2.3: SSAMM Play Fosters Development in All Domains

Introduction

Early childhood development is a multifaceted process that encompasses various domains, each contributing to the holistic growth of a child. In this document, we explore how SSAMM (Social Studies, Art, Music, and Movement) activities can foster development across all domains—cognitive, social, emotional, physical, creative, and language. By integrating these activities into classroom settings, educators can create dynamic and engaging learning experiences that support the interconnected nature of child development.

This document is structured to provide a comprehensive understanding of the developmental domains, their interconnections, and practical examples of SSAMM activities that promote growth in each area. We begin by examining the fundamental domains of child development and their interrelatedness, followed by an exploration of the Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards (WMELS) and how they align with these domains. Finally, we present a variety of classroom activities that illustrate how SSAMM can be effectively implemented to enhance children's learning and development.

Bridging the Domains: Connecting the Early Learning Standards with Developmental Domains

Earlier in this chapter, we explored six domains of learning fundamental to child development. These domains—cognitive, social, emotional, physical, creative, and language—are all interconnected and influence one another.   The image below illustrates the interrelatedness of developmental domains by visually representing them as interconnected circles surrounding a central figure of a child, emphasizing how they collectively contribute to a child's overall development. Each domain—Cognitive, Language, Physical, Creative, Social, and Emotional—is depicted with relevant icons, showing their distinct yet interdependent roles.

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): "Developmental Domains" by Heather Carter is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessible version.

To better understand how these domains influence one another, consider the following examples of their interconnection:

• Cognitive & Language: Language development supports cognitive growth by enabling children to express thoughts, understand concepts, and solve problems.
• Cognitive & Social: Social interactions help children develop reasoning, decision-making, and problem-solving skills.
• Emotional & Social: Emotional development influences how children interact with others, build relationships, and manage conflicts.
• Physical & Cognitive: Physical activities promote brain development, coordination, and motor skills, essential for tasks like writing and exploration.
• Creative & Emotional: Creative expression, such as art or music, helps children process emotions and develop self-identity.
• Language & Social: Communication skills are crucial for building friendships, collaborating, and expressing needs.

Understanding the Domains through the Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards (WMELS)

As we've seen, the six developmental domains—cognitive, social, emotional, physical, creative, and language—are deeply interconnected and play a vital role in the holistic development of young children. Each domain influences and supports the others, as demonstrated by their interconnections.

Building on this understanding, the Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards (WMELS) provide a framework for early childhood development by organizing these interconnected domains into five key areas of learning and development. These domains, while named slightly differently, represent the same core areas of growth we discussed earlier. Below, we explore each of these domains in more detail, highlighting how they contribute to a child’s development in practical and meaningful ways.

1. Physical Development (🔵 WMELS Domain I – Health & Physical Development): This domain includes the development of gross motor skills (like running, jumping, balancing) and fine motor skills (like drawing, cutting, and manipulating small objects). It also includes learning healthy habits such as hygiene, nutrition, and physical care of the body.
2. Social Development and Emotional Development (🔴 WMELS Domain II – Social & Emotional Development): This area focuses on how children understand and express emotions, build friendships, show empathy, and manage behavior. It also includes self-awareness, self-regulation, and the ability to form secure relationships with others.
3. Language Development (🟢 WMELS Domain III – Language Development & Communication): Language development includes listening, understanding, and using spoken language to express ideas. It also covers early literacy skills such as storytelling, recognizing print, and engaging in conversations.
4. Creative Development (🟣 WMELS Domain IV – Approaches to Learning (Creative Development)): This domain supports imagination, invention, and expression through open-ended experiences in art, music, movement, and dramatic play. It also includes curiosity, risk-taking, and persistence in exploring and problem-solving.
5. Cognitive Development (🟡 WMELS Domain V – Cognition & General Knowledge): This includes thinking and reasoning skills, memory, early math and science understanding, and the ability to solve problems. It also covers understanding the world around them, including concepts from social studies, science, and basic logic.

Bringing the Domains to Life in Classroom Activities

Now that we have explored the five domains of early childhood development as outlined in the Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards (WMELS), it is important to recognize how these domains are not isolated but rather interconnected in real classroom settings. In the early childhood classroom, the integration of these domains is essential for promoting a holistic learning experience that nurtures the physical, social, emotional, language, and cognitive development of young children.

