- TO FIVE-YEAR-OLDS (PRESCHOOLERS). Most children of this age display the following characteristics:

• Show increasing self-control and can work side by side in small groups

• Usually will not put inappropriate items in mouth

• Show developing control over wrists, hands, and fingers

• Have an increasing attention span and can work independently for 10 minutes or more at a time

FIVE- TO SIX-YEAR-OLDS OR KINDERGARTNERS. Most children in this age range display the following behaviors:

• Show increasing control over wrists and hands and exhibit a more mature grip on drawing tools

• Can concentrate for a period of time, 30 minutes or more, on a self-selected arts activity

• Can work together in small groups of three to six on common projects and are able to share some supplies

• May dictate or be able to write stories with invented spelling

• Can follow a three-step direction

• Can classify objects and make predictions

• Can use words to describe the qualities of objects—color, size, and shape—and begin to sort them by those qualities

SIX- TO EIGHT-YEAR-OLDS OR PRIMARY AGE. Most children in this age range show the following behaviors:

• Hold drawing tools with a mature grip

• Concentrate for an hour or more on a self-selected arts activity and return to an ongoing arts project over a period of several days

• Initiate, participate, and assume roles in cooperative group arts activities

• Begin to read and write stories with the majority using conventional spelling by the end of the eighth year

• Understand that objects can share one or more qualities and can use this knowledge to make predictions and comparisons and to draw conclusions

Looking at all the factors affecting a child artist is essential to planning an arts activity or, in fact, any learning activity for that child and assessing the resulting performance. While normative growth charts give us some idea of what to expect from a group of toddlers or primary age children, we should never assume that if a child is a certain age, or is offered the same arts activities as another, we will be able to predict exactly what that child will do with them. But when we understand the range of possible responses, recognize individual difference as normal, and know our children as unique beings with their own histories and passions, we will better choose activities for them.  The growth of young children, from exploring scribblers and babblers to symbol-creating artists, musicians, dancers, and actors, is an amazing journey. This is what makes teaching the arts to children so exciting.

DAP Filters for Selecting Arts Experiences Experiences

Based on what we know about how children develop in the arts, we must consider four things in selecting appropriate arts activities for the children in our care.

• WE MUST HAVE REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS. Developmental stage models and an understanding of the factors affecting individual development enhance our understanding of why children's arts performance looks the way it does. But it should not limit our expectations or make us hesitate to try a certain activity. Among young children, we should expect a range of behaviors, from simple exploration based on their level of physical control to complex expressions of their ideas. Within an age cohort, the creative arts produced by children will vary widely, depending on the children's cultural and social experiences and their familiarity with the art form. For example, it is not at all unusual within a group of four-year-olds to witness some children scribbling, some using a limited number of symbolic forms, and some drawing complex graphic symbols. We must accept the scribblers' and babblers' artistic performances as just as valid and important as the more adult-pleasing recognizable pictures, songs, and stories, and select open-ended activities that allow all participants to be creative and personally successful.

• WE MUST VALUE CHILDREN'S ART PRODUCTION AS A DEVELOPMENTAL PROCESS, NOT AS A PRODUCT. It is essential to find ways of recording and presenting not just the final product or performance, but the whole process of creation. Anyone who has watched and participated in a child's arts activity knows that the final product may be a letdown. Young dancers may trip and hesitate as they attempt to glide around the stage. Beginning singers may sound out of tune. Arts activities needs to be accompanied by a record of what the children said, the stages the works passed through, and how the children moved as they worked. This is a challenge for a busy, overworked teacher, but it is not impossible.

• WE MUST UNDERSTAND BETTER WHAT THE CHILD IS THINKING. Knowing the physical, social, cultural, and emotional factors affecting a child helps us better understand and accept the young artist's behavior and resulting creative work. For example, a smiling child banging and stabbing the paper with a crayon is probably not being aggressive, but more likely exploring the possibilities of the crayon. A child doing the same thing, but whose dog has just died, is probably expressing grief.

• WE MUST SELECT ACTIVITIES THAT ARE SUITABLE FOR PARTICULAR CHILDREN. Because there will always be a range of abilities in any group, the arts activities that teachers select must be open-ended and allow every child to be challenged. There must always be room for exploration as well as revisitation and responsive work.

Viktor Lowenfeld's Stages of Drawing Development in Children

Viktor Lowenfeld (1903–1960) was an Austrian-born professor of art education at Pennsylvania State University.  His ideas influenced many art educators in post-war United States. In particular, he emphasized "ways in which children at different stages of artistic development should be stimulated by appropriate media and themes, and . . . the curriculum . . . guided mainly by developmental considerations.  

Information about Lowenfeld’s stages of drawing development in children appears below.  Following this information, I identified the stage in drawing development (Lowenfeld) of four different children based on drawing samples provided by my instructor.

Unit: Coming Together Through the Arts

Some of the most joyful arts experiences children can have are those in which they work in a group to create something great together - a mural, a box robot, a musical revue, or an original dance. Working together for a common purpose forges children into a group. It becomes “our mural,” “our robot,” “our songs,” or “our dance.” It is not surprising that so many of the “class-building activities” of cooperative learning programs are based in the arts. It is easy to incorporate the ideas and skills of every child into an arts activity. Projects and investigations provide opportunities for fostering social-emotional development and promoting group bonding.

As with creativity, social-emotional skills flourish in an environment where children feel self-confident, where they are relaxed, and where they feel secure. A positive social climate develops when children feel that their ideas and feelings are accepted and valued. Qualities such as verbal encouragement, modeling empathy, using emotionally expressive language, and showing emotional warmth to each child have been shown to increase confidence, self-control, empathy, and cooperativeness.

We model acceptance by giving appropriate time, attention, and assistance to every child. The open-ended nature of the creative arts provides the perfect setting to do this. While engaged in arts activities, we can support children’s development of social-emotional skills by:

• Modeling self-regulation by remaining calm and showing patience in trying situations

• Communicating confidence and empathy by using words like we, us, ours, caring, and sharing, on a daily basis

• Providing opportunities to practice self-regulation and cooperative skills by offering arts activities that inspire children to want to work together

• Affirming children when they show confidence, act kindly, wait patiently, and share

• Asking reflective questions such as: Are the children working joyfully? Are they aware of each other's needs?

How Do We Respond to Challenging Behaviors During Arts Experiences?

Responding to inappropriate behavior during arts activities requires a gentle approach that addresses the behavior without restricting creativity nor crushing self-confidence. Early childhood professionals can foster safe, creative behavior in several ways:

• Offer only those activities, props, materials, and tools appropriate for the child's skill level.

• Keep materials and tools not on the child's skill level out of reach and out of sight.

• Provide each child with adequate space in which to work and move. Dangerous behavior often happens when children accidentally bump or push each other.

• Provide sufficient supplies to prevent the children from grabbing for that one special item.

• Closely supervise the children while they work, especially during initial explorations of new materials and tools.

• Keep group sizes small until the children know how to work safely with a particular technique, material, or tool.

• Keep arts supplies, musical instruments, and dramatic play materials orderly so that children do not have to dig or grab for what they want. Be sure there is sufficient open space for creative movement.

• Model safe movement and handling of tools and supplies at all times.

How Are Children with Special Needs Included in the Arts Program?

Because of the open-ended nature of well-designed arts activities, children with special needs can participate fully in most arts programs and group arts activities, often without many modifications. If necessary, changes can be made in the tools and environment to allow active participation. Also, all children must learn to accept and support those with special needs.

Children with special needs are a tremendously diverse group. Some have obvious disabilities, and others have disabilities that cannot be seen by the casual observer. The Individuals with Disabilities Act (Public Law 105-17) has identified ten categories of children who can receive special education services. These include children with learning disabilities, speech and language disabilities, mental retardation, emotional disturbance, multiple disabilities, autism, hearing disabilities, visual disabilities, orthopedic disabilities, and other health disabilities.  In addition, the law mandates that children with disabilities be educated in the least restrictive environment. As a result of this law, many children with disabilities will be found in regular educational settings (Heward, 2000). This has led to many inclusion programs for young children in which special provisions are made so that all children can achieve success.

How Do We Meet Children’s Special Needs?

Because children with special needs have unique developmental paths, inclusive early childhood programs need to focus on ways to help them become engaged in learning and in interacting socially with peers. Many of the following techniques suggested for working with mixed ages and abilities will also help children with special needs be successful.

SELECT OPEN-ENDED ACTIVITIES. Exploratory arts activities, which entice children with colors, textures, sounds, movements, and unexpected results, and which can be done alongside peers who are also exploring, can be vital to this process. Arts activities provide an opportunity for children to apply skills needed for further development. Grasping a marker or paintbrush prepares a child for holding a pencil for writing. Pushing and pulling playdough strengthens finger, hand, and arm muscles. Playing a xylophone improves hand-eye coordination.

INCLUSIVE PRACTICE.  Inclusive practice asks us to look at how we can adapt the environment and the activities we offer so that diverse learners can participate to their full extent.  Diverse learners are not all the same; they have different needs and abilities have the same rights and responsibilities as other children are still part of the class even though their ways of performing and learning may be different.  Inclusive arts activities are available and accessible to all students irrespective of class, gender, ethnicity, cultural background, or disability are adjusted to meet individual learning requirements match the materials and environment to the child's needs.  Inclusive teaching:

• is proactive, flexible, and reflective,

• recognizes that students and teachers process, store, organize, and retrieve information in different ways,

• takes into account a diversity of learning styles and learning preferences,

• considers the way in which materials will be used,

• considers the way in which materials are delivered, and

• focuses not on the disability, but on the effect the disability has on the student's ability to access, learn, and demonstrate knowledge and skills.

PROVIDE ASSISTANCE. When a child needs additional help to be successful, we should provide it in a way that does not draw a lot of attention. Pairing a child with special needs with a knowledgeable child or adult, for example, who can either get the supplies or help the child move in a dance activity without constant teacher direction reduces the chance of the child being singled out.

USE ROLE MODELS. Because the child may need to approach the task differently from others, model the method or action in many different ways to the whole group.

How Can We Modify Arts Experiences to Meet the Needs of Children with Special Needs/Diverse Ability Levels?

All children with special needs are individually unique in terms of how they cope with arts materials and will require individualized adaptations. The following information provides some general ideas.

Meeting Needs for Muscular Control

• Put trays across wheelchairs.

• Provide wheelchair-height tables.

• Make sure there is sufficient space for wheelchairs to join in creative dance activities.

• Use pillows to position the child to better manipulate materials and participate in singing and musical activities.

• Art tools such as crayons, markers, pencils, brushes, chalk, and oil pastels, as well as musical instruments such as drums, rattles, bells, maracas, and triangles, can be wrapped in foam hair curlers to improve grip. Velcro pieces can be attached to a cotton glove and to the arts object.

• Attach the drawing tool, paintbrush or musical instrument to an arm, prosthesis, foot or headgear. Some children without the use of their arms use their mouths. Drawing tools can be taped into cigarette holders, or a special holder can be made or purchased.  Remember, children do not draw or make music with their hands, but wth their minds.

• To facilitate cutting, provide a rotary cutting wheel and cutting mat instead of scissors.

• Use no-spill paint containers and thickened paint. Choose brushes in a size that best matches the child’s muscle control. Short, stubby brushes may work better than long-handled easel brushes. Foam brushes may make the paint easier to control.

Meeting Visual Needs

• Place a screen or textured surface under the paper to add texture to drawn lines.

• Use a fabric tracing or marking wheel to create a raised line. Place pads of newspaper or rubber mats beneath lightweight paper.

• Use scented crayons and markers. Add scents to paint and glue.

• Provide many tactile materials.

• Place arts materials and props in the same locations every time and attach tactile, identifying symbols to supply containers. For example, attach an actual piece of each collage material to collage storage bins. This will allow children to develop independence in obtaining their own supplies.

• If the child has some vision, find out which colors are easiest to see and provide many materials intherse colors. For example, fluorescent colors and reflective safety tapes may appeal to some children. Mark bold lines on the floor to guide the child during movement and dramatic activities.

Meeting Behavioral and Emotional Needs

• Select activities that have few steps and instant results, such as modeling, painting, making sounds, and puppetry. Expect lots of exploration and physical expression of feelings.

• For children who are easily distracted, provide work areas that allow plenty of space and that seem separate from the rest of the room.

• Select and arrange arts supplies carefully to help limit distractions.

