The importance of the arts in early childhood education
At play time, Courtney Ashton helps her tamariki mix water with dollops of paint. The coloured mixtures are carefully poured into ice cube trays with popsicle sticks and set in her early childhood education centre’s freezer to set.
A day later, Ashton sets out paper and material outside. She teaches the group of curious children about the process of freezing and thawing liquids, as they swirl the paint popsicles and watch as the colours and water blend together. Some children lean forward to smell the popsicles, their noses touching the frozen cubes. As they create, the children share what they’re experiencing for each of the senses.
This activity is just one of the ways the New Zealand Tertiary College (NZTC) Master of Early Childhood Education student incorporates the creative arts into her teaching practice.
“I love combining art with science, communication and social skills. There was a lot of rich language being spoken by the children during this activity, and it’s been a repeated favourite – sometimes changing the paint for dye, adding salt and different objects to the ice, or making them even bigger by using yoghurt containers,” Ashton says.
A painter and singer herself, Ashton’s passion stems from early exposure to the arts through her glassblower father, and exploring a variety of creative outlets throughout her childhood.
Feeling freedom when expressing herself creatively, she’s making it her mission to encourage that feeling in the tamariki she teaches.
“We need more creative problem solvers in this world, and I absolutely believe this starts with exploring the arts,” she says.
Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum of New Zealand, places large emphasis on children discovering different ways to be creative and expressive through visual arts, imaginative play, storytelling, drama, and making music.
“There are so many benefits for tamariki who are exposed to the arts at an early age. At an ECE level, we see tamariki learning new topic-specific language through visual art processes, using new tools, and talking with friends about the art they are creating,” Ashton explains.
“Children learn critical thinking when deciding what they want to do, and the possibilities of what they can create when given freedom are endless.”
But those benefits don’t just extend to visual art and the act of making either, she says, with song, dance and dramatic roleplay activities less messy ways to encourage deeper thinking and communication in children.
“I’ve worked with a hearing-impaired child who can hear enough to understand what song we are singing or dancing to, and she remembers the words to songs. She might be slightly out of time sometimes, but she loves to sing with her friends and her verbal communication and relationships have improved so much through this.”
Teachers play essential roles in how children interact with and learn through the creative arts, as they determine the environment, the type of creative activity engaged in, and the materials used.
NZTC offers postgraduate students like Ashton the opportunity to combine their passion for music, dance, drama and visual art into their teaching practice, backed by Te Whāriki and theoretical knowledge, through an Arts in Early Childhood Education course.
In the course, students learn about different approaches to teaching the arts at early childhood education level, and reflect on and evaluate their own methods of fostering creativity in tamariki.
It’s important that teachers feel comfortable with visual and performing arts exercises themselves, Ashton says, to encourage and inspire children to participate.
“I try to be an example for my colleagues, showing them that it’s alright to have fun, sing along, and be silly with the children. When we are confident in what we are doing, the children feel safe and will explore more movement, stepping outside their comfort zone.”
“As long as there is a professional understanding of the importance of the freedom to explore and create, then tamariki will have truly beneficial experiences in the arts.”
Ashton has provided her top choices for early childhood waiata to encourage exposure to music in early childhood centres around Aotearoa:
Tahi, Rua, Toru, Wha by Anika Moa
Nee Naw and Friends by Mr Yipadee
The Wonky Donkey by Craig Smith
Kei Te Peke Ahau by Sharon Hall
One Day a Taniwha by Poppet Stars