This interconnectedness becomes especially clear when we consider how the domains are woven together in social studies, art, music, and movement (SSAMM) activities. In these activities, children have opportunities to engage in meaningful learning experiences that support and enhance all five domains simultaneously. Let's explore how SSAMM activities can promote the development of each domain in an interactive, dynamic classroom environment:

Social Studies

Through explorations of community, history, and culture, children develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills (cognitive development), express emotions and interact with peers (social and emotional development), and learn language and communication skills through discussions and storytelling (language development).

🌍 Social Studies/Dramatic Play Example:  

When children set up and play in a pretend post office (🟣 approaches to learning), they also write and read letters (🟢 language), plan delivery routes, and sort mail (🟡 cognition), take turns as clerks and carriers (🔴 social & emotional), and practice stamping, folding, and handling envelopes (🔵 physical).

Art

Creative expression in art activities encourages children to use fine motor skills (physical development), express emotions and thoughts through visual media (emotional development), and build cognitive skills such as planning and problem-solving (cognitive development). Art also fosters social interactions as children share ideas and collaborate on projects (social development).

🎨 Art Example:

When children paint their favorite animal from a trip to the zoo (🟣 approaches to learning), they also build fine motor skills (🔵 physical), talk about their art (🟢 language), share materials (🔴 social & emotional), and express emotions and feel proud about their art work (🔴 social & emotional).

Music & Movement

Music experiences promote physical development through rhythm and movement, cognitive development by exploring patterns and sequences, language development by using songs and lyrics to enhance vocabulary, and emotional development through the expression of feelings and emotions.

Physical activities, such as dance and coordinated games, enhance gross motor skills (physical development), support cognitive development by teaching patterns and sequences, and promote social skills as children work together to follow instructions and cooperate with peers (social development).

🎵 Music & Movement Example:

When children sing “If You’re Happy and You Know It” while clapping and stomping (🟣 approaches to learning), they also develop coordination and motor control (🔵 physical), learn new words and follow directions (🟢 language), cooperate, take turns, and share joy with others (🔴 social & emotional), and remember the sequence of lyrics and actions (🟡 cognition).

By integrating these activities in the classroom, we create a rich environment where the domains are not just theoretical concepts but active, living components of children’s daily learning experiences. This integration also aligns with the idea that children’s growth in one domain often supports and enhances development in others, reinforcing the interconnected nature of learning.

Learning in All Domains Through SSAMM Experiences

Read the examples below to discover how children learn across multiple domains through SSAMM (Social Studies, Art, Music, and Movement) experiences, all centered around the theme of community helpers. These examples highlight how engaging in activities related to social studies, art, music, and movement supports children's development while exploring the important roles of community helpers. By participating in SSAMM experiences, children are able to integrate knowledge about their community, express creativity, engage in physical activity, and experience the world of work through hands-on, interactive learning.

Social Studies: Learning Through Community Play

Community Helper Play

Children might pretend to work in a post office, grocery store, doctor's office, or classroom using dress-up clothes, props, and role-play scenarios. They organize roles, take turns, and solve pretend problems while using vocabulary related to real-world jobs.

• 🟡 WMELS Domain V – Cognition & General Knowledge: Builds cognitive skills as children plan their roles, solve pretend problems, and organize activities (e.g., checking out groceries or delivering mail)
• 🟢 WMELS Domain III – Language Development & Communication: Builds language skills through conversations, asking and answering questions, and using job-related vocabulary
• 🔴 WMELS Domain II – Social & Emotional Development: Promotes empathy and social understanding as children take on roles that help others and practice teamwork, kindness, and cooperation

Activity Idea:

Set up a pretend post office in the classroom. Provide envelopes, paper, stamps, mailboxes, and uniforms or bags for delivery. Children write letters (🟢 language), sort and deliver mail (🟡 cognition), and take on postal roles like clerk or carrier (🔴 social & emotional development). This dramatic play scenario supports planning, problem-solving, communication, and collaboration while helping children understand how community systems work.

Cultural Celebrations

Children engage in activities that honor a wide range of cultural traditions and backgrounds. This may include making traditional crafts, preparing cultural foods, listening to music from different countries, or celebrating special holidays with stories and songs.