Providing Other Assistance

• Some children who have visual or motor difficulties may need hand-over-hand assistance. Place a hand over the child’s to assist with such skills as dipping the paintbrush into the container and then onto the paper, or dipping a finger into paste and then applying it to the object glued.

• Some children may need their paper taped to the table to keep it from moving or wrinkling when they work.

• Add picture clues and labels.

• Use real objects for further understanding (e.g., a real apple as opposed to a picture of an apple).

• Incorporate children’s communication devices into the activity. For example, a child could play a sound on a communication board to accompany a song.

• Use multiple delivery modes. Say the directions, show the directions in pictures and words, use sign language, act out the directions.

Creating A Place for the Arts

When considering the physical learning environment, the emphasis for many years has been on efficient functioning and ease of cleaning.  Early childhood professionals have tended to avoid “messy” experiences, often to the detriment of children’s development.  One large space has been expected to serve all purposes.  It is not surprising that in such environments visual arts activities are limited to a multi-purpose table that must be cleared off at snack time, a few boxes of junk and perhaps a single easel.  Music and dance rarely occur, and dramatic play is found only in the dress-up corner.  Children deserve better than this. 

In order to create an environment that fosters joy and is conductive arts creation, major changes must occur in how early childhood professionals design and equip their classrooms.  The key to an enticing, functional place for children is an environment where children can focus on the activities and materials available, work independently and clean up when done.  The environment must be clean and functional, and meet the needs of individual children.  But that is not all.  The space must also demonstrate that the arts are valued – not simply as a playtime activity, but as a vital vehicle for self-expression.  Classrooms should be arranged such that children’s needs are met; teachers can move about easily to locate the supplies they need and focus on children’s activities; and beautiful workspaces inspire both children and adults to do their best work.  Unfortunately, our society as a whole suffers from a lack of aesthetic vision.  That must change.

What Kind of Environment is Needed for the Arts?

The learning environment is everything that surrounds us and exerts an influence over us. It consists of space, furnishings, time, and organizing elements. Environment affects our social and emotional sense of well-being. In preparing the environments in which children will create, there are unlimited possibilities. No two early childhood environments need to be alike, nor should they remain static. The environment should change as the children's interests and activities change. The key element is flexibility. When flexibility is built into the room, we can create the best environment for our children.

How space is organized determines what experiences can be offered to our children and what relationships will be formed. In designing the Reggio Emilia schools, Loris Malaguzzi emphasized the importance of the early childhood learning environment, calling it the “third teacher.” The aesthetics and organization of the surroundings we create will affect the mood, motion, and behavior of the young children in our care.

Developmentally appropriate practice reminds us to consider the needs of the children first when planning activity areas. Infants and toddlers need different kinds of spaces than do primary children. Infants and toddlers need room to move and freedom to explore in safety. They need challenging sensory materials at their level with places to be private and places for large movement. Older children need personalized spaces that make them feel like they belong, small and large group gathering areas that foster social communication and sharing, and learning centers that recognize their interests and passions while encouraging hands-on learning, independence, and creative thinking. Learning environments for all ages should allow children with special needs to participate fully. Families need to feel welcomed into their child's school and classroom. The arts and their ability to make things “special” provide an avenue for doing this.

The learning environment is the total space children use and how it is arranged. It includes outdoor areas as well as any entrances or hallways that the children will pass through or work in. The actual space is less important than its design. It does not matter if the program is in a home, in a large room, such as a church basement, or in classrooms designed especially for young children, when carefully planned almost any space can be effectively arranged to provide an excellent experience for young artists.

My instructor shared the following Pinterest boards related to creating beautiful, well-organized environments in which children can explore the arts and share their creations with others: Classroom Design and Documentation.

Reflection on Mrs. Myers’ Blog Entries

I was introduced to the blog, Inquiring Minds: Mrs. Myers’ Kindergarten.  I read the following two blog entries:

Our Room: An Environment Created for Investigating

Our Classroom Environment: Getting Set Up to Be The Third Teacher

In these entries, Mrs. Myers explains how she creates a classroom environment that promotes children's curiosity and investigation, an environment that serves as "the third teacher."

Here are the five most important things I learned from Mrs. Myers about how to create a classroom environment that promotes children’s curiosity and investigation, an environment that serves as “the third teacher.”

1. I learn about replacing commercial made Items (Store bought) with what the children make. It makes the classroom more interesting and fun for the children to see their artwork used as education.

2. Learning the fact that a classroom in itself is a third teacher. With majority of the items are natural, it gives the children opportunity to grow with and connect with on a deeper level.

3. Kids learn in different ways. I like that she organized a lot of the multiple art supplies, books, papers, etc. with its same color All the reds, all the blues. Having the color separated could help a child with ADHD, Vision problems or any other medical diagnosis.

4.  The "look closer" area is very interesting. It's giving my science and social studies in the same center. I like the idea because children can dive deeper in each item by examining the natural item that they have found outside or an item that is considered "cool" to them.

5. The Smaller divided shelfs make a crowded area look cleaner. 

Applying What I Have Learned About Creating Learning Environments Where Children Can Explore the Arts

I carefully read the information above about creating learning environments in which children can fully explore the arts - the visual arts, music, creative movement and the dramatic arts.  Based on that information, I will do the following to create learning environments where children can explore the arts.

Comfort

I will do the following 2 things to ensure that my early childhood learning environment is comfortable for children:

1. Make sure that my classroom setup is developmentally appropriate for the children. 

2. Provide an unlimited number of toys, books, etc. for each child to play with and not fight over. 

Softness

I will do the following 2 things to ensure that my early childhood learning environment incorporates softness:

1. Provide a cozy corner for children to calm down and reset.

2. Have soft toys and different types of sensory toys for the children. 

Safety and Health

I will do the following 2 things to ensure that my early childhood learning environment protects children's health and safety:

1. Examine each toy and center at the end of the day to make sure nothing is broken or ripped.

2. Talk about class safety in the classroom.

Privacy and Social Space

I will do the following 2 things to ensure that my early childhood learning environment includes both private spaces and social spaces:

1. Provide designated quiet areas for individual play or supervised privacy. 

2.   Create special group projects for the children to learn how to work together.

Order

I will do the following 2 things to ensure that my early childhood learning environment is intentionally structured to reflect my goals for the children:

1. Make sure the center is set up for children for when it is the expected time to do a certain goal.

2. Have an understanding that order takes time when teaching among children.

Time

I will do the following 2 things to incorporate the arts into daily rituals in my early childhood learning environment:

1. Set a timer during transition times for children can feel at ease when it is time to go to another center or activity.

2.  Have a regular schedule for your classroom so there wouldn't be any confusion for the children.

Mobility

I will do the following 2 things to incorporate mobility into my early childhood learning environment:

1. Take some of my inside activities; outside.

2. Move the centers around to create an illusion that the room have new toys.

Nature

I will do the following 2 things to incorporate nature into my early childhood learning environment:

1. Bring more life into the classroom. Add a bird feeder or a live plant.

2. Maybe add a class pet.

Nurturing the Imagination: The Dramatic Arts

The dramatic arts are the world of story and imagination with its roots in children's natural fantasy play. Through dramatic play, pantomime, improvisation, and storytelling, children can learn to control their bodies and words to create personas. They can become anything and anybody. Literacy skills are nurtured and developed as children become enthusiastic storytellers and scriptwriters. Music, dance, and visual art play a role in children's dramatic work. 

The Core Processes of the Dramatic Arts

The Common Core Standards in the Arts for Theater has identified the following core processes integral to dramatic or theater arts (National Coalition for Core Arts Standards, 2013).

• Performing. As in dance, performance in theater arts is defined as the actual physical participation in a dramatic experience. A dramatic performance can be done alone or with a group, and with or without an audience.

• Creating. This is the invention of an original dramatic performance either through interpretation and problem solving while acting out a role or through creating original dramatizations and stories to be performed alone or with others.

• Responding. Responding is observing a dramatic performance and expressing ideas about it. This can take many forms, ranging from talking and writing to creating a dramatic work in response.

• Connecting. Participation in dramatic performances provides a safe, playful space in which to connect personal experiences and to express emotions. It affords a way to test out ideas and work out problems, and it can be a healing force in therapy for emotional and mental trauma (Casson, J., 2004).

What Are the Elements of the Dramatic Arts?

The elements of drama and dramatic play share much in common. 

First, to be successful as an actor a person must be able to imitate others. This requires proficiency in oral language and in controlling the body. The foundation for imitative behavior is established in early childhood as infants learn how to make themselves understood by parents, caregivers, and older children using gesture, words, and actions.

Second, actors also need to know how to use props, costumes, and settings as a way to enhance the meaning of their performance. Through play, the ten-month-old playing peek-a-boo with his father's hat, the toddler putting shoeboxes on her feet and pretending to skate, and the preschooler “cooking” a meal in the playhouse are all learning how to use parts of their environment for dramatic effect.

Third, theater productions are formed around an aesthetically organized and creative presentation of a message or story. The development of narrative skills is a key feature of children's dramatic play. The toddler pantomiming falling in a puddle, the preschooler playing with an imaginary friend, kindergarteners acting out the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and second graders writing and producing their own playlets about life in the rainforest are learning the principles of story creation, structure, and self-expression.

The Elements of Drama

The ability to use the elements of story and those of drama develop rapidly in the early childhood years. By the age of five most children are capable of creating and performing complex stories, often sustaining them over an extended time period.  The elements of drama are the underlying components that add texture and uniqueness thereby bringing stories to life. They include:

• Focus - Successful performance in the dramatic arts requires self-regulation and concentration. Actors show focus when they maintain the attributes of a character throughout a performance. Audiences show focus when they mentally and emotionally center their attention on the dramatization they are watching. Children show focus when they assume roles in their pretend play scenarios that may last over several days.

• Tension and contrast - Tension is the creation of suspense, conflict, or rising action which carries the play scenario or story towards a conclusion. Contrast is what keeps dramatizations from being boring by creating tension. We watch action movies to see the battle between good versus evil. We respond viscerally when a quiet parting scene is followed by a noisy chase scene through busy city streets. The artful combination of tension and contrast is the backbone of effective narrative.

• Timing - Timing refers to the manipulation of movements and gestures so that they best match the needs of the dramatic action.

• Rhythm - Rhythm is built from tension, contrast, and timing to create the rise and fall of action and emotion in a drama. When we talk about fast-paced action or quiet romance we are describing the rhythm of the production.

• Language and sound - An actor communicates ideas and concepts through gesture and words. A written script communicates the actions, movements, and vocalizations of the actors. In addition to voice, sound effects and music can also enhance the performance.

• Mood - The combination of setting, movement, sound, and rhythm creates the overall effect or mood. A darkened theater, the sound of drumming rain, and an actor whose head is drooping create one kind of mood. Dorothy dancing down the yellow brick road in the Wizard of Oz sets another.

• Place - This is the setting in which the story or play takes place. It can be communicated through the arrangement of actual objects and props or created in the imagination through the creative actions and words of the performers.

• Space - The area around the performers forms the dramatic space and includes the different levels as in dance.

• Symbol - Symbolization, the use of one thing to stand for another, is a key element in the dramatic arts and in children's play. 

What Is the Relationship Between the Dramatic Arts and Children's Play?

Historically, theatrical drama has been used most often to entertain an audience. We are all familiar with the plays of Shakespeare and the movie productions of Walt Disney. Both of these are examples of the dramatic arts. However, as we will see, the role of the dramatic arts is very different in the lives of young children.

The presentation of a theatrical production to an audience is the most formal form of the dramatic arts. This level of performance is not developmentally appropriate for children under the age of eight.  Requiring children to memorize lines and follow a director are skills beyond the ability of most young children. Instead, dramatic activities need to be built around children's own creative play.  For young children, creative dramatics mirrors their natural form of play. Both play and the dramatic arts are centered on:

• Using the imagination and solving problems. Infants play with objects, discovering their properties and uses. Toddlers imitate what they see other people doing. By the age of two most children have entered the world of imaginative and symbolic play in which objects and actions can represent other things.  A wooden spoon becomes a magic wand and an old shawl a king's robe. The ability to make-believe and create stories is the main characteristic of play in young children.

• Developing a positive identity through self-expression. Before actors can pretend to be someone else, they must first know who they are and what makes the character they want to be different so they can imagine how that character would move, talk, and react to disaster. In pretend play, children do the same thing as they try on new roles and see how they fit. In doing so they learn more about themselves and others.

