How Do High Quality Art Programs Affect Children's Development?

High quality art programs are an essential and important aspect in providing rich opportunities for young children to engage and learn. Research suggests art has significant benefits to children’s overall development including the development of creativity, expression, problem-solving, critical reflection and communication (Tutchell, 2014). Additionally, Griffiths (2018) recognises the involvement of creative engagement through drawing, music and language in child development. Thus, it is important to recognise each child as an artist who is creative and competent. This can be achieved through children manipulating various materials to communicate their feelings, ideas and understandings of the world (Tutchell, 2014; Wright, 2012). Additionally, through engaging with various mediums include music, dance, drama and visual arts will assist the view of a child as creative (Roege & Kim, 2013). This also allows for children to recognise and share experiences and their diverse culture. Arts provides various opportunities for children to share their knowledge in ways that may not be as easy for them to communicate. Therefore, requires the child to make skilled choices about the …show more content…
When developing this plan, considerations were made to ensure the experience was inclusive to all. Therefore, developmental, cultural and social backgrounds were considered and recognised when providing differentiation. Additionally, the abilities and interests of each individual child were acknowledged through the modifications made to the activity on the day (Stinson & O’Connor, 2012). This aligns with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child who acknowledge that every child has a right to participate in an age appropriate arts activities. This is supported by Newsinger and Green’s (2016) research into the positive relationship between art and empowering children with