The Creative Arts in the
Early Childhood
Classroom
CDEC 1358
Nita Thomason, Ed.D.

Identify someone whom you would call creative.
What is it about this person that earns the title of creative?

Think about yourself.
What is it about you that that makes you unique, different, special?
What do you do creatively?

Creativity is a thinking and responding process that involves connecting with our previous experience, responding to stimuli, and generating at least one unique combination.

Traits of Creative People
• Awareness of creativity
• Originality
• Independence
• Risk-taking
• Problem redefining
• Energy
• Curiosity
• Attraction to complexity

Traits of Creative People
• Artistic
• Open-mindedness
• Need time alone
• Perceptiveness
• Concentration
• Humor and ability to regress
• Childlike qualities

Modes of Thinking
• Convergent - leads to one and only one acceptable answer
• Divergent - searches for many different ways of defining or interpreting a problem

Stages of the Creative Process
• Preparation/brainstorming
• Incubation
• Illumination
• Verification/communication

Schools that Nurture
Creativity
• Personnel strive to reduce stress.
• Process is valued over product.
• Time limits are flexible.
• Free, open atmosphere encouraging selfexpression.
• Ideas are shared.
• Competition/external rewards minimized.
• Creativity, imagination, and fantasy are valued.

Figure 12.5 Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

Figure 12.6 Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Characteristics of Play
• Play is voluntary and intrinsically motivated.
• Play is symbolic, meaningful, and transformational.
• Play actively involves the players.
• Play is rule-bound.
• Play pleasurable.

Why is play important?
• Enables children to make sense of their world
• Develops social and cultural understandings
• Allows children to express their thoughts and feelings
• Fosters flexible and divergent thinking
• Provides opportunities to meet and solve real problems
• Develops language and literacy skills and concepts

• Functional play
• Symbolic Play
• Constructive Play
• Games with Rules

Parten’s Developmental Stages of Social Play
• Unoccupied behavior
• Onlooker behavior
• Solitary play
• Parallel play
• Associative play
• Cooperative play

Modern Theories of Play
• Psychoanalytic – play is vehicle for emotional release
• Cognitive-developmental – play mirrors children’s developing mental abilities
• Sociocultural – play is central in social and cultural development; zone of proximal development

Teachers’ Roles in
Children’s Play
• Observers
• Collaborators
• Planners
• responders
• Models
• Mediators
• Monitors of Children’s Safety

• Behaviorism and Social
Learning Theory
• Humanism
• Constructivism

Adult-Child Interaction Styles
• Autocratic
• Permissive
• Democratic

Fostering Creative Thought
• Inquiry- and Problem-Based
Learning Groups
• Investigative Play
• Project Work

Types of Conflicts
• Possession disputes
• Power struggle disputes
• Group-entry disputes
• Aggressive play
• Peer and adult disputes

Art Assumptions Quiz
1. Artistic ability unfolds naturally so it is best to leave children to follow their own inclinations.
2. Producing art is an emotional process rather than a cognitive one.
3. Any sensory experience, such as playing with shaving cream, is an art experience.
4. Children need to produce artwork in a solitary fashion; otherwise they might “copy” the work of their peers.
5. The primary purpose of art projects in school is, and should be, to celebrate holidays or make gifts.

What is art?
• Are the children’s responses predetermined?
• Will one child’s work look nearly identical to another’s?
• Who is the activity for?
• Will the child’s efforts lead to the creation of a new form that is satisfying to the child at his or her level of development?

Common Errors in Teaching
Art
• Advocating formulas and requiring conformity in copying
• Mistaking lack of guidance for freedom
• Unduly emphasizing copying and neatness

How Children Learn
Through Art
•
To observe carefully and record observations
• To organize ideas and express their feelings
• To work with purpose and maintain a focus
• To solve problems through trial and error
• To respect themselves and their achievements
•
To communicate feelings and ideas with others
•
To discover own point of view
•
To appreciate others points of views
• To appreciate different cultural groups
• To create change using wide range of media
• To make aesthetic discoveries and evaluations

Figure 8.2 The Twenty Basic Scribbles (Really)

Figure 8.3 Four Stages in Children’s Drawings

Responding to Children’s Art
• Treat child artists & their work with respect
•
Discuss artistic elements
• Follow child’s lead “Tell me about...”
•
Ask child appropriate questions
• What is it made of?
• What does it represent?
• For whom was it made?
• What is the most interesting thing to you?
• Where did your idea for this art come from?