• Bonding socially with others. Through play, children learn about their world and how to interact with the people around them. Like actors on a set, group play requires communication skills and the willingness to both lead and follow others to create a play scenario. They learn to respond to the pretend behaviors, improvisation, and fluid rule-making of their peers as they match their behaviors to the needs of the group. 

Children's Play and the Brain

Current brain research tells us that a child engaged in open-ended play is developing vital brain connections. When children are active participants in play they perform complex movements such as matching their facial expression to a pretend emotion and make novel decisions, such as finding an object to symbolically represent another. This engagement develops the neural connections that form the foundation of future brain development. During play the neocortex or thinking center of the brain is activated as well as the amygdala or emotional center of the brain and the connection between the two centers are strengthened.

Engaging in play is fun. It reduces stress and facilitates learning. Stress has been shown to impair children's thinking.  As children play, the parts of the brain involved in creative thinking and problem solving are more engaged while their stress levels decrease. Children, for example, show fewer nervous habits such as nail biting while engaged in active play.

How Do Children Develop Through Dramatic Arts Activities?

• Physically - By moving the body to characterize the movements of real and fantasy people, behaviors, and objects. We see this when children pretend they are driving a car or flying like Superman. The skills and concepts of creative dance are also closely connected to dramatization.

• Socially - By learning to make connections to others through facial and bodily behaviors, by trying out new roles, assuming viewpoints other than their own, and cooperating with others to create meaning and narrative. Dramatic play allows children to connect to their own culture and to imagine that of others. We see this when a group of children, after learning about Mexico, pretends they are going to the store to buy tortillas.

• Cognitively - By developing the ability to think logically in narrative sequences. Play lets children create and use symbolic thinking as they use one object or action to represent another. It is powerful because it allows children to repeat and analyze their behaviors. For example, a group of children, playing with puppets, may repeat their story several times, each time trying different ways for the puppets to act.

• Language skills - By using language to communicate ideas and feelings, and to tell stories. In playing a part, children can explore the control they have over their voices and ways of speaking. Guided participation by the teacher in children's dramatic play has been shown to increase language and literacy skills.  Organizing play around a theme with ample materials, space, and time helps children develop more elaborate narrative skills. Dramatic arts activities are often the same as early literacy activities. Children build a sense of story from hearing books read aloud, and from telling and acting out their own stories, and those of others. Dramatic play increases children's comprehension and helps them become aware of narrative elements.

• Emotionally - By giving children a sense of power and control and by reducing stress. In dramatic play, children can take on the roles of the controlling adults in their lives, they can determine what will happen in their play, and they can take risks as they try out new ways of behaving. Through dramatic play children develop independence and self-control. Increased time spent in dramatic play has been shown to correlate with the ability of children to control their behavior in circle time and clean up.  Dramatic play allows children to learn how to deal with conflict and diversity and to delay gratification of immediate wants as they share materials, and incorporate the play schemes of others into their own or incorporate themselves into the play narratives of others.

• Drama concepts and skills - By meeting the National Common Core Theater Arts Standards.

The Dramatic Arts: Related Standards

Here are the North Carolina Foundations for Early Learning and Development dramatic play-related sub-domain, goals, developmental indicators and teaching strategies for preschoolers.

Sub-domain: Play and Imagination

Goal APL-3: Children engage in increasingly complex play.

Developmental Indicators for Younger Preschoolers:

Engage in dramatic play themes that include interacting with other children, but often are not coordinated. APL-3m

Talk to peers and share materials during play. APL-3n

Engage in make-believe play with imaginary objects. APL-3o

Use language to begin and carry on play with others. APL-3p

Express knowledge of their everyday lives and culture through play (uses chopsticks to eat, pretends to fix hair the way his/her family styles hair). APL-3q

Developmental Indicators for Older Preschoolers:

Develop and sustain more complex pretend play themes in cooperation with peers. APL-3r

Use more complex and varied language to share ideas and influence others during play. APL-3s

Choose to use new knowledge and skills during play (add features to dramatic play scene related to class project, write list, build structure like displayed picture). APL-3t

Demonstrate their cultural values and “rules” through play (tells another child, “That’s not what mommies do.”). APL-3u

Goal APL-4: Children demonstrate creativity, imagination, and inventiveness.

Developmental Indicators for Younger preschoolers:

Offer new ideas about how to do or make things. APL-4h

Add new actions, props, or dress-up items to pretend play. APL-4i

Use materials (e.g., art materials, instruments, construction, writing implements) or actions to represent experiences or ideas in novel ways. APL-4j

Experiment with language, musical sounds, and movement. APL-4k

Developmental Indicators for older preschoolers:

Plan play scenarios (dramatic play, construction), and use or create a variety of props or tools to enact them. APL-4l

Expand the variety of roles taken during dramatic play and add more actions, language, or props to enact roles. APL-4m

Use materials or actions in increasingly varied and resourceful ways to represent experiences or ideas. APL-4n

Make up stories, songs, or dances for fun during play. APL-4o

Related Teaching Strategies for Preschoolers

1. Encourage children to think about new ideas. (“Have you ever wondered where snow goes?” “Where do birds live?”)

2. Provide a wide range of experiences. For preschoolers, include some experiences in which the goal is to try many different approaches rather than finding one “right” solution.

3. Foster cooperative play and learning groups. Stay involved in the children’s play and learning groups to help children who may be less likely to join in because they don’t communicate as well as other children—ask questions, make suggestions, and draw each child into the play and other activities.

4. Promote the integrated use of materials throughout activities and centers. (“Let’s get some paper from the writing center to make signs for the city you made in the block center.”)

5. Challenge children to consider alternative ideas and endings of stories.

6. Help children accommodate and build on one another’s ideas to achieve common goals (e.g., suggest that individual block structures can be put together to make a much larger one).

7. Provide materials for preschoolers to pretend, to use one object to represent another, and to take on roles. This includes dress-up clothes for a variety of play themes and toys that can be used for many things, such as blocks, scarves, and clay.

8. Look and plan for children’s differences and their many ways of learning. Use real objects, pictures, music, language, books, the outdoors, active play, quiet activities, and group activities to appeal to children who learn in different ways.

9. Watch for and acknowledge increasing complexity in a child’s play. (“Your tower of blocks became a fire station, and now you’ve built a whole town.”)

Here are the North Carolina Standard Course of Study Theatre Arts standards for kindergarten through eighth grade.

My instructor provided the link to the curated Pinterest board, Pretend Play(Dramatic Play and Small World Play).  This collection of images suggests a variety of pretend play/dramatic play experiences, environments and resources appropriate for young children 

How Do We Address Special Needs During Dramatic Arts Activities?

Dramatic activities, because they involve movement and language, require many of the same adaptations as creative movement and dance so that all children can participate fully.

CHILDREN WITH AUDITORY NEEDS. For consistency, use the same visual start, stop, listen, and relax signals developed for creative movement and dance activities. Select activities that do not rely exclusively on language. Use picture cue cards for preschoolers and word cue cards for those who can read. Visually mark the area of the performance or play space.

CHILDREN WITH VISUAL NEEDS. Start by making sure the children know the location of the props and the boundaries of the area to be used. Survey the area with the child and handle the materials with them before beginning the activity. Give personal asides during dramatic play and performances that let the child know where to find things. Provide a buddy and plan activities for pairs.

CHILDREN WITH ATTENTION-DEFICIT DISORDERS. Children who have trouble focusing are easily distracted in dramatic play settings where there are many choices and materials. To help these children develop focus, partition off play areas with low dividers that allow visibility for adults but shield one play area from another at the children's eye level. Offer clear directions and simple oft-repeated rules using multiple modalities. Provide plenty of hands-on activities and offer new materials or suggested ideas when the child seems to lose focus. Participate in the play with the child anticipating the child's needs and modeling ways to interact with peers. Have on hand other activities that the child likes and can do independently for use when the child indicates she or he is ready to move on to something else.

CHILDREN WITH AUTISM. Because these children have impaired communication and social skills, group play is especially challenging for them, and they often prefer solitary play. With peers they may miss social cues and not be able to follow the improvised narrative script of child-initiated pretend play. Teachers can help foster interpersonal skills by playing one-on-one with these children while modeling ways to interact with others. For example, the one-on-one Floortime Model has been shown to increase social, cognitive, symbolic, and creative behavior in children with autism.  It utilizes five steps to help children learn how to interact with a playmate. 

These same steps can also be used to join in the play of all children, especially infants.

1. Observe the child playing and decide how to approach him/her.

2. Join the activity and match the child's emotional tone.

3. Follow the child's lead.

4. Expand on the child's activity by making a gentle suggestion, asking a question, or modeling an action.

5. When a child' responds to your expansion, “the circle of communication” is completed and the process is started over again from step 1.

To help a child with autism participate in group play, establish rituals for entering and interacting with peers. Task cards can be used to cue appropriate behaviors. The Integrated Play Group Model is based on Vygotsky's model of learning from expert peers.  Using this strategy, the child with autism is paired with several other children who serve as the play “experts.” In the beginning the teacher sets up the play theme and materials and models for the peers how to include the child in their play. The group meets consistently on a regular basis. As the children learn how to interact with each other, the teacher slowly withdraws, becoming an encouraging onlooker, and lets the play evolve naturally.

ACCEPTING DIFFERENCES. A large part of the dramatic arts is stretching the imagination. Challenge stereotypes by refusing to accept limiting responses. Gender differences, for example, are established as early as twelve months of age and many children and parents have definite ideas about what toys are appropriate for boys and girls. In dramatic play, there is no reason that a girl cannot play the part of a boy or vice versa. Encourage exploration of many roles by calling the housekeeping center the dramatic play area instead, and including materials that will interest boys as well as girls, such as a tool chest, and by creating more open concept centers such as a bakery or restaurant where roles are less stereotypical.

Nurturing the Imagination: The Dramatic Arts

How Are Dramatic Arts Activities Designed?

In the classroom dramatic play can be used to help children develop their language skills, experience the creative process, consider the visual aesthetics of settings and costumes, and much more. These kinds of dramatics activities should be designed in open-ended ways that allow children to use their imaginations to re-create and express ideas and feelings.  Ideas for play activities can be child-initiated such as in informal play, teacher-initiated, such as using pantomime and improvisation to illustrate new words, or inspired by some special event, such as reading a new story and then acting it out.

Informal Dramatic Play

Informal dramatic play is characteristically spontaneous, growing out of the natural inclinations of the children. It is child-initiated but can be supported by teachers when they enter into children's ongoing play and provide facilitation as a co-player, such as by joining a tea party and modeling the use of “please” and “thank you” as part of the play. Elaborating on children's pretend play scaffolds language usage and models positive ways to interact socially.

• FACILITATING WITH WORDS. Close observation of children at play allows teachers to facilitate language skill development. For example, a caregiver might notice two toddlers playing with toy cars and making car sounds, but not using words. She might walk over to them and join in driving a car too, while asking them questions about where their cars are going to increase their use of oral language.

• FACILITATING WITH PROPS. Teachers can also enrich play by showing children how to create their own props. An observant teacher functions as a stage manager when he notices that a group of kindergarteners has built thrones and are pretending they are kings and queens. He puts out some paper strips, scissors, glue, and sparkly paper and invites them to make their own crowns.

• SOCIAL FACILITATION. The flexibility of dramatic play allows everyone to participate. Children, such as those with developmental delays or autism, may not know how to enter into group play situations. We need to be aware of potential social difficulties and be ready to step in. One way to do this is to model how to ask to join a playgroup. Another is to make suggestions that open up the play to more participants. If two children are imagining they are a shopper and a store clerk and another wants to join, the teacher could point out that there are usually many shoppers in a store. Another is to set up rules to make sure that play is fair. Vivian Paley (1992), for example, told her kindergarteners that they could not exclude other children from play, and then enforced the rule through storytelling and ongoing discussions with her students.

Open-Ended Play Centers

The teacher can also set the stage for informal dramatic play by creating play centers that build on children's natural interests and everyday experiences, such as a playhouse or a store. Other centers can help children learn about how things work or address concerns. For example, many children are fearful of doctor's visits. Creating a doctor's office in which to play can help children work out their fears. Lisa Miles (2009) following up the interests of her preschoolers after reading the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, built an old-fashioned general store stocked with baskets of yarn, ribbon, metal buckets and scoops, a scale, wooden crates, and jars of beans, buttons, and cinnamon sticks. She found that putting a piece of plywood on the floor provided the sound and feel of an old store.

