This study considers recent research in human development and behavior, synthesizes commonalities across the research sources, and draws implications for art education in the classroom from kindergarten through grade 12. The research findings in cognitive development of Jean Piaget and Jerome Bruner are examined, together with other sources concerned with perceptual development and the stages through which the growing child progresses. The aspects of creativity, including originality, fluency, and flexibility, are discussed, as well as aesthetic development and children's responses to visual stimuli and their drawing development from making simple marks on paper for the enjoyment of movement to the understanding of asymmetry and perspective. The implications of these stages for the art education curriculum are explored at various grade levels, and recommendations are made for appropriate strategies, with abundant stimuli provided for the beginning grades, effective aesthetic training beginning in the fourth grade, and emphasis on relevant, in-depth studies in the seventh and eighth grades, together with the development of attitudes and values. Finally, a model lesson for finger painting in the second grade is examined to illustrate the use of behavioral objectives in the art curriculum. (MBM)