7.1: Introduction

The creative arts are as natural to young children’s lives as language and play are. The arts foster problem-solving and critical thinking skills, providing parallel opportunities for developing language and communication, mathematics, social, and interpersonal skills. The following activities are often called children’s play: scribbling with a crayon, pretending to be a pirate or a bird, humming bits of a tune, banging on a drum, or swaying to music. However, these behaviors showcase artistic expression and creative elements that support the ongoing development of creative skills. They also show the hallmarks of children’s abilities to express themselves through symbols and aesthetic images.[1]

The creative arts domain is presented in four familiar disciplines:

Table 11.1: Creative Arts Disciplines

Examples of Art	Types of Art
Figure 11.1[2]	Visual Art: The visual arts include drawing, painting, sculpting, and assembling collages in two or three dimensions. Preschool visual art is process-based and open-ended, allowing children to explore using a variety of materials. The product is not the focus, though the children will likely view their creation as a masterpiece!
Figure 11.2[3]	Music: Preschoolers love to listen to music, sing along, and move with it. Music learning in preschool is a time to make new discoveries. Preschoolers can engage in music making, perform rhythms, musical sounds, and passages with a variety of instruments, or simply sing along to a favorite tune.
Figure 11.3[4]	Drama: For preschoolers, this domain involves spontaneous dramatic play and teacher-structured drama, each of which inspires the other. Preschoolers are naturally inclined to engage in solitary, parallel, and group play, and draw on these experiences when acting out situations and using props (with teacher guidance). Similarly, engaging in drama feeds children’s imagination and inspires dramatic play. A goal in dramatic play and drama for preschoolers is unleashing the child’s imagination. Thus, the focus is on children’s creative engagement in drama rather than on actual performance or “the theater.”
Figure 11.4[5]	Dance: The dance domain for preschoolers is interested in the creative and often expressive use of movement. Movement is explored in all its range (e.g., small and large, fast or slow, hopping or marching) and for various purposes, such as learning math or language skills, or for the joy of moving. Dance can be a nonverbal tool for expressing ideas, telling stories, or communicating emotions. It is often rhythmic and accompanied by music. Requiring thinking, social interaction, and physical exercise, dance is a motivating way for preschoolers to engage in learning.

The specific foundations, which include the knowledge, skills, and behaviors that preschool children typically develop in a quality preschool environment relating to visual art, music, drama, and dance, are outlined later in the chapter as each strand is explored.[6]

References

[1] The California Preschool Curriculum Framework, Volume 2 by the California Department of Education is used with permission

[2] Image by the California Department of Education is used with permission

[3] Image by the California Department of Education is used with permission

[4] Image by Ermalfaro is licensed by CC BY-4.0

[5] Image by the California Department of Education is used with permission

[6] The California Preschool Curriculum Framework, Volume 2 by the California Department of Education is used with permission