Prop Boxes

Prop boxes are similar to play centers in providing children with starting points for child-initiated dramatic play. They have the advantage of being easy to store and ready to use at the opportune moment.  A prop box consists of a collection of objects that will spark children's imaginations. The items can all relate to the same main idea, such as a butterfly net, a wide-brimmed hat, magnifying glass, “cages” made from berry baskets, plastic caterpillars, and butterflies. Other prop boxes can be based on an experience. Prop boxes can include child-safe objects, books, tapes of relevant music, and suggestions for use. Label the box clearly when putting it away for storage so it is immediately ready to use another time.  Prop boxes can be used individually or with small groups of children and are particularly effective when using an emergent curriculum design and for the primary grades, where large play centers are less likely to be found. For example, a teacher might make up prop boxes to go with the children's literature used in the classroom as a way to provide opportunities to revisit the story through role-plays.

Music in the Early Childhood Program

The goal of music experiences for young children is to develop each child into a musical person. A musical person is not a just a consumer of music, nor a professional musician. A musical person is someone who is tuneful, beatful, and artful. A tuneful person carries the melodies of wonderful songs in their head. A beatful person feels the beat of music of all kinds and the natural rhythms of the world around them. An artful person responds to the expressiveness of all music with all their body and soul.

We owe it to the children we teach to give them the gift of music. Music education must start before the child is born and be intensive through the early years. To do this we need to become comfortable ourselves in the world of music. We do not need to be virtuosos. However, we do need to become enthusiastic and confident. Teachers must also be learners. It is never too late to learn to play an instrument or take voice lessons.

What Is Music?

Music is organized sound. One of the tasks of teaching music is to introduce children to the different ways in which music plays with and orders sound. Listening, rhythmic activities, singing, and playing instruments form the basis of creative music experiences, through which the elements of music—rhythm, timbre, dynamics, form, melody, and harmony—are organized into compositions that speak to our mind, our body, and our emotions.

We are all familiar with everyday sounds: the honk of a car horn, the clatter of dishes, children's voices on the playground. On their own these are not considered music. However, any ordinary sound can be turned into something musical. At its most basic music is made up of repeated beats. At its most complex, it is a composition of rhythm and tempo, dynamics and pitch, timbre and texture, and melody and harmony. These are the elements of music.

RHYTHM. Rhythm is a time-based pattern that orders sound and makes it musical. A car horn pressed first short and then long repeated over and over creates a rhythm. Each honk on the horn is a beat. A rhythm can be varied by changing which beat has the strongest emphasis or accent. For example, a long horn blast followed by a short one would consist of a strong or down-beat and a weak or up-beat as in one two, one two, one two and so on. Repeated patterns of strong and weak beats create the meter of the rhythm. A waltz or polka meter, for example, is made up of one strong beat followed by two weak beats—one two three, one two three. Syncopation, found in some genres of music such as jazz, is a deliberate change in where the regular stress is expected to come. For example, the stress might come on the weak beat as in one two three four or there might be a rest where a strong beat is expected.

TEMPO. Tempo is the speed at which a rhythm or musical composition is played. It is usually indicated by a term written at the beginning of the piece. Largo, for example means slow. Allegro means lively and fast. Up-tempo or presto means very fast. Within a piece of music the tempo may change many times, or it may remain steady throughout.

DYNAMICS. Dynamics refers to changes in volume from loud to soft and to the accenting of certain tones in a rhythm or piece of music.

PITCH. Sound is created through vibration and is measured by the frequency of that oscillation. The lowest sounds most people hear are in the range of 20 Hz. The highest are about 20,000 Hz. The highness or lowness of a particular sound is referred to as its pitch. Many instruments have vibrating parts such as a drumhead on a bass drum, which produces a low pitch, or the strings on a violin, which can produce high pitches. Others such as tubas and clarinets make sound using a vibrating column of air.

TIMBRE. Timbre or tone color is the unique quality of a sound. It is how we can tell the sound of a car horn from that of a bird's song or identify the particular voice of a friend on the phone.

MELODY. A note is a single sound or tone. Melodies are created by varying the pitches of notes and playing them in a sequence that may repeat. How the sequence is arranged and repeated creates the form or composition of the musical work. For example, a song might be composed of alternating verses and choruses. The American folksong The Erie Canal has this type of form.

HARMONY. Accompanying the melody may be a sequence of tones that enriches it and makes the sounds blend. Harmony is often created by using a chord—several notes played together at the same time. Harmony creates what is called musical texture or a layer of sound that can be pleasant or dissonant to the ear.

Music Development in Early Childhood

Music ability and skills continue to develop all through the early years, although as children age, experience, interest and hearing ability make a major difference in children's performance in the musical area. 

Toddlers continue to be as fascinated by music as they were as infants. They can repeat sounds, move to rhythms, and start to learn simple songs. During this period their vocal range expands rapidly as does their ability to perceive timbre and identify the sounds of different instruments.

By preschool, children begin to make up their own songs, hold a steady beat, and match body movements to it. Spontaneous music making is a characteristic of the preschool years. Children freely mix tunes and words of their own invention with familiar songs during solitary and group play.

By kindergarten, children can learn to match and classify sounds, can play singing and movement games, and can reproduce musical patterns. In this period they continue to develop pitch accuracy and an expanded vocal range so that by the start of first grade, 50 percent can sing a full octave with 10 percent reaching an octave-and-a-half. They can now indicate changes in pitch by raising and lowering their hands and note a melody with rising and falling lines with dots for beats.

In the primary grades, children improve in their ability to sing in tune and in large groups. Corresponding to their increasing skills in reading and writing, they can learn to read music and to notate melodies and compose original musical pieces. It is during this period that children should begin to learn to play an instrument. Adults who studied an instrument before the age of eight have more brain development in the corpus callosum then those who started formal lessons later.

How Are Music Activities Designed?

Musical activities can be organized in three ways: as individualized instruction, as open-ended, independent exploration, and in organized groups. An effective music program needs to incorporate all these approaches into the curriculum in order for children to develop fully as confident musical creators.

• One-on-One Interactions

For infants and toddlers, in particular, but for all children as well, interacting one-on-one with an adult has been shown to be vitally important in acquiring musical competence. Children, for example, sing more accurately when singing individually than with a group (Goetz & Horii, 1989). Learning to play an instrument proceeds faster when the child receives intensive one-on-one lessons.

One-on-one musical interactions can occur throughout the education of young children. Singing to an infant or toddler while going about daily activities, such as dressing, diaper changing, putting on outerwear, eating lunch, walking places, and so on fit naturally into adult-child interactions. In preschool, kindergarten, and primary classrooms one-on-one echo singing and instrumental solos can be purposely planned into group activities.

• Exploration Centers

Music centers allow children to explore sound, rhythm, and music in playful, creative, and open-ended ways. A center for exploring sound can be problematic in a busy, noisy preschool and primary classroom. However, it is possible. To muffle the sound, include soft items such as a pile rug, pillows, and draped fabric. A sturdy table covered on three sides with heavy cloth and open in front makes a cozy “music house” in which to listen to music and explore making sounds, but still allows teacher supervision. Several types of music centers address different components of music education.

• CONDUCTING CENTER. To the listening center add flashlights covered with different-colored cellophane that children can move in concert with the music while shining the light on the wall.

• COMPOSING CENTER. Alongside instruments of varying kinds, provide a metal tray and magnet-backed notes, plain paper and markers, or paper with staves for older children so they can try their hand at composing.

• INSTRUMENTS. Provide handmade and commercial instruments to accompany the recorded music or to use in making up original songs. Make sure there is an assortment of percussive, drums, shakers, and so on, and melodic instruments, such as a xylophone or hand bells.

• LISTENING CENTER. Stock the center with a child-friendly CD/music player, or tape recorder, and earphones.

• SOUND DISCOVERY CENTER. Set out materials that can be used to make sounds or musical instruments. For example, offer different plastic containers with easy-to-close lids and a variety of small objects, such as pebbles, jingle bells, and buttons that fit inside. Children can use these to make their own shakers to keep time to the recorded music or their own singing.

• Responsive Group Activities

Music is mainly a social activity. Although individuals may play or sing for their own personal enjoyment, music is usually experienced as part of a group. However, the size and purpose of musical groups can vary.

• SMALL GROUP. Small groups of children can participate in listening, singing, and composing activities as part of projects and at centers. For example, primary students might compose a song to accompany a skit, or a group of preschoolers may sing a lullaby to the dolls in the housekeeping center.

•  WHOLE GROUP. Many music activities lend themselves to whole group settings. Children can listen to music during a nap or snack. They can sing favorite songs together as part of group meetings as a way to build community. New songs can be taught to the whole group so everyone can sing along. A rhythm band in which everyone participates can show children what can be accomplished when every member works together.

•  TRANSITIONS. Music as a form of communication can be used to signal changes in activities, mood, and behavior. Playing calm music while children work and play can create a peaceful, relaxing environment and build a sense of community.

The Listening Experience

According to Shore and Strasser (2006), an effective music curriculum starts with a developmental series of listening activities. It should include a wide range of music, including complex music. This is based on the research that shows that early listening to complex music by infants leads to richer cognitive and language development.

Listening activities should include music from other times and cultures, as well as listening to natural sounds.

SELECTING PIECES FOR LISTENING

Music intended solely for children is commonly part of most preschool and primary music programs. However, regardless of the children's ages musical selections should never be limited to only simplified pieces, because all children are capable of more sophisticated listening. Without exposure to complex music, not only in the Western classical tradition, but also that of other cultures, they will not develop the aesthetic awareness and close listening skills needed to truly appreciate and love music.

We cannot begin too early. The early years are critical in the formation of music appreciation. By eight-months an infant can tell the difference between two complex musical works. In doing so they respond more to the scale and the meter found in the music they have heard in their home environment.

Music preferences continue to solidify throughout early childhood. However, research indicates that children up to the age of five are more willing to respond positively to unfamiliar styles than older children and adults.  Therefore, the earlier children experience a variety of musical genres and styles the better.

The Rhythmic Experience

Rhythm is fundamental to life. Each of us carries our own natural rhythm in our heartbeat. Before birth babies respond the sound of their mother's heartbeat.  After birth, infants as young as two months notice rhythmic patterns and groupings.  By seven months they can perceive variations in tempo and frequency.  

At around two-and-a half toddlers can hear a steady beat and will attempt to match their body movements to it.  By preschool children are able to hold a beat and move to it, and by kindergarten most children can identify the rhythmic pattern in a piece of music and match changes in the tempo.

Designing Rhythmic Activities

Rhythmic activities should develop children's sense of rhythm through open-ended exploration that allows them to create their own rhythm instruments and rhythms. Rhythm activities are naturally engaging to young children and do not have to be complicated. They should involve the child in listening to rhythms and physically responding in some way. Variety can be introduced by using new ways to make sounds and sharing music with different rhythms.

In addition to planned engagements with rhythm we can also incorporate rhythm into daily activities. For example, carry around a small drum or tambourine, or simply clap, to catch and mirror the rhythms of the children at play. As children paint at the easel or jump on the playground, tap out a beat that matches their movement as you bring it to their attention:

• “Listen. Can you hear the tapping beat of the brush?” 

• “Listen. Can you hear how fast your feet are stamping as you jump up and down?”

Another way to incorporate rhythm into daily events is to use echo clapping when you want the children's attention. Clap a rhythm and have everyone else clap the same rhythm back. This is an excellent way to get the focus of a group even when they are deeply involved in play.

Rhythmic chants can be used to transition from one activity to another. It is easy to invent your own. For example, when cleaning up chant something like “Clean up. Clean up. Everybody clean up,” while clapping a regular beat to the words. As children work they can join in and chant along.

To encourage growth, rhythm experiences should occur every day. Rhythm activities can be offered one-on-one, in exploration centers, and as whole group experiences

The Singing Experience

Children sing spontaneously from as early as age two. They often make up little tunes based on simple, repetitive words while playing. Singing daily helps develop self-confidence, expands vocal range, and helps draw a group of children together into a cohesive group.

Many adults, however, may feel uneasy singing aloud. Nevertheless, all teachers can teach children to enjoy singing. Although we may not like how our voices sound, that does not mean we cannot sing with children. As is true in all arts activities, our level of enthusiasm is far more important than having a trained voice. Children will be more involved in their own participation and learning a new song than in criticizing their teacher's voice.

