Creativity and the Arts with Young Children

Designed for early childhood students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, this text focuses on nurturing creativity in young children during a critical time of development. The book reasons on the importance of integrating the arts into all aspects of the early childhood program by showing how the creative arts enrich the curriculum and become a motivating tool for engaging young children to acquire knowledge, make connections to other subject areas, work harmoniously with others, and expand the possibilities for children who learn in different ways. Providing key information for including the essential elements of art, music, movement, drama, and play into the early childhood classroom, each chapter includes unique approaches to inspire children in their individual capacities for creativity. At the end of each chapter, there are creative, open-ended activities that instructors can use to involve early childhood students in active learning to demonstrate how the creative process works. With web site materials, children's books, unique examples of thematic units, projects, stories, music, and illustrations, this text provides all the resources for taking an innovative look at Creativity and the Arts with Young Children. Designed for early childhood students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, this text focuses on nurturing creativity in young children during a critical time of development. The book reasons on the importance of integrating the arts into all aspects of the early childhood program by showing how the creative arts enrich the curriculum and become a motivating tool for engaging young children to acquire knowledge, make connections to other subject areas, work harmoniously with others, and expand the possibilities for children who learn in different ways.