Art in Early Years
The early years art and design curriculum, part of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework, focuses on developing children’s creativity and expressive arts and design skills through exploration and play. This area of learning encourages children to experiment with various materials, tools, and techniques, fostering their imagination and self-expression.
Key aspects of the early years art and design curriculum:
- Exploration and Experimentation:Children freely explore different materials and tools to discover their properties and potential.
- Creative Expression:They are encouraged to express their ideas, feelings, and thoughts through various art forms, including drawing, painting, sculpture, and collage.
- Developing Skills:Children learn to manipulate materials, use tools safely, and develop their fine motor skills through activities like cutting, sticking, and building.
- Imagination and Role-Play:Art and design activities provide opportunities for imaginative play, storytelling, and developing characters.
- Building Confidence:Through creative activities, children develop confidence in their ability to express themselves and explore their own ideas.
- Understanding Materials and Techniques:Children gain an understanding of different materials, their properties, and how they can be used to create different effects.
- Communication and Collaboration:Children share their creations and discuss their ideas, developing their communication and collaborative skills.
- Connecting to the Wider World:Art and design experiences can be linked to other areas of learning, such as literacy, mathematics, and science.
Examples of art and design activities in the early years:
- Sensory exploration: Playing with playdough, clay, or sand to explore different textures.
- Mark-making: Using crayons, pencils, or paint to make different marks and lines.
- Collage: Creating pictures by sticking different materials onto paper.
- 3D construction: Building models using various materials like blocks, boxes, and junk modeling.
- Role-play: Using props and materials to act out stories and characters.
- Exploring colour: Mixing colors, experimenting with different shades, and creating color gradients.
- Nature-based art: Using natural materials like leaves, twigs, and stones to create art.
By providing rich and engaging art and design experiences, early years settings lay the foundation for children’s future learning and development in the arts and beyond.
The Early Learning Goals (ELGs) for Expressive Arts and Design in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) focus on children’s creativity and imagination through art, music, and imaginative play. Specifically, the ELGs emphasize children’s ability to safely use and experiment with materials, explore design, texture, and form, and share their creations while explaining their process. They also encourage children to use props and materials in role-play and to invent, adapt, and share stories and songs.
Expressive Arts and Design ELG: Creating with Materials Children at the expected level of development will:
- Safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function. • Share their creations, explaining the process they have used. 16 • Make use of props and materials when role playing characters in narratives and stories.