Introduction of ArtExpress and Young Children

Art, music, dance, and dramatics (the expressive arts) not only provide important content, but they also serve as a vehicle for serious learning for children of all ages and abilities. The expressive arts offer important opportunities for:

• expression
• problem solving
• communication

Expressive arts contribute to healthy development and learning. Children exhibit cognitive changes due to participation in expressive arts activities. Moreover, the expressive arts aid both written and spoken communication and enhance social development. The arts are far more than just something for children to do to “keep busy,” or something to keep children quiet and occupied while adults do other things, or a way for children to learn to follow directions.

Benefits of the Arts

Child initiation and child direction are key elements to successful experiences in the arts. When children have choices of materials and ample time to complete their activities, they feel as if they have control of the direction of their play. Children can then construct their own realities, freely communicate their feelings and ideas, and make sense of and give meaning to their world. This sense of control is especially important for young children with disabilities who often do not feel in control of their bodies or environments because of their disabling conditions. Through active participation in the expressive arts, children make great strides in the processes of understanding and creating symbols, which are critical to communication and literacy development.

Children gain a broader and deeper understanding of human culture and the significance of their own imaginations through artistic expression and appreciation. Like the adults around them, children attach certain kinds of form, movements, lines, and sounds with meaning. They begin to use the movements of play, the lines of drawing, and the sounds of language and music to represent people, objects, and events that comprise their world [Dyson, A. (1990). Symbol makers, symbol weavers: How children link play, pictures, and print. Young Children, 45(2), 50-57.]

With a few markers, crayons, and paper, children make initial marks or scribbles which begin the trek from simple scribbles to representational drawing, to emerging letters, and to an eventual understanding of the symbols comprising language. With some clay homemade play dough or a variety of found materials and glue:

• children create sculptures
• discover relationships between objects
• explore differences in materials, sizes, shapes, and forms

The physical activity involved in putting marks on paper, rolling clay or play dough, squeezing glue from a bottle, and placing objects on paper to form collages is one way the expressive arts contribute to the development of fine and gross motor skills. Moving a scarf to music, first in a large circle using the whole arm and then in a small circle using the wrist, also illustrates how the expressive arts develop motor skills. Making and using props in a dramatic play setting demonstrates how children’s thinking moves from concrete to abstract.

Children often converse while they work. They discuss their drawings and sculptures with each other, an adult, or even with themselves. Children learn to share supplies, table or easel space, and to make compromises. They create stories about the marks, images, and sculptures they make.

With a few records or tapes, children listen to, sing along with, or tap out a rhythm to music, by themselves or together as a group. Add a few musical instruments, purchased or homemade, and children learn about sounds and how sounds work together to create both beautiful music and lots of noise! During dramatic play activities, children try out new roles and often have to negotiate with one another for play to continue.

The Arts Across Learning Domains

Learning takes place in all domains—cognition, communication, social and emotional, and physical. Since young children cannot separate knowledge from emotions, they should not be presented with separate content. Children have basic drives to:

• be physically active
• satisfy curiosity
• manipulate and construct
• share and communicate
• express themselves both aesthetically and creatively
• play

Cognition

Producing art requires that children think of an experience, idea, or feeling and then create symbols to express it. Being able to think about something not present and then express it visually is a major cognitive accomplishment for young children (Golomb, C. (1992). The Child's Creation of a Pictorial World. Berkeley: University of California Press). As children create art, they must organize their thoughts and actions into patterns and symbols. As children create art they:

• reason
• invent
• create
• solve problems

Children also develop perceptual sensitivity to their world, and perceive likenesses, differences, shapes, sizes, textures, and colors as they create art. When the product is complete, it communicates to others, just as oral language does. Children’s thoughts, feelings, and experiences are now shared visually with others.

Children's Artwork- Examples of Differing Interpretations of a Ladybug

Eisner (Eisner, E. (1979). The contribution of painting to children’s cognitive development. Journal of Education, 164, 227-237) identified nine cognitive changes that take place through painting activities. Many of these changes center around symbol development and also take place in other expressive arts activities.

Children learn about patterning and sequencing through the arts. Beats and rhythms have patterns children can clap or tap. Sequencing, an important literacy skill, is learned through hands-on activities. For example, a child can discover that in order to make play dough, certain things must happen in a certain order.

• Dry ingredients must be measured and mixed. Measured wet ingredients are added to the dry ingredients and mixed. A transformation takes place. The dough must then be kneaded to get the proper consistency.

The natural order of events leads to a knowledge of sequences for children to observe and point out to others.

Children with cognitive disabilities feel successful in the arts when activities are appropriate for their developmental age. Some young children progress through developmental stages more slowly than their same-age peers. They may require more time and adult support to be successful using materials. Repeating the same activity often is one of many helpful strategies. A flexible schedule, free choice activity times, and an emphasis on concrete learning will encourage:

• experimenting with art tools and materials
• observing peers working on art projects
• developing symbols to communicate.

Communication