To develop your confidence, always practice a song first. If possible, learn the song from a fellow teacher or friend. If that is not possible, sing along with a recording. Many children's songs are now available on the Web. The National Institute of Health Sciences has an extensive collection of children's songs, lyrics, and MIDI files. Many of the songs suggested in this chapter can be found on their Web site at http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/home.htm. Songs from around the world with both English lyrics and the lyrics in their original languages, plus videos of the songs being sung can be found at http://www.mamalisa.com/.

Selecting Songs

Choose songs that are short, easy to sing, have a steady beat, and lots of repetition. The pitches of the song should fall within their comfort range, which varies with age. Repetition of the whole song, rather than phrase-by-phrase teaching, seems to foster quicker acquisition of the song.  Body movements are effective in teaching songs, especially hand gestures indicating pitch and other characteristics of the music.

Children (and adults) usually learn the chorus of a song long before they know all the verses. For example, many people know the chorus to “Jingle Bells,” but how many know more than one verse? Use the following guidelines when choosing a song to sing:

• Infants - Songs for infants are often very short with lots of repetition. Lullabies are soothing melodies with a slow beat. Teasing songs, such as “This Little Piggy Went to Market,” allow adults to interact with the child physically through tickling, finger actions, and sound effects.

• Toddlers - Songs for toddlers should have a limited range. The majority of children will sing most comfortably from middle C to G. Middle C is the 24th white key from the left-hand side of the piano.  Nursery rhymes and folk songs are often in this range. To appeal to active toddlers, select songs that have interactive elements and movements that draw the child into the song and make it more memorable. Toddlers also love nonsense songs and songs that involve moving their bodies. Songs about feelings help them understand emotions better.

• Preschool and kindergarten - For preschoolers, look for songs that tell a story or have words strongly tied to the beat and melody. Many of these are traditional folk songs that have been passed down for generations. Preschoolers particularly like songs that are personal and relate to their everyday lives. Make up songs that feature their names, feelings, body parts, daily activities, and special occasions such as birthdays: Songs can also help them learn to count, spell, and learn other rote material.  Interactive elements and movement are still an important element in songs for this age and help children remember the words better. Song games encourage children to practice singing and moving to the music.

• Primary age - As children get older their vocal range extends to as much as an octave above and below middle C. Songs for primary children should use this range because children will lose the high and low notes if they do not use them regularly. As children learn more about the world, they enjoy learning the story behind the song. Songs in foreign languages fascinate them. They also enjoy songs from their favorite movies and from radio (see Table 10–2).

Chants

Chants are words spoken in rhythm with no or limited change in pitch. Often they are half spoken and half sung in a rhythmic, repetitive way. Sometimes a chant is performed on just one note and sometimes on two or more notes. Nursery rhymes, such as “Jack and Jill,” and traditional finger play such as “Pat-a-Cake,” are good examples of this. Jump-rope rhymes are traditional chants. Some familiar ones are “Miss Mary Mack,” “My Name is Alice,” “Lady, Lady,” and “Touch the Ground.” Chants provide a bridge between early language development and singing and, as such, are very appropriate for infants and toddlers. Because of their simplicity, these are often the first “songs” children sing. Young children will also make up their own chants as they play. Chants are easy to invent on the spot. To help develop a child's singing voice an adult can chant a request to a child and the child can chant it back.

Invented Songs

Music naturally engages children in learning. In particular, there is a strong link between literacy development and singing. Shelly Ringgenberg (2003) found that children learn vocabulary words better through a song than through conventional storytelling. She suggests that teachers take the melody and rhythm from familiar songs, such as “Mary Had a Little Lamb”or “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,”and add new words based either on a story in a book or that use the concepts or vocabulary being taught.

This type of song is also known as a “story song,” “zipper song,” or “piggyback song,” and many examples can be found in books and on the Web. However, it is just as easy to invent our own to fit the needs of our own children. In addition, allowing children to participate in making up songs based on old favorites is a powerful way to begin a creative music community. Children, if allowed to contribute to the writing of the song will take ownership and pride in the song.  Other advantages include:

• The melody will be familiar, making it quicker and easier to learn the song.

• Because you choose the content, speed, and length, the song can be tailored to fit the needs of the moment.

• It saves time that would be spent searching for an existing song that might fit.

• No materials are needed except voices and creativity.

Teaching a New Song

The best way to introduce a new song is spontaneously when it fits what is happening in the children's lives. Singing “Rain, Rain Go Away,” for example, will be far more memorable when first heard on a day when rain has spoiled an outdoor playtime or event. Teach a lullaby when children are resting quietly. Introduce a silly song when they need cheering up. Tie songs into integrated units and projects. Sing songs to help chores get done faster.

Children learn a song first by hearing it, then by tagging on to an accented word or phrase, then by joining in on a repeated or patterned part like the chorus, and finally, they can sing it on their own. There are many approaches to introducing a song. Using a combination of them is most effective, but remember, singing with children should always be fun and impromptu. Do not expect young children to learn all the words of a song. It is fine if they chime in on the chorus or on silly words or sounds, and let the teacher sing the verses. Do not expect or demand perfection. If the same song is practiced over and over, it will become boring or a chore to sing. If children become resistant to singing, or lack enthusiasm for a song, it is time to teach a new one.

Songs can be taught to one child, a small group, or a whole class depending on the age of the children and the situation. Children learn songs best from another person's singing rather than from a recording. This is because they are best at matching pitches in their own vocal range and you are free to match their pitch, whereas a recording is preset. Men may find that singing in falsetto may help children sing in better tune. Nevertheless, most young children only begin to sing in tune in the primary grades.

Here are some ways to introduce new songs:

WHOLE SONG METHOD. Sing the song two or three times. Then sing it again and leave out a key word for the children to fill in or have the children join in the chorus or last line.

CALL AND RESPONSE. Sing one line of the song and have the children sing it back to you.

SAY IT FIRST. Sometimes it helps to say the words before or after singing the song to help the child understand the words better. We are all familiar with the child who thinks that “Oh say can you see” in the “Star Spangled Banner” is “Jose can you see?”

WRITE IT OUT. For older children, write the words on large chart paper. For beginning readers use a combination of pictures and words. Point to the words as you sing the song.

CLAP THE RHYTHM. Particularly in songs with a strong beat, clapping or tapping the rhythm helps children feel where the words fit best.

ACT IT OUT. Many songs lend themselves to movement and dramatic performance. Adding movement helps children remember the words better, as do open-ended songs to which children can add their own words. For example, “Pop! Goes the Weasel” is easily acted out.

SUBSTITUTE MEANINGFUL WORDS. Making the song personal also makes it more memorable. The words can be varied by substituting a child's name, a familiar place, or a daily event. For example, instead of singing “Mary had a little lamb” sing “  (child's name) has a little   (substitute child's pet).”

TELL THE STORY. Explain the song as a story, or for primary students, talk about the history of the song. For example, explain that the song “Yankee Doodle” was composed by British soldiers to make fun of the poorly dressed, uneducated Americans, who then adopted the song as their own.

MAKE IT FAMILIAR. When introducing a new song, play it in the background for a while. This helps children feel more comfortable with it. However, children will not learn a song heard only in the background. There has to be active listening by the child. To learn a song, active involvement in the singing is needed.

ADD SIGNS. Sing the song accompanied by American Sign Language (ALS). The hand movements make the song easier to remember as well as introduce children to a way they can communicate with those who are deaf. Videos are available for learning how to sign familiar songs.

Additional Singing Experiences

Reading about Singing

There are numerous books that use the words of familiar songs with attractive illustrations that can be shared with children of all ages. The song can be read in a normal voice and then sung if the children are familiar with the song. Many of these books come with CDs of the song.

Children can also be introduced to singing techniques through books like John Feierabend's The Book of Pitch Exploration: Can You Sing This? (2004). Other books tells stories about singing, such as Opera Cat (Weaver, 2002), The Dog That Sang at the Opera (Izen & West, 2004), or When Marion Sang (Ryan, 2002).

Observing and Talking about Singing

Lay the groundwork for talking about singing by giving children plenty of opportunities to sing themselves in different ways and to experience the singing of others. Children may be familiar with popular singers and groups featured on television and radio. Introduce them to different types of performing groups, such as choirs, barbershop quartets, and a cappella groups. Videos of singing performances and other children singing can be found on the web. But don't neglect the experience of viewing real performances. Take children to performances by local singing groups and school groups or have groups visit the program. Ask families to come in and share songs.

Center questions on children's own experiences of singing.

• Can you clap or move to the beat?

• How do the voices sound?

• Can you sing along?

• What pitches do you hear? Can you sing that high? That low?

• How does the song make you feel?

• What is another way this song could be sung?

How Do We Share Children's Music with Families?

There are many ways to include families in the musical activities of children. Invite them to visit the classroom any time and join in singing and playing in the band. Send home recordings and videos of their child making music, and invite them to musical instrument workshops where they build instruments for their child to use. For example, parents could work together to make large bucket drums or PVC pipe thunder drums and pipe organs instruments.

Creative Movement/Dance in the Early Childhood Program

Movement is basic to life. From birth children spend their waking moments in constant motion. The newborn waves arms and legs, the infant crawls, the toddler toddles, and the preschooler jumps, runs and climbs. Even in the womb, the fetus swims and kicks.

What Are Creative Movement and Dance?

The ability to move is a function of three interacting bodily systems. First, our muscular and skeletal system provides support and a framework for action. This framework is guided by kinesthetic awareness - the system of sensors found in our muscles, joints, and tendons, which provides information on posture, equilibrium, and the effort required for a motion to occur. Both these systems are kept balanced by the vestibular sense located in the inner ear, which keeps track of the motion and position of the head relative to the rest of the body. All these parts work together to create the simple and complex actions that we perform unthinkingly each day of our lives.

Our capacity to move allows us to interact with the world and people around us. However, when these movements are organized into a work of bodily art we come to understand how marvelous our bodies are. Through carefully chosen creative movements, we can communicate feelings, tell stories, and become part of the music. We dance.

Creative movement and dance are inherently human and incredibly ancient. Paintings on pottery indicate that dance was as much a part of life in Neolithic times as it is today. Then as it is now, the creative movement of the body was tied to social and spiritual rituals. In the past these rituals were often related to everyday life and needs. The first dances probably imitated the movements of activities such as hunting, harvesting, and planting. Today we dance to feel part of a group, to make friends, and to release bodily tensions.

Is It Creative Movement or Dance?

The art form based on moving our bodies has been called both creative movement and dance. Usually in early childhood education, the term creative movement is used to emphasize the open-ended nature of movement activities that are developmentally appropriate for young children. Dance, on the other hand, more often refers to formalized styles of movement in which children are taught specific ways to move and particular dance positions and steps, such as ballet or the polka.

In truth, both aspects of movement are essential in the education of young children. All children need the opportunity to use the creative process in discovering their own original ways to move and in using their bodies to communicate their emotions and ideas. However, as they grow they also need to learn how to control their bodies and match their movements to rhythms, music, and the movements of others by participating in simple dances from our own and other cultures. For this reason the term creative dance can be used to encompass both these aspects of the movement arts.

The Core Processes of Creative Dance

The National Dance Educational Organization (NDEO) has identified four core processes integral to dance they call the inner core and which form the basis of the new Common Core Standards in the Arts for Dance (National Coalition for Core Arts Standards, 2013).

• Performing. Although we usually think of performance as something done in front of an audience, in this definition performance is the actual physical movement that a dancer does. A dance performance can be done alone or with a group, and with or without an audience.

• Creating. This is the invention of original movements by the dancer either through solving movement problems through improvisation or through choreographing movements to be performed alone or with others.

• Responding. Responding is when we observe a dance performance and express our ideas about it. Reflections on a dance performance can take many forms ranging from talking and writing about it to creating a movement in response.

• Connecting. Dance does not exist in a vacuum. It is an expression of ideas, viewpoints, and experiences. It is learned best when the physical, creative, and responsive processes are interconnected and taught together, and when creative dance is integrated into all areas of learning, culture, and life. Because dance develops the strength of and control over the body, it is also connected to healthful living.

The Elements of Creative Dance

The elements of dance describe a body in motion and so are not separate but simultaneous actions.

• Time - We can move our bodies slowly or quickly using varying speeds and duration.

• Space - Space refers to how we position our bodies in the space that surrounds us. Our bodies can occupy different levels and be open or closed.