Displaying Children’s Art
• Place at children’s eye level
•
Rotate art regularly
• Utilize a variety of spaces
•
Add finishing touches such as frames
• Recognize every child’s effort
•
Children should be able to take home

Discipline Based Art Education
(DBAE)
• Art Production: the making of art
•
Art History: acquiring knowledge about the contributions artists and art make to culture and society
•
Art Criticism: responding to and making judgments about the properties and qualities that exist in works of art
• Aesthetics: the philosophy of art - discovering and understanding the varieties of meanings and values of art

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Fine Arts
• http://www.tea.state.tx.us/rules/tac/chapter117/ ch117a.html
•
Perception
•
Creative expression/performance
•
Historical/cultural heritage
•
Response/evaluation

• What do you see?
•
What do you hear?
• What do you know?
• http://americanart.si.edu/images/
1977/1977.107.1_1a.jpg

Establishing Rules & Limits in ECE Art Programs
• Decide on a few important general rules
• Limit the number of children at art center
• Wear protective clothing
• Teach children how to use and care for art tools
• Model the importance of conserving materials
• Teach children to share supplies and respect others
• Demonstrate how to clean up after each art activity

Develop a Child’s Vocabulary of Art
• Encourage children to discuss the artwork first in ordinary language.
• Introduce the vocabulary in contest.
• Use accurate, appropriate vocabulary.

Art Materials Should
• Extend children’s experience.
• Be plentiful.
• Be accessible.
• Be age-appropriate.
• Be of high quality.

Cross-curricular Connections
• Media & Technology
• Mathematics & Science
• Language & Literacy
• Social Studies, Health & Nutrition

Cultural & Ethnic Diversity in the Arts Helps Children
Understand:
• the relevance and significance of art in human experience
• the perspectives posed by people of various backgrounds
• the commonality and diversity of humankind
• the child’s personal power as a creator of and responder to art

Music/Movement Framework
• All children have potential
• Each child brings unique interests/abilities
• Children have critical thinking skills
• Children have diverse experiences
• Children should experience exemplary musical sounds, activities, and materials
• Don’t pressure to perform on stage
• Activities should be enjoyable
• Safe, pleasant environment
• Diverse learning opportunities essential
• Children need effective, enthusiastic models

Uses of Music and Movement
•
Begin the day/greet one another
• Create warm, positive atmosphere
• Establish particular mood
• Ease activity transitions
•
Link arts with other subject areas
• Focus children’s attention
•
Make special events more special
•
Celebrate diversity
• Social development
• Relaxation
• Sharpen thinking skills
•
Promote creative expression
•
Bring day or event to satisfying conclusion

Educational Value of Music and Movement
• Cognitive skills
•
Social skills
• Perceptual skills
•
Psychomotor skills
• Affective skills
•
Cultural skills
• Aesthetic skills

How Music and Movement
Develop
•
Enactive Stage
•
Iconic Stage
•
Symbolic Stage

Principles of Music Program
•
Base program on four elements
• Balance of groupings
• Invite children to respond in own ways
• Build self-confidence
• Use personalized encouragement
•
Build music/movement vocabularies
•
Encourage spontaneity
•
Join with your students in music experiences
• Be inclusive of all children

Children’s Artists
• Raffi
• Wiggles
• Greg and Steve
• Putumayo
• Hap Palmer
• Ella Jenkins
• Dr. Jean
• Anna Moo
• Papaya Pub
• Sharon, Lois, & Bram
• Doc Watson
• Pete Seeger
• Burl Ives

Teaching Strategies
• Use your voice
• Use recorded music
• Use simple instruments

Basic Features of a Creative
Environment
• Climate - feeling emanating from classroom
• Space - degree which room contributes to active, creative thinking
• Time - influence of classroom schedule

Divergent Materials for
Creative Expression lead to multiple uses and invite a variety of creative responses
• Enable children to use their imaginations
• Offer children latitude for creating
• Encourage cooperation
• Have no right or wrong uses, build esteem
• Process-oriented

Types of Materials
• Skill/Concept Materials
• Gross Motor Materials
• Manipulative Materials
• Construction Materials
• Self-Expression Materials
• Natural and Everyday Objects

Games and Young Children
• Infants and Toddlers - social interaction games
• Preschoolers - running/chasing games, simple spinning games of chance, simple sorting, guessing and matching games, simple board games
• Kindergarten, Primary Students - games with rules

What is a game?
• Agreed-upon set of rules
• Pre-determined outcome
• Players assigned specific roles
• Sanctions for violations
• Competition and winning

The Value of Games
• Develop cooperative behaviors and strategic thinking
• Practice autonomy
• Engage in problem solving
• Supervise and correct each other

Competition versus
Cooperation
• Some early childhood educators think competitive games are developmentally inappropriate for young children
• Others believe that games can be appropriate and beneficial with proper guidelines

The EC Teacher’s Role in
Games
• Plan and introduce games
• Allow children to modify rules
• Support the children’s initiatives as they invent their own games