• 🔴 WMELS Domain II – Social & Emotional Development: Supports identity and inclusion by celebrating diversity and recognizing different family and community practices
• 🟢 WMELS Domain III – Language Development & Communication: Enhances language development through new vocabulary, stories, songs, and discussions about traditions
• 🟣 WMELS Domain IV – Approaches to Learning: Encourages creativity and engagement through culturally rich art, music, and storytelling

Activity Idea:

Create a classroom cultural celebration day. Invite children to share a family tradition, favorite food, or song from their culture. Provide materials for children to make flags, traditional crafts, or storybooks representing different countries. Include music from around the world and read aloud a culturally relevant story. Children use new vocabulary (🟢 language), express themselves creatively (🟣 approaches to learning), and build appreciation for others (🔴 social & emotional development).

Map-Making or Role Play

Children may use blocks, paper, or digital tools to create simple maps of their classroom, neighborhood, or a make-believe town. They act out navigating or giving directions using the map, often incorporating elements of pretend play.

• 🔵 WMELS Domain I – Health & Physical Development: Enhances spatial awareness and coordination through hands-on building and navigating
• 🔴 WMELS Domain II – Social & Emotional Development: Supports social learning and cooperative play
• 🟣 WMELS Domain IV – Approaches to Learning: Encourages imagination and sustained engagement with abstract thinking
• 🟡 WMELS Domain V – Cognition & General Knowledge: Teaches direction, planning, and spatial thinking through map use and real-world applications

Activity Idea:

Invite children to create a map of their classroom, playground, or a made-up community using paper, blocks, or digital tools. Provide markers, stickers, and building materials for landmarks like roads, houses, parks, or stores. Once their maps are complete, children can act out giving directions or “traveling” through the space using toy figures or themselves. Children use spatial reasoning (🟡 cognition), move and build with materials (🔵 health & physical development), collaborate with peers (🔴 social & emotional development), and engage their creativity and imagination (🟣 approaches to learning).

Art

Children explore materials like paint, markers, clay, and collage pieces to create original artwork. They express thoughts and feelings through color, shape, and texture, often inspired by stories, emotions, or seasonal themes. Art can also help children learn social studies concepts by exploring cultural symbols, creating crafts related to traditions or holidays, and representing their community, family, or environment through drawings and mixed media.

• 🔵 WMELS Domain I – Health & Physical Development: Strengthens fine motor control using tools like scissors, paintbrushes, and glue sticks
• 🔴 WMELS Domain II – Social & Emotional Development: Expresses feelings and builds confidence through personal expression
• 🟢 WMELS Domain III – Language Development & Communication: Builds vocabulary and storytelling skills by discussing their creations
• 🟣 WMELS Domain IV – Approaches to Learning: Encourages creativity, initiative, and open-ended exploration through self-directed art experiences
• 🟡 WMELS Domain V – Cognition & General Knowledge: Supports early math and science thinking through observation, patterning, and experimentation

Activity Idea:

Set up an open-ended art station where children can create self-portraits, family drawings, or neighborhood scenes using crayons, markers, clay, paper, and collage materials. Encourage them to include cultural symbols or elements from their own lives. As they work, invite them to describe what they’re making and why. Children develop fine motor skills (🔵 health & physical development), express feelings and identity (🔴 social & emotional development), build vocabulary through conversation (🟢 language), think critically about composition and symbols (🟡 cognition), and explore freely with creativity and persistence (🟣 approaches to learning).

Dramatic Play

Children take on roles from real life or fantasy using props, costumes, and imagination. They may act out going to the doctor, caring for a baby, or running a restaurant. These experiences promote social understanding and creative expression. Dramatic play also supports social studies learning by helping children explore community roles, rules, responsibilities, and everyday routines—giving them a hands-on way to understand how society works. Dramatic play may also support physical development as children move their bodies, use tools and props, and practice everyday health routines like feeding a baby, cooking, caregiving, or cleaning.

