Creative Arts in the Lives of Young Children draws together two essential strands in contemporary educational discourse: the importance of high quality care and education in the early years, and the central role that imaginative arts experiences can and should play in the lives of all young children. A number of underlying themes are highlighted throughout the book. All are related to the potential for quality arts experiences in the early years to achieve transformational outcomes for children. These include: the enhancement and development of children's creativity and imagination * the encouragement of children's innate problem solving abilities * the opportunity to experience a diversity of cultures and a broad world-view * the scaffolding of positive attitudes, skills, and ways of being (habits of mind), to help children flourish in the 21st century. The book is grounded in current research and practice about the importance of the arts in young children's lives. Written explicitly for early childhood pre-service and in-service teachers, parents, and caregivers, it includes a range of engaging and practical creative arts activities and suggested experiences for children from birth to eight years of age. Creative Arts in the Lives of Young Children provides a combination of research, activities, and real world vignettes. It reinforces partnerships between parents and early childhood practitioners and teachers. The book covers a broad range of artistic experiences, such as storytelling, art appreciation, puppetry, paint, clay, drama, and music.

Young Children and the Arts: Nurturing Imagination and Creativity examines the place of the arts in the experiences of young and very young children at home and in out-of-home settings at school and in the community. There is great need for development of resources in the arts specifically designed to introduce babies and toddlers to participatory experiences in the visual arts, dance, music, and storytelling/theater. This book presents valuable guidelines for early childhood teachers, families, caregivers and community organizations. Young Children and the Arts presents a comprehensive approach to the arts that is aligned with early childhood developmentally appropriate practice and that combines an exploratory, materials-based approach with an aesthetic-education approach for children from birth to eight years of age. It addresses both how the arts are foundational to learning, and how teachers and parents can nurture young children’s developing imagination and creativity. The models presented emphasize a participatory approach, introducing young children to the arts through activities that call for engagement, initiative and creative activity. Additionally, Young Children and the Arts addresses the intersection of early childhood education and the arts—at points of convergence, and at moments of tension. The role of families and communities in developing and promoting arts suffused experiences for and with young children are addressed. Young Children and the Arts examines the role of innovative arts policy in supporting a broad-based early arts program across the diverse settings in which young children and their families live, work, and learn.

Enrich interdisciplinary skills through creativity

ART AND CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT FOR YOUNG CHILDREN, International Edition, is a comprehensive, must-have resource for establishing and implementing a developmentally appropriate art program. Written for pre-service and in-service early childhood professionals in child care, preschool, or kindergarten through third grade settings, the text takes a child-centered approach to art education. The book blends theory and research with practical applications as it discusses important topics and issues related to creative experience, including art and the developing child, special needs and diversity, and children’s artistic development. Also discussed are planning, developing, implementing, and evaluating art along with strategies for integrating art across the curriculum. The updated Seventh Edition gives greater emphasis to communication with families, and includes such new topics as digital camerawork and the use of recycled materials in art.

This book offers an engaging exploration of artistic expression in early childhood education. Through a blend of theory, research, and practical insights, the authors demonstrate the positive impact of the arts on fostering inclusion in various settings. Delving into creative modes such as dance, drama, and music, the book emphasizes the broader significance of integrating creativity into inclusive practices. Rich with illustrative case studies, thought-provoking prompts, and effective strategies for encouraging artistic expression, it serves as a valuable resource for early childhood students seeking comprehensive support in their educational journey.

This important, research-based text explores the concept of literacy as social practice within diverse family, community and educational settings. Its theoretical premise that literacy learning and life chances are inextricably linked is underscored by practical example, teachers' stories and real-world vignettes.

In this detailed examination of the expressive therapies, Dr. Gladding demonstrates how music, dance, imagery, visual arts, literature, drama, and humor can be used effectively in counseling. Combining history, theory, and application, he provides a rationale for using each art form with how-to strategies for working with clients of all ages and diverse cultural backgrounds to promote positive change and growth. This fourth edition includes Creative Reflection sections that give readers an opportunity to ponder their own creativity and, for greater ease of use, a new chapter that briefly describes each of the 117 exercises found in the book. *Requests for digital versions from the ACA can be found on wiley.com. *To request print copies, please visit the ACA website here. *Reproduction requests for material from books published by ACA should be directed to [email protected].

This book examines the ways in which mobile technologies may contribute to or disrupt literacy learning in children. Also explored is the impact mobile technologies may have on literacy definitions and practices; student, parent and teacher roles and interactions; power relations in education; and social and material interactions.

Recently, a new understanding of creative thought and creative performance has surfaced. It has also attracted the attention of early childhood professional organizations and researchers. Professional organizations have included it in their publications and conferences. While current creativity researchers have initiated a far more sophisticated understanding of young children’s creative thinking, ways to assess creativity, strategies to promote creativity, and research methodologies. The purpose of this volume is to present a wide range of different theories and areas in the study of creativity to help researchers and theorists work toward the development of different perspectives on creativity with young children. It focuses on critical analyses and reviews of the literature on topics related to creativity research, development, theories, and practices. It will serve as a reference for early childhood education researchers, scholars, academics, general educators, teacher educators, teachers, graduate students, and scientists to stimulate further “dialogue” on ways to enhance creativity. The chapters are of high quality and provide scholarly analyses of research studies that capture the full range of approaches to the study of creativity --- behavioral, clinical, cognitive, cross-cultural, developmental, educational, genetic, organizational, psychoanalytic, psychometric, and social. Interdisciplinary research is also included, as is research within specific domains such as art and science, as well as on critical issues (e.g., aesthetics, genius, imagery, imagination, insight, intuition, metaphor, play, problem finding and solving). Thus, it offers critical analyses on reviews of research in a form that are useful to early childhood researchers, scholars, educators, and graduate students. It also places the current research in its historical context. The volume is also of interest to the general readers who are interested in the young children’s creativity. The chapters are authored by established scholars in the field of young children’s creativity.

This volume presents perspectives of creative arts therapies approaches in adoption and foster care. Creative arts therapists will find this collection to be of particular relevance, but the intention is to also introduce this subject to a wide range of clinicians, including those in the associated professions of social work, counseling, psychology, psychiatry, nursing, teaching, and related fields. The chapters refer specifically to the development and contemporary application of creative arts therapies approaches in adoption and foster care. The chapters reflect the ways in which creative arts therapies can be applied in different settings, and represent the spectrum of ideas in current practice. The first seven chapters focus on adoption and present theoretical perspectives on adoption adjustment that include psychodynamic, attachment, social role, family systems, stress and coping, object relations, trauma, cognitive-behavioral, and biological perspectives. A variety of psychological constructs are explored, such as trust attachment, abandonment, rejection, self-esteem, identity integration, grief, and loss. These chapters also reflect types of work with specific adoption populations, including international and transracial. Individual, group, and family therapy formats are outlined. Approaches to treatment including art, drama, music, play, and sand tray therapy are presented predominantly in case study format. In some cases, diagnosis and assessment are discussed. In Part Two, the five chapters that focus on foster care explore the creative arts therapist’s role in the social system; attachment and foster care research; issues such as self-esteem, boundaries, guilt, shame, loss, ambivalence, aggression, splitting, rejection, trauma; themes of abuse and neglect, resilience. and behavioral and emotional disturbances. Five chapters exploring transcultural and transracial issues are the focus of Part Three. This book will help meet a demand for ideas and practical information about this topic on the part of an audience reaching beyond the creative arts therapies.