Storytelling-based arts projects offer a universal and inclusive pedagogy; challenging prejudices, celebrating diversity and promoting tolerance and resilience in participants. In addition they assist in the development of receptive and expressive language skills, provide a credible basis for understanding folklore, cultural traditions and social…

This fascinating collection of international research offers fresh perspectives on children's creative processes and the expression of their creative imagination through dramatic play, stories, artwork, dance, music and conversation. Drawing on a range of research evidence from innovative educational initiatives in a wide variety of countries,…

This paper utilises a Vygotskian framework to examine the ways in which teachers shape the creation of children's artwork in educational contexts. Reflexive ethnography and a bottom up approach to discourse analysis are used to analyse a range of qualitative data including photographs, observational notes and audio recordings collected from a Year…

The purpose of this paper is to identify the developmental stages and feelings that children are portraying in their artwork. Included in the paper the writer gives examples of the different stages of scribbling and an activity for teachers and parents to do with the child. The results of the activities will give insight into a child's feelings…

In this article, the author, an art teacher, describes how third- and fourth-graders in her art club made three-dimensional sculptural masks as their project. Students in this art club are usually kids that excel in the arts, or simply have the desire to learn more about the arts. Their projects are usually permanent to the school and become part…

Drawings are often used to obtain an idea of children's conceptions. Doing so takes for granted an unambiguous relation between conceptions and their representations in drawings. This study was undertaken to gain knowledge of the relation between children's conceptions and their representation of these conceptions in drawings. A theory of…

Young children are experts at make-believe and delight in listening to tales of fantasy and wonder. When the author learned that the second-grade students in her school were studying fairy tales and legends, she took advantage of their natural interests and classroom experiences and introduced them to the magical, dreamlike paintings of Swiss…

This visual arts project was initiated at the West Virginia University Laboratory School (Nursery School) several years ago and has assisted children in reproducing prints of famous artists. Using the principles of behaviorism in conjunction with developmentally appropriate practice has helped young children to extend their knowledge in the visual…

The purpose of this study was to investigate methods of enhancing kindergarteners' artistic creative thinking and expressive drawing through an activity that involved appreciation of picture books. The study was conducted in a public kindergarten in southern Taiwan, with 27 children aged between 4 and 5. The researcher conducted the study in 16…

Our purpose is to offer children tasks so they can make drawings as diverse and different from each other whilst trying to avoid imitation. Achieving this goal involves the increase of children's creativity. The paper is theoretically based on the consideration of creativity as the ability to create "something new, original, and in accordance…

What is happening in arts teaching and learning in our classrooms? Recent NEMP reports tell us that Year 4 students are not performing well but that there is an increase in scores at Year 8. This new professional development resource builds on research into teacher practice in Years 0-6 classrooms in New Zealand primary schools. It offers new…

Young children's meaning-making is a multifaceted, complex experience, where thought, body and emotion unite. Rich and intricate creations are brought to life through children's formation, communication and interpretation of "signs" which stand for or represent something else. The term drawing-telling is used to describe children's use of a range…

Drawing helps children organize their ideas for expression in story writing in several ways. Drawing promotes the first writing, and this writing becomes the first reading material that children themselves author. Children draw pictures and write to organize ideas and construct meaning from their experiences. Open-ended opportunities to write and…

This article presents sixty ideas for celebrating the arts. These ideas include concepts about sparking creativity among children. A list of benefits of arts education is also included.

This paper reflects on a collaborative project between Manchester City Art Gallery and Manchester Metropolitan University (2003-2004). The project's aim was to attract very young children and their families to the gallery. This paper will not report directly on the research methods used or the outcomes of the project but, rather, will explore…