• Energy - This is the effort we use as we move our bodies through distances in that space. Our body can move in a relaxed way or under tension. We can attack and release.  

The physical performance of dancing is created in a context of personal and cultural influences which influences the aesthetic quality and meaning of the movements. This context consists of the following:

• Body - The body is the tool we use to create dances. It is our muscles, bones, tendons, reflexes, and breath. It is the medium through which our ideas and feelings are expressed. Each body is unique in size, shape, and muscular control. This makes dance the most personal of all the arts.

• Motion - We use our bodies as an expressive art medium when we move. Creative dance is made up of motions, which consist of streams and pauses in a sequence. Locomotion means the movement moves from one place to another as when we leap, hop, and run. Nonlocomotion refers to those moves we can do standing in one place such as bending, twisting, and swinging. Movements can go in any direction, any distance, and be balanced or unbalanced, large or small.

• Relationship - This refers to the way that the dance elements, the body, and motion are combined with each other to communicate the dancer's meaning.

• Intention - This is the dancer's or choreographer's purpose for the dance. The performance of the dance fulfills its intention.

• World View - Both dancer and the viewer bring unique personal and cultural experiences to the performance which determine what the dance communicates and how that message is received.

How Are Creative Movement Activities Designed?

Creative dance is concerned with the role of movement in artistic creation. Activities that support this differ from physical exercises and sports, which are also concerned with physical development. In creative movement activities children are asked to imitate and expand on everyday behaviors and actions using their bodies, sometimes with music and props.  Waves can be represented by gently undulating one's arms. Even formal dance has this aesthetic element to it. As the dancers move in choreographed motion, geometric and symbolic patterns are created.

Creative movement activities are best organized by the skill, attention, and experience level of the children.

One-on-One Activities

Creative movement is by its very nature a social activity and most movement activities for young children are usually done in a group setting. However, infants and children with limitations on their motor control are best taught first in one-on-one and then pair situations where they can practice and develop the skills needed for successful participation in a larger group. For example, while being held in one's lap, an infant's arms might be gently moved to a lullaby. An older child might play a game of hand mirrors with an adult where they sit or stand opposite each other and place hands palm to palm, while they take turns being the leader and moving the hands in different ways.

Exploration Exercises

Explorations are activities that allow children to explore the possibilities of how to move their bodies and to solve creative movement problems. These can be done one-on-one or with small or large groups of children. In the beginning, these may form the entire movement experience. Later on, they can be used as warm-up exercises for more complex movement experiences.

Group Movement Sequences

The richest creative movement experiences are those in which a whole group participates. Depending on the age of the children, these can range from having the whole group responding to the same open-ended prompts to elaborate story dances in which individuals and small groups play different roles. Movement sequences can be based on or include traditional and formal dance forms familiar to the group and are best when improvised or choreographed by the children themselves.

What follows are some creative movement starters - some ideas to get children moving creatively.

Creative Dance 

Dancing is moving to music in a repeated pattern or using formal positions. Knowing the steps to a dance allows us to easily move in concert with other people. However, for young children, learning to dance should not be for the purpose of public performance or learning perfect steps, but rather to learn how to better control their bodies, and thereby find joy in moving to the music with others.

Formal dancing instruction is not appropriate for young children. However, children can be introduced to styles of dance and then be allowed to incorporate these styles as they move in their own ways to the music. Select dance forms that have a few repetitious movements that closely match the words or accompanying music, such as those found in children's play songs and folk dances. Choose works that allow individual creative movements and do not require rigid conformity to prescribed dance steps or matching one's steps to those of another. For example, a Greek circle dance allows more freedom of movement than does a square dance.

Selecting Developmentally Appropriate Dances

Young children learn to dance much as they learn to sing a song. They begin by tagging on, repeating one or two of the main movements of the dance over and over. A child attempting to waltz may sway back and forth. Over time and with practice they will slowly add more parts to the dance until they have mastered the entire piece. Dances for the very young should consist of one to three basic movements that match the beat of the music and are open-ended enough that children can invent other ways for doing the dance for themselves. This turns what could be a lockstep performance into a creative arts activity.

A danceable song for young children has a strong beat with lots of repetition. In addition, some children's songs provide directions for how to move. An example of this type of song is “All Around the Kitchen” by Pete Seeger, in which the lyrics provide directions for the movements. There are many wonderful children's albums that feature danceable songs from around the world.  However, do not be afraid to invent ways of dancing to any favorite song or piece of music. Many songs have obvious places to insert a repeated motion. For example, Woody Guthrie's “Car Song” lends itself to driving motions. There should also be plenty of opportunity for children to make up their own dance moves to teach to others.

Open-Ended Creative Dance Experiences for Infants

Dance experiences for infants should focus on the joy of moving together with a caring adult.

• HUG ME. Name a body part and hug it in a repeated pattern. Say: “I hug my leg, leg, leg. I hug my head, head, head” and so on. For very young infants, hug their body part for them. Older infants can hug themselves or their caregiver. Change the words to hug other parts of the body or use a different action such as tap, kiss, and so on.

• BOUNCING. Place the infant on one's lap. Put on a catchy tune and bounce the infant gently up and down to the music, providing any needed head and back support. An older child can sit face-to-face holding your hands. Move the child up and down to the music. Say “up” and “down” as you move together. Then explore other ways to move together to the tune.

• DANCING FEET. Play a danceable song and hold the infant upright so that the child can wiggle and kick his or her feet to the music.

Dance Experiences for Toddlers

Toddlers with their newfound independence need open-ended dance experiences that let them join in as they wish.

• BUDDY DANCE. Have the toddler put his or her feet on your shoes as you move gently to a dance tune. Then let the toddler dance on his or her own.

• SHAKE A LEG. Put on a peppy instrumental piece of music and shake different body parts as you dance. Toddlers may have trouble moving each limb separately and keeping their balance. Make sure the floor is cushioned and all forms of movement are accepted.

• MARCH. Put on a John Phillip Sousa march and parade around the room. Add props and rhythm instruments.

Open-Ended Creative Dance Experiences for Preschoolers and Kindergarteners

With their better physical control and more fluid movements, three- to five-year-olds are ready to learn simple repetitive dances that they can use as springboards to inventing their own dances.

SLOW MOTION. To increase body control, take any dance the children are familiar with, such as “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes,” and do it in slow motion. Then do it as fast as you can.

CHAIN DANCE. Have the children join hands. Put on a tune with a regular beat. The leader starts the chain off by moving the free arm or leg in an interesting way as he or she leads the group around the room. The rest of the children then copy that movement. Have different children take turns being the leader, each of whom improvises a new dance movement.

Open-Ended Creative Dance Experiences for Primary Grade Children

Children who can perform a sequence of movements are ready to learn and remember more formal dances. Even so, start with dance games and open-ended dances before trying fancy footwork. Use creative movement activities as warm-ups. Remember that the goal is feeling part of a group, not public performance.

Folk Dancing for Children

Folk dance refers to dances that are at least 100 years old and are not copyrighted. They are usually danced at informal gatherings and have as many versions as the people who dance them. In a folk dance, the dancers can stand in many formations: in a circle, a square, a spiral, a line, or two facing lines. Sometimes participants may dance in small groups of four, as paired partners, or as solo dancers. There may be a caller or leader who gives directions to the dancers such as in American square dancing.

Folk dancing teaches children how to move in a pattern while maintaining a constant rhythm. The predictability and rhythm of the movement and the accompanying song or music helps children learn the sequence of steps and practice counting.

The best way to introduce young children to this kind of dancing is to start with simple singing games in which the song cues the children how to move. Examples of these kinds of games include the well-known “Ring Around the Rosy” and “London Bridge Is Falling Down.”

Follow this by introducing the concept of line dancing by having the students march to different dance tunes. When they seem comfortable with the rhythm of a tune, have them form two lines and face each other when dancing. This naturally leads into circle dances. Finally, introduce four- and two-partner dances. 

When selecting folk dances, look for ones that use basic movements. If you wish to try a dance and the moves are too complicated, don't be afraid to simplify them or even invent your own steps to a song or type of music. Here are some basic steps found in many folk dances from which to build original dance combinations:

• Slide - In this move one foot moves away from the other and then the other foot moves over to join it. You can slide in any direction and for any number of steps. This is best taught by standing with your back to the children.

• Skip - This move is very hard to describe in words. Basically, you take a step, hop with a rocking motion on the back foot, then bring that foot forward so you can hop on the other. The hop is shorter than the move and uneven in feel. Skipping is one of the last large motor skills children develop, so be accepting of all children's attempts. Holding a child's hand and slowly skipping with him or her as the motion is rhythmically described is one way to help children improve their skipping.

• Step-Hop - Although similar to a skip, the step-hop is evenly balanced. The step and hop are equal in timing. Once children can skip, play an even one-two beat on a drum or clap until they can match the beats.

• Cross-Kick - The foot is kicked out and across the body with the toe pointing outward at a slight angle to the body. Other kicks include back and front. This step requires children to be able to balance on one foot. It helps to have children hold hands or lock elbows in the beginning.

• Jumps - Some dances involve jumping in place or forward or back on both feet. The “Bunny Hop” is an example of a dance built on jumps.

• Taps - The dancer taps toe or heel on the floor to make a tapping sound. This is the basis of tap dancing in which shoe soles have metal plates to emphasize the sound.

Process not Performance

For children, moving creatively through dance is the process of learning how to control their bodies in space as well as a delightful way of expressing themselves. As they whirl about the room with their peers, they do not need to worry about how they appear to others. However, expecting them to perform these same movements in front of an audience instantly changes the focus from process to product.

Reading about Dancing

One of the best ways to increase the attention span and develop attentive listening when reading aloud to young children is to encourage them to move in concert with the story. Almost any children's book can have movements added to it effectively with a little forethought. If there is a rabbit in the story, you can cue the children to make wiggly bunny ears every time they hear the word “rabbit.” If the book is about going on a car trip, cue them to drive the car by turning the steering wheel every time you turn a page. In Bill Martin's Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (1995), the children can shade their eyes and turn their heads every time they here the cue words “What do you see?”

There are also many children's books about moving, dancing, and dancers from around the world that can be shared with children. Spicy Hot Colors: Colores Picantes (Shaham, 2004) interweaves nine colors and four dance steps with a jazzy bilingual text. Lion Dancer: Ernie Wan's Chinese New Year (Waters, 1991) is a photographic essay about a boy preparing for Chinese New Year and his role in the traditional Lion Dance.

Responding to Dance

All discussions about dancing should start with the body and its movements. Begin with naming the body parts and describing the different ways they can move. Have children describe their motions using their own descriptive language, as well as the vocabulary of the dance elements. Ask questions that make them think critically about their movement choices.

• Why did you choose to move in that way?

• What is another way you might have shown that tempo or feeling?

• How could you extend that movement?

• Is there a way to combine these ways of moving?

 Provide opportunities for preschool through primary-age children to record their responses to dance activities in their journals or at the art center using pictures and words. For example, have children draw pictures of themselves dancing. This is a useful way to assess how children see themselves as dancers. Do they draw themselves alone or with others? Do they show themselves doing active motions or standing still?

The power of creative movement and dance is immense in terms of developing children's ability to think spatially. Yet, it is often the one art form that is missing from young children's educational experience. If children do movement activities, it is usually in the form of simple dance games with little input from the children themselves. Although “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” and “Ring Around the Rosy” are perfectly fine, simple movement activities for young children, they are not all that creative movement education can be. Creative movement and dance must allow children to think with their bodies. The teacher of creative dance must be willing to improvise along with the children. The best dance activities happen when the teacher watches what the children are doing and builds on their ideas, adding props, music, and enthusiasm as needed.

Integrating the Arts into the Curriculum

What is Curriculum?

A curriculum is a formal (written) plan for facilitating children's learning/development.  It includes a description of the goals for children's learning and development, as well as the materials and teaching strategies that will be used to support children in achieving those goals.

An integrated curriculum is one that connects different areas of study/subjects (for example, the visual arts, music, creative movement, the theatre arts, mathematics, sciences, social studies, language and literacy) by cutting across subject-matter lines and emphasizing unifying concepts. Integration focuses on making connections for children, allowing them to engage in relevant, meaningful activities that can be connected to real life. An integrated curriculum allows children to pursue learning in a holistic way, without the restrictions often imposed by subject boundaries. In early childhood programs it focuses upon the inter-relatedness of all curricular areas in helping children acquire basic learning tools.  Through investigations/thematic units and projects, the visual arts, music, creative movement and the theatre arts can be integrated with other content (subject) areas. The thematic experiences provide real-life connections for abstract concepts.

