Creative Expression
Develop artistic expression, encourage music and movement activities, and use drama to express children's individuality.
Explore and use a variety of materials to develop artistic expression
- Experiment with a variety of materials & activities
- Use materials to create original work
- Share details about personal creation
- Express interest & appreciation for the work of others
Participate in music and movement activities
- Use music & movement to express thoughts & feelings
- Participate in group singing or other musical activities
- Participate in creative movement & dance
- Explore music & instruments of various cultures
Use drama to express individuality
- Participate in dramatic play to express feelings, dramatize stories, reeact real-life roles and experiences
- Recreate a story or poem through drama
- Participate in activities using symbolic materials and gestures to represent real objects and situations
Ways to support instruction at home
- Give your child markers or crayons and a variety of surfaces to draw on - newspaper, waxed paper, foil, pages from an old phone book, cardboard, or Styrofoam.
- Make some homemade paint from food coloring and water, or food color and liquid starch. Or add water to backyard soil for a wonderful "mud paint."
- Put some shaving cream on a tray and finger paint to music.
- Visit a museum or art gallery and talk to your child about what they see. Explain what an artist is. Let your child become an artist when you return home.
- Help you child learn about different kinds of music. Find the jazz station on the radio & listen together for awhile. Talk about sounds of the instruments & how the music makes you feel. Then try a different station with a different style.
- Roll a section of newspaper tightly and tape it together in several places to form a stick. Cut it half to make a pair. Turn on some lively music and encourage your child to play his/her drumsticks on a variety of surfaces around the house - the kitchen table, the back of the sofa, on his/her own knees. What makes the best drum?
- Sing songs together. Sing in the car, at home, or outside. Recall some songs from your own childhood.
- Fill a cardboard box with old scarfs, hats, purses, and other dress up props. Invite your child to dress up and act out a favorite slogan, song, or jingle.
- Practice making faces together in front of a mirror. Who can make the scariest face? Most Surprised? Etc.
- Use your hand or object to pretend it is a phone. Carry on a pretend phone conversation with your child.