Group Games in Early Education:
Implications of Piaget’s Theory
Constance Kamii & Rheta DeVries
• Races
• Chasing Games
• Hiding Games
• Guessing Games
– Games from Auditory Clues
– Games from Visual Clues

What is Creative Drama
(Enactment)?
• Emerges from the spontaneous play of young children
• Uses art of theater to enhance awareness of self, others, world
• Children act “as if” their imaginary world were the actual world
• Dramatizations represent feelings, thoughts, and actions

Enactment allows children to:
• Assume roles, create dialogue, feel emotions, use their bodies and make decisions
• Use their past and present experiences to talk about and solve problems
• Develop knowledge of appropriate roles, actions, and behaviors
• See others’ points of view
• Try out new and emerging skills
• Explore the forms and function of language

Forms of Enactment
•
Informal drama
•
Story or interpretive drama
•
Formal or scripted drama

Importance of Creative Drama in EC Classroom
• Values and respects children’s individuality and creative expressiveness
•
Offers means for cooperative learning and teamwork
•
Enables children to make abstract situations meaningful and personalize real-life situations
•
Provides opportunities to be spectators and actors
•
Develops literacy skills
• Develops thinking skills
•
Strengthens self-concept

Prop Boxes
• Promote experiences related to a theme
•
Extend and sustain theme play
• Increase opportunities for family involvement
•
Provide opportunities to enact familiar roles
• Develop career awareness

Pantomime
• Children use gestures and movement to communicate ideas, feelings, and actions
• Children use no words, only actions

Why use puppets?
• Add life to classroom
•
Natural vehicle for creativity, imagination, and self-expression
•
Help children convey feelings, emotions, values, and ideas
•
Encourages self-expression, storytelling, improvisation, and enactment
•
Enhances risk taking and building confidence in speaking abilities

Story Drama - type of interpretive drama based on familiar stories, poems, fables, or original stories
• Supports understanding of story structure
• Offers natural and authentic form of literacy
• Improves reading comprehension
• Promotes speaking, listening, critical, and creative reading skills by interpreting familiar material
• Heightens students interest in reading
• Enables children to experience the feelings and behaviors of others.

Outdoor Playgrounds
• Space Requirements
– 75 Square Feet per child
– Play zones (tricycle riding separated from climbing)
• Variety of Surfaces
– grass
– hardtop
– mulch, pea gravel or cushioned fall areas
– sand
– water
– hills/mounds and flat areas
– shade

Types of Outdoor Play
• Exercise
• Constructive
• Dramatic
• Games with Rules

Playground Space
• Spaces for individuals and small groups
• Spaces for children of different ages
– toddlers
– preschoolers
– elementary-aged children
• Spaces for walking, running, skipping
• Storage area
• Easy access to toilets and drinking fountains
• Accessibility for special needs children

Spaces for Children of Different Ages at the Plano Train
Playground
• Children under 5
• Children from6 - 12 Years of Age

Celebration Park
• Water Play
• Ramps for special needs/strollers
• Dramatic Play

Storage at Northaven Coop
• Riding Toys
• Balls,
• Sand & Water Toys
• Hoops
• Moveable Materials

Child’s Play at Bachman Lake
• Rotary Project
• Geared to Children with Special Needs

Materials
• Complexity - number of possibilities the material offers children
• Diversity - number of ways material can be used, regardless of complexity
• Loose Parts - movable pieces that can be manipulated and used to improvise providing flexibility, diversity, novelty, and challenge
– boards, ramps, tires, tools, nails
– balls

Materials
• Offers opportunities for physical, cognitive, and social development
• Equipment for active and quiet play
• Materials for dramatic play
• Materials for gross motor development
• Sand area with cover

Rainbow Connection
Playground
• Funds raised with Silent Auction
• Designed by architect in church
• Built by parents and church members

Nucleus Outdoor
Fitness Playground

Outdoor Waterplay in
Guatemala

Safety
• Equipment is in good repair, free of sharp edges and in good working order
• Fences at least 5 feet high with lockable gates
• 8 - 10 inches of sand, mulch, pea gravel, or natural fiber
• Litter free

Religion and the
Public Schools
A Teacher’s Guide

“Knowledge about religions is not only characteristic of an educated person, but is also absolutely necessary for understanding and living in a world of diversity.”
National Council for the Social Studies

The First Amendment
Religious Clauses
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof …”
• Establishment Clause
• Free Exercise Clause

How should I teach about religion in the public school setting?
• The school’s approach to religion is academic, not devotional.
• The school strives for student awareness of religions, but does not press for student acceptance of any religion.
• The school informs students about various beliefs; it does not seek to conform students to any particular belief.

How should I teach about religion in the public school setting?
• The school sponsors study about religion, not the practice of religion.
• The school may expose students to a diversity of religious views, but may not impose any particular view.
• The school educates about all religions; it does not promote or denigrate religion.