Emergent curriculum is co-created by children and teachers working together to explore ideas that interest them.  Topics for study develop from events in children’s lives, daily happenings and concerns that develop as children work and play.  When children’s interest serve as the starting point for designing arts activities in emergent curriculum, the children see them as meaningful.  Setting up these kinds of activities takes a great deal of effort on the part of the teacher.  No published unit or project list will work with every group of children every time. Each group of children is unique in its interests and skills, and the integrated units teachers create must be customized accordingly. When children’s interests are aroused, when they are full of enthusiasm, and when they know they have a choice, they respond by thinking more deeply.

How Do We Integrate the Arts into the Curriculum?

The arts are a powerful learning tool. They develop physical, emotional, linguistic, social, and intellectual skills. They activate the spatial domain and stimulate the senses. They are a creative playground for the growing mind. The arts can also allow children to express their ideas and knowledge and to respond to their experiences in all areas of learning. Integrating the arts into the curriculum provides children with the opportunity not only to explore the different art forms in open-ended ways, but also to creatively communicate what they are learning in math, science, social studies, and English language arts.

Integrating the arts into the curriculum requires the teacher to approach the arts in different ways for distinctive purposes. Lessons can be intertwined, so that children acquire arts concepts and skills, while using the arts to connect and increase learning across the disciplines.

• STEP 1: TEACHING ABOUT THE ARTS. The arts disciplines are discrete subject areas. Dance, drama, music, and visual arts each have unique concepts and skills. A lesson in which children look at a sculpture and then imagine how the artist made it, for example, is a lesson that addresses the concepts, skills, tools, and work of artists. Children who have specific artistic skills and knowledge can use the arts more effectively and creatively to communicate their ideas. To nourish creative artists, musicians, dancers, and actors, early childhood professionals must plan thoughtful, well-organized arts experiences with clearly stated objectives that focus directly on the arts and artists and that provide many opportunities for arts exploration and practice.

• STEP 2: CONNECTING THE ARTS. Next, the arts can connect with learning in other subject areas. When children sketch the parts of a flower or sing a song about the seasons, they are using the arts to enhance learning in another subject area. These kinds of connected lessons allow children to use skills and techniques of the different art forms to practice and communicate concepts and ideas learned in other subject areas. Connecting the arts in this way enriches the child's learning experience by providing multiple pathways for children to make what they are learning about more meaningful. The arts can be connected in this way to math, science, social studies, literature, and to each other.

Connected arts lessons can develop in several ways. They may be carefully planned as part of the curriculum. Children studying trees might be asked to imagine that they are trees in a creative movement activity. On the other hand, sometimes a wondering question may set the stage for an activity. For example, children measuring water at the water table might wonder aloud what happens when different amounts of water are added to paint. The alert teacher seizes the teachable moment and quickly sets up a paint and water mixing activity and invites the young scientists to come explore. Arts activities can also lead to lessons in other curriculum areas.

• STEP 3: LEARNING THROUGH THE ARTS. In a fully integrated arts program, the arts are found everywhere in the classroom. Arts pursuits flow into and out of the daily classroom activities as children need them. For example, instead of children passing through a visual art center, each taking a turn at the art medium being offered that day, they are offered a well-stocked art supply center from which they can select familiar tools and media that best meet their expressive needs at that moment. In such a classroom, children's projects incorporate the arts. Children studying about homes, for example, may make crayon sketches of the houses near the school. In the same class another group might choose to put on a puppet show about building a house. Individual arts pursuits are also facilitated. One child may spend several days building a complex house of Styrofoam pieces, whereas another may paint houses at the easel one day and create a house from collage materials the next.

What is Emergent Curriculum?

Emergent curriculum is created by teachers and children working together to explore ideas that interest them. Topics for study develop from events in the children's lives, daily happenings, and concerns that develop as children work and play.

An emergent unit might begin with listening closely to what children are talking about and observing what they are doing. For example, a child’s discovery of a butterfly on the playground and the children's interest in it could be the start of learning more about insects. The teacher seizes the teachable moment and models enthusiasm and wonder to increase the children's interest. Tantalizing questions can make children look more closely or think more deeply. Instead of dismissing a child’s discovery of a butterfly, for example, with a “That's nice,” the teacher should draw the children in by pointing out the colors and asking questions about what they see. If some of the children continue to show interest in butterflies, the teacher might then start to gather resources and think of experiences and activities that relate to this interest. A web about butterflies, similar to the one pictured at left, could be created to help discover ideas to pursue further with the children. Experiences chosen must be rich in sensory and visual stimuli. They should be memorable - full of opportunities for asking questions and making observations. Most important, the experiences and activities selected should flow directly from the children's questions and interests. Throughout an emergent unit, the teacher must be on the lookout for things that spark children's interest. To facilitate the development of an emergent curriculum it is handy to have a collection of ideas, books, songs, and arts materials on hand that can be drawn upon at a moment's notice. The Internet can also be a rich source of information.

What is the Project Approach?

The project approach is an example of one way to organize and carry out an emergent curriculum. Katz and Chard (2000) define a project as “an in-depth study of a particular topic that one or more children undertake.” The project approach starts with a topic of interest to the children and then fosters the children's exploration of that topic as they apply already acquired knowledge and skills in making sense of new material. It is particularly designed to meet the needs of children in preschool, kindergarten, and the primary grades, and it can be very effective in multiage classes, because it draws on the differing skills and knowledge of each child. In the project approach children work in small or large groups on a project that reflects their personal interests, some of which may be far removed from their everyday experience, and from what the teacher might select. These groups establish a relationship with the teacher in which the teacher is the facilitator, soliciting the children's ideas and then providing the concepts, materials, and skills the children need to accomplish their goals.

According to Katz and Chard (2000), the project approach carries the following benefits:

• Children learn in an integrated manner and the divisions between subjects or play areas is broken down.

• Teachers are challenged to be creative and to devise constructive solutions to educational problems.

• Children are intrinsically motivated because it allows for a much wider range of choices and independent efforts on a topic of their choice.

• Children can select work that matches or challenges their skill level.

• Children can become expert in their own learning. They are in charge of finding information and using it in new ways.

• When children reflect on and evaluate their contribution to a project, they become accountable for their own learning.

The Project Approach in Action

In the project approach, topics rather than themes form the framework. Topics, unlike themes, can be very specific and are chosen because they relate closely to the children's interests.

CHOOSING A TOPIC.  One way to find an emergent topic is to listen to what interests or concerns the children. Did someone just get a letter from a relative who lives far away? That could start a project on the post office. Is a child going to the hospital for surgery? That could begin a project on hospitals. We can also initiate a project by selecting a topic about which everyone has a story or experience to share. For example, we might begin by telling a story about our favorite pair of socks and then ask the children to talk about and draw pictures of their experiences with socks. Teachers Jennifer Kamperman and Mary Bowne (2011) noticed their students blowing into foam noodle tubes to make sounds like elephants and built on this interest by incorporating a large stuffed elephant and a series of mysterious events into a year-long project seeped in literacy activities. They found that by cultivating the interests of the children not only did the children take ownership of their learning and developed in language and social skills, but they as teachers became more creative and sensitive to ways they could incorporate these skills into the project.

FACILITATING LEARNING. Based on what the children say and draw, learning activities are planned that relate to each individual child's ideas and questions. These activities should allow open-ended exploration of topic-related ideas, and encourage the child to observe, to sense, to explore, and to experiment, both individually and with others. For example, after several children participating in a project on plants comment that all leaves are green, a variety of plants with different color leaves can be put on display alongside containers of different colored dried leaves to use in collages. These activities are then available as a choice for any child to investigate.

ORGANIZING ACTIVITIES. Although flexibility is an important feature of the project approach, projects usually follow a set course consisting of the following 3 phases:

• Phase 1 is devoted to memory work. Children are invited to tell personal stories, to make drawings, and bring in things from home that relate to the topic. The children's knowledge and questions can be made into a KWL chart.  

• Phase 2 is devoted to gathering data from observation and experience. During this phase children go on field trips, make drawings from real things, and talk to experts. Children record what they learn through drawings, creative movement, music, dramatic play, and constructions.

• Phase 3 is concluding the project. At this time the teacher helps children select from the work they have done, and what they want to share with other classes and their families. Time is also taken to record conclusions and evaluate what was learned.

SMALL GROUP WORK. One of the key features of the project approach is the importance of working with children in small groups. Teachers meet on a regular basis with groups of children. Together they discuss the initial experiences and pursue questions and ideas that lead into a variety of independent investigations or projects. Small group projects can range from writing a book to making puppets and putting on a puppet show. Children are limited only by their imaginations. As they work on their projects, the teacher offers guidance, provides requested materials, directs the children to sources of information, and teaches specific skills as needed.

DISCUSSION/REPRESENTATION. Time is set aside to talk about and share the children's ideas daily. These can be recorded by the teacher in various ways through charts, graphs, dictation, and audio taping. The children's changing ideas can also be documented through their drawings and constructions and through photographs and videotapes made of their activities. This is a very important part of the process; it is the way the different groups' learning is made visible to all the children.

Completed projects need to be recognized in a special way. One of the main dangers with the project approach is the temptation to focus on the finished products and to ignore the thought and process that went into it. Teachers must plan ways to share the children's work through displays of not only the project, but also all of the documentation of the process that went into it.

My instructor provided the link to her related Pinterest boards:

KWL Chart

Webbing

What is an Integrated Learning Unit?

An integrated unit is one in which many different subject areas are tied together by relating them to a carefully selected, broad-based concept or theme. This is expressed in the form of an overarching question that ties together the learning areas. For example, if the chosen question is “What is water?” then books about water will be read. Children will experiment with water. They will paint with water, wash the dolls and toys in the play area, and splash in water at the water table. They may take a field trip to a stream or lake and talk about the animals that live in the water.

Visualizing the possible ways that all the subjects/learning centers can be integrated around a common question enables us to see beyond the isolated arts activity of the day and allows arts concepts and techniques to be introduced, explored, practiced, and mastered in together with all the other subject areas/learning centers. 

The following guidelines will aid in the selection of appropriate questions for integration.

IS THE QUESTION BROAD-BASED? Decide if the question is one that is rich in possibilities for expansion to the different subjects or growth areas and any standards that must be addressed. Using a brainstorming web, like the one pictured at left, can be used to explore the depth of a unit.  Once the concepts to be learned are laid out on the web, try to brainstorm the activities you might use to teach them. Are there wonderful books to read? Are there related songs and poems? Will there be things to explore through science, visual art, drama, and play? Will children be able to use skills from all the multiple intelligences to explore this question? Some questions for integrated units have more potential than others. Successful integrated units can be built around questions such as:

• How do animals live?

• How do our bodies work?

• What is a family?

WHAT RESOURCES ARE AVAILABLE? Are needed supplies available for certain activities? Are there places to visit or people who could talk to the children about this? Where can books be found that address this question?

HOW MUCH TIME IS THERE? The question should be open-ended enough so if the children's interest wanes it will be easy to move on to something else. There should be sufficient time, however, so that if the children become highly interested, they do not have to be cut off to “move on.” It is not the specific content that teaches. The goal in early childhood education is not to make children experts. Rather the question should be a vehicle that will allow children to explore and learn about their environment within a meaningful context as they master the required subject area skills and concepts as delineated in state standards and the Common Core.

HOW CAN THE EXPERIENCES BE MADE REAL? The most important part of unit design is to make sure that it includes plenty of real, authentic experiences. It is not enough to read about a subject, watch videos, or search the Internet; if children are studying water they need plenty of activities in which to use water. If they are studying animals, they need to go to the zoo or pet store and see, smell, and touch live animals.

CAN THE REQUIRED SKILLS AND CONCEPTS BE WOVEN MEANINGFULLY INTO THIS QUESTION? The broader the question the easier it will be to incorporate all the various subject area/developmental domain objectives. The goal should be to weave in as many as possible. However, in doing so, it is not enough to draw a waterwheel on a subtraction math worksheet and think it is related to a unit on water. In order for learning to be meaningful, the children need to have focused instruction in subtraction, then learn how subtraction relates to the unit question by applying the new math skill in an authentic hands-on way. For example, subtraction in a primary unit on the question “What makes the weather?” could be practiced by having each child set out a premeasured cup of water and each day measuring and subtracting to see how much water evaporated.