• 🔵 WMELS Domain I – Health & Physical Development: Builds fine and gross motor skills through the use of props and active role-play; encourages the practice of health and self-care routines
• 🔴 WMELS Domain II – Social & Emotional Development: Develops empathy, cooperation, and emotional regulation
• 🟢 WMELS Domain III – Language Development & Communication: Enhances conversation skills, role-based vocabulary, and expressive language
• 🟣 WMELS Domain IV – Approaches to Learning: Encourages creativity, problem-solving, and initiative
• 🟡 WMELS Domain V – Cognition & General Knowledge: Explores roles, routines, and problem-solving in real-world scenarios

Activity Idea:

Set up a dramatic play area themed as a restaurant, doctor's office, or grocery store. Provide props such as menus, order pads, medical kits, pretend food, uniforms, and money. Encourage children to take turns in different roles—like chef, customer, cashier, or doctor—and act out real-world scenarios. They move their bodies and use tools (🔵 health & physical development), engage in teamwork and empathy (🔴 social & emotional development), communicate using role-specific language (🟢 language), think creatively and solve problems (🟣 approaches to learning), and explore routines and systems from everyday life (🟡 cognition & general knowledge).

Music and Movement

Children participate in group songs, dance routines, rhythm games, and movement stories. They may use instruments, scarves, or their own bodies to follow rhythms, explore beats, and express themselves through motion and sound.  Music can also support social studies learning by introducing children to songs, dances, instruments, and rhythms from different cultures and traditions, helping them develop an appreciation for diversity and community values.

Children participate in group songs, dance routines, rhythm games, and movement stories. They may use instruments, scarves, or their own bodies to follow rhythms, explore beats, and express themselves through motion and sound.  Music and movement support social studies learning by exposing children to dances, instruments, songs, rhythms, and movement styles from various cultures and communities. Through these experiences, children gain a deeper appreciation of traditions, cultural expression, and group identity.

• 🔵 WMELS Domain I – Health & Physical Development: Develops balance, coordination, and large muscle control through physical activity
• 🔴 WMELS Domain II – Social & Emotional Development: Encourages turn-taking, emotion regulation, and group participation
• 🟢 WMELS Domain III – Language Development & Communication: Builds language through lyrics, rhymes, and call-and-response singing
• 🟣 WMELS Domain IV – Approaches to Learning: Inspires exploration, risk-taking, and self-expression through sound and movement
• 🟡 WMELS Domain V – Cognition & General Knowledge: Strengthens memory, sequencing, and rhythm through repetitive musical patterns

Activity Idea:

Create a “World Music and Dance” experience. Introduce children to songs and dances from a variety of cultures, such as an African drum circle, a Latin salsa beat, or a traditional folk dance. Provide instruments like tambourines, maracas, or homemade drums, and encourage children to move to the rhythms using scarves or body motions. Invite discussion about where the music comes from and what it might celebrate. Children build coordination and motor control (🔵 health & physical development), practice cooperation and cultural respect (🔴 social & emotional development), develop listening and vocabulary skills (🟢 language), express themselves creatively (🟣 approaches to learning), and engage memory, sequencing, and cultural understanding (🟡 cognition & general knowledge).

The chart below summarizes how children develop in each domain through social studies, art, music, and movement experiences. 

SSAMM Development in the Developmental Domains

WMELS Domain #	Domain Name	Development Through SSAMM Activities
🔵 WMELS  Domain I	Health and Physical Development	Develops gross motor coordination through movement and dance
🔴 WMELS Domain II	Social and Emotional Development	Helps children express emotions and practice social interaction through group participation
🟢 WMELS  Domain III	Language Development and Communication	Expands vocabulary and builds phonological awareness through rhymes and lyrics
🟣 WMELS Domain IV	Approaches to Learning	Supports creativity and exploration of materials. Encourages exploration through sound and motion.
🟡 WMELS  Domain V	Cognition and General Knowledge	Enhances memory, rhythm, and sequencing through repetitive patterns and songs

Conclusion

In summary, SSAMM (Social Studies, Art, Music, and Movement) activities offer an effective way to foster holistic development in young children by integrating the five core domains of early childhood development: physical, social-emotional, language, cognitive, and creative. By utilizing these activities, children engage in experiences that simultaneously enhance multiple areas of growth. Whether through dramatic play, community helper roles, cultural celebrations, or music and movement, each activity promotes key developmental skills such as fine and gross motor coordination, language and communication, creativity, problem-solving, and social cooperation. By embedding these integrated experiences in the classroom, educators create a rich learning environment that supports the interconnected nature of child development, ensuring children develop not only in isolation but across all domains in meaningful and dynamic ways.