WHAT AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENTS CAN BE USED? An authentic or performance assessment asks the child to perform a task in which the skill or concept is used to successfully accomplish a real-life goal. This type of assessment asks the child to design or create something that shows what they have learned. Examples of authentic assessments include having children design a creative movement and original song using all the parts of the body after studying about how the body moves or building a boat that floats and holds a certain amount of weight after studying sinking and floating. Authentic assessments often start out with a rubric or list of criteria that represents quality work. Rubrics can be individualized to meet each child's abilities and needs, or they can be co-designed with input from the children.

The Arts and Integrated Teaching

Integrated teaching provides an excellent way to unify the child's arts experiences with the rest of the curriculum. However, it is very important to make sure that the arts activities are open ended. It is a real temptation for the teacher, for example, to want to give the children unit-related pictures to color and patterns to follow, but it must be noted that such directive activities do not foster creative growth, no matter how attractive the results may be. Do not expect or demand that every child make the same arts projects to take home. The arts allow each child to express a unique view of the unit concepts. Open-ended arts activities can be incorporated into integrated units in many ways, including:

THROUGH EVERYDAY CREATIVE ARTS ACTIVITIES. Make sure basic, familiar arts supplies and props are always available. During the unit, children should be free to choose to draw, paint, make a collage, move creatively to music, or create a puppet, whether as a personal exploration or as a reaction to a unit-related experience.

THROUGH SPECIAL MATERIALS. Unit-related materials can be offered as a choice. For example, for the unit “What is a tree?” pressed leaves can be added to the collage area, twigs for painting can be placed alongside brushes at the easel, and drums made from hollow tree trunks added to the sound center.

THROUGH RESPONSIVE ACTIVITIES. Encourage children to use the arts as a way to record and respond to special events and experiences by providing opportunities for the children to show what they are learning through activities that incorporate arts skills. For example:

• Make individual thematic journals by stapling together several sheets of blank or partially lined paper. Then set aside a daily time for children to record in pictures and words their ideas about the topic. Have children share their thematic journals with a partner or a small group.

• Set up a storytelling center. At this center, children can dictate their unit-related stories to the teacher. Later the class can help act out these stories for everyone to enjoy.

• Set up an author's corner where they can write imaginary stories based on something they have learned during the unit. For example, if they are studying animals, they can write and illustrate a story about one of the animals.

• Create a music center with thematically related instruments and sound makers where they can compose a musical piece or song. For example, if the group is studying water, the center might feature water drums, water bottles, and rain sticks.

THROUGH GROUP ACTIVITIES. Plan one or more group arts activities that relate to the unit concepts. Quilts, murals, and box sculptures can be designed to relate to many theme concepts. Whole group singing and creative movement activities can help make concepts come alive.

The unit activities selected should span the range of developmental growth areas and tap into all of the domains of the multiple intelligences. Consider questions to be addressed, explorations and experiments to be done, vocabulary to use, and assessments to be made. Here are some strategies for success.

• Put activities in developmental order. Activities should be planned to logically build on each other. Skills acquired in one activity should recur again at slightly more challenging levels in the next activity.

• Check for comprehensiveness. The developmental growth areas, together with Gardner's Multiple Intelligences (MI), can be used as an organizing framework to make sure that no area of learning is more heavily emphasized than another.

• Determine the amount of time needed. It is important to plan how the activities will unfold over time.

The Integrated Unit in Action

Integrated units consist of the following components:

SETTING THE STAGE. Before beginning the unit, allow the children to become familiar with how the workspace or room is organized, what behaviors are expected of them, and how the time is divided during the day. Once the unit begins, the children will already know where the basic supplies are and which areas are used for certain activities. Taking time to allow for basic exploration of the environment and getting to know each other beforehand will make it easier for everyone to concentrate more on the theme.

THE INITIAL EVENT. Once a question is selected, plan an initial event that will be stimulating and provocative, and which gets the children excited about the theme. It should be full of engaging images, ideas, and feelings—a WOW. The event may be one that takes the children beyond the walls of the room, such as a walk or field trip, or it may involve bringing something special to the children, such as a visitor, an animal, or an object. Rearrange the room, and put out new materials, new learning centers, and play items that relate to the unifying theme of the unit. The idea is to raise the interest of as many children as possible.

PRESCHOOL INTEGRATION. In a play-based program, unit activities should be integrated into each of the learning centers offered but should not replace them. Children need the continuity of knowing that sand, blocks, home-life/dramatic play, and easel painting will be waiting for them every day. Integrate the unit activities into these areas in small ways such as changing the paint color or texture or the paint tools offered at the easel; providing different containers or toys in the sand; putting out topic-related toys; or providing different dress-up clothes, art to hang, or play food. Although it may not be possible to integrate unit concepts into every area every time, try to find creative ways to touch as many areas as possible.

PRIMARY INTEGRATION. In the primary grades integrated activities can be used to unify the different subject areas. For example, if the question is “How do living things survive?” then conduct a science lesson in which children plant seeds and water them. Through this activity they can apply their addition skills as they measure the growth of the new plants, their writing skills as they describe the plants in their journal, and their visual art skills as they draw pictures of the different stages of growth. Integrated arts activities fit especially well into reading and writing workshops where children can read about the theme and then express their ideas in all types of creative ways.

ENDING THE UNIT. After all the time and effort spent on an integrated unit, it should not be allowed to fizzle away at the end. Here is how to end an integrated unit:

• Share - Provide time for the children to share what they have learned with each other. Children can show the works they have done and explain how they created them. Consider trying a variety of formats. Although having the child stand up in front of the group is a common method, other possibilities include audio taping or video recording the child's presentation for sharing with the others, having the children write books or design a game, or by creating a digital presentation. These can then be shared with parents as well.

• Display - The children can make displays or complete authentic assessment tasks that show what they have learned, and their classmates can circulate among them asking questions and making comments. To keep the group focused on the presentations, provide them with a simple checklist to mark or coupons to collect that show which displays they visited.

• Evaluate - The end of an integrated unit is a time for evaluating what has happened. What were the children's favorite activities? What do they remember best? What new things did they learn? What do they want to tell others about their experiences? What have the children learned and accomplished? This is the time for reflective questioning by both the children and the teacher.

Documenting Learning

Documentation of what has been learned is an essential part of both integrated and project approaches to curriculum design as well as for individual arts activities. When done well, such documentation provides a rich, thought-provoking, and memorable record of the learning process the children went through.

Many teachers create documentation panels that contain photographs, children's artwork, and written descriptions of what the children said and did. Hung in the classroom, these panels show the children that the process they went through in an arts activity, an integrated unit, or a project is important and provide opportunities for them to revisit their work. Displayed in public spaces for parents and community, the panels show what children can accomplish as they learn.

In order to create documentation panels, materials that record how the learning was accomplished must be collected throughout the unit, project, or activity. These records can be anecdotal notes, tape recordings, photographs, and samples of children's work. Materials should be collected at all the stages of the unit or project.

A meaningful documentation panel should include most or all of the following documents:

• A large, easy-to-read title. A good title draws the viewer to the panel and places the work in context.

• Parent information. There should be brief descriptions of what the children did and learned that make clear the value of doing the project. Unit goals and objectives can be restated in clear, direct language.

• Visuals. The panel should catch the eye. Children's artwork and photographs of the children involved in the processes of learning are an ideal way to do this. Photographs of science experiments, creative movement activities, and other hands-on activities bring what happens in an active classroom to life. The visuals should be carefully mounted on color-coordinated backgrounds.

• Captions. The photographs and children's work should be boldly labeled with quotes made by the children. These can be obtained from anecdotal notes, tape recordings, or by having children offer their own comments.

• Actual materials. Actual samples of tools and materials used, which relate to the theme, and three-dimensional constructions can be attached to the panel or displayed on a table nearby. For example, for a project on the ocean, shells can be glued to the panel.

• An interactive. The best way to involve those looking at the panel is to make sure they are intellectually involved. Ask them to look for particular things or to answer a question or think about another way to do the same work. For example, for a documentation panel about farming, samples of farm products, such as wool, corn, and hay, can be attached with the question “Can you identify all these farm products?”

Using Mobile Devices to Document Learning

Using mobile technology in the classroom allows both the teacher and the children to do the following.

• Take digital photographs and video of their activities.

• Send and receive photographs and video images from each other, and from places they may not be able to visit.

• Send audio and text messages to each other, to the teacher, and to their families.

• Use the GPS feature to locate themselves and trips they take or imagine taking on a map.

• Interview people who may be unable to come to the classroom.

Many of these same things can also be done on computers. However, the mobility of cell phones and tablets allows several groups to be recording at the same time. Having several devices to hand means that a spontaneous song going on at the music center and an impromptu puppet show at the dramatic play area are less likely to be missed. Audio of the children talking about their decisions can be recorded at several locations about the room. Devices can be taken on field trips and used to record different impressions.

Integrating the Arts into the Curriculum: Mrs. Myers' Kindergarten

I learned about the ongoing efforts of one kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Myers, to plan/implement emergent, project/inquiry-based curriculum, by reading several of her blog entries. 

https://mrsmyerskindergarten.blogspot.com/2014/10/how-i-plan-and-implement-projectinquiry.html

https://mrsmyerskindergarten.blogspot.com/search?q=birds

https://mrsmyerskindergarten.blogspot.com/search?q=social+studies

Here are my responses to related questions.

1. How do you know that Mrs. Myers’ curriculum is emergent?  Your explanation should include the definition of emergent curriculum and at least one SPECIFIC reference to a SPECIFIC project (eagles or superheroes).

My response: Even though she sets up exploration during play, once children has found an interest, she finds out what their knowledge, misconceptions and wonders are (kwl chart) about the subject to create a curriculum that best interest the children. The teacher seizes the teachable moment and models enthusiasm and wonder to increase the children's interest. For example: Topic: what are superheroes?

What do we KNOW about superheroes? What we WONDER about superheroes? and what did we LEARN about superheroes?

2. How do you know that Mrs. Myers’ curriculum is integrated?  Your explanation should include the definition of integrated curriculum and at least one SPECIFIC reference to a SPECIFIC project (eagles or superheroes).

My response: She creates a web map showing the different directions they want to take the inquiry and possible experiences that will help them find the answer to their wonderings. She adds literacy and a math standards list as well as science and social standards that they will focus on. An integrated unit is one in which many different subject areas are tied together by relating them to a carefully selected, broad-based concept or theme.  For example:  Topic: What are superheroes? We will read about superheroes and the types of superheroes. We will talk about what makes a superhero? Children will bring in a picture of who their superheroes are or consider. We will look up what superheroes eat and live. What they wear?

3. How does Mrs. Myers ensure that the projects she implements are relevant/meaningful to the children in her class?  Your explanation should include at least one SPECIFIC reference to a SPECIFIC project (eagles or superheroes).

My response: She states that she sets out experiences for them to explore and document what they noticed. She does whole groups and small groups investigations through books, videos and hands- on experiences. 

4. How does Mrs. Myers integrate the arts into the projects she implements?  Your explanation should include at least one SPECIFIC reference to a SPECIFIC project (eagles or superheroes).

My response: She provides a number of materials for the children to use free hand. She allows the children to turn an area of the room into an ocean, forest and sky to show how the animals adapt in the weather. They sign up on teams becoming experts on their part during the investigation. For example: Topic: what are superheroes? I will put different types of social worker outfits in housekeeping. Some children are able to draw mail trucks or firetrucks. In drama, A mail room can be created.

5. How do children document what they have learned during their projects?  Your explanation should include at least one SPECIFIC reference to a SPECIFIC project (eagles or superheroes).

My response: One child documented what they have learned using a voice memo. They talked to a mail man. Another child created a documentation board that has their KWL chart on it as well as pictures they have drawn about co-pilots and books they have read.

Then I reviewed the information above concerning meaningful documentation panels.  I choose 2 of the 6 features of a meaningful documentation panel (described above) and evaluated how well Mrs. Myers had incorporated those features (what was done well, what could have been done better).  

My responses appear below.

The first feature I chose: Visuals

What was done well: seeing the different pictures that the children created of the animals and their habitats.

What could have been done better: The title and captions.

The second feature I chose: Actual materials

What was done well: The sound exploration area created for the school provided a lot of different ways of creating sound.

What could have been done better: visual. Pictures of the children could be posted of them playing with the instruments.