BUILDING AND ENHANCING NEW LITERACIES ACROSS

MODULE THE CURRICULUM

CHAPTER 2: Arts and Creativity Literacy

Objectives:
 Evaluate the form and content of works of art
 Use artistic and aesthetic sensibility in day-to-day life
situation
 Promote imagination and concentration

What Is Art?

Art is a diverse range of human activities in creating visual, auditory or performing

artifacts (artworks), expressing the author's imaginative, conceptual ideas, or technical
skill, intended to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.

The principles of art include movement, unity, harmony, variety, balance, contrast,
proportion and pattern. The elements include texture, form, space, shape, color,
value and line. Art, in its broadest sense, is a form of communication.

What Is Creativity?

Creativity focuses on the process of forming

original ideas through exploration and discovery. In
children, creativity develops from their experiences
with the process, rather than concern for the
finished product.
It is not to be confused with talent, skill, or
intelligence.
Creativity is not about doing something better than
others, it is about thinking, exploring, discovering,
and imagining.

Page 1
 BUILDING AND ENHANCING NEW LITERACIES ACROSS
MODULE THE CURRICULUM

Because we think of art, music, dance, and drama as examples of creative ideas, we
may have forgotten that creative thought is found in all aspects of a growing child’s
life and can be learned from daily. Just look at how creativity shows itself when a
scientist discovers a cure for a disease, how a business owner decides to increase
sales, how the grocery clerk bags the groceries, or how a parent finds a way to entice a
reluctant child to head off to bed.

The use of imagination or original ideas to create

something of value.
In recent years, there have been growing calls to
nurture and teach creativity from an early age in
schools and universities. While the secret to
unlocking creative genius remains elusive, research
suggests that it’s possible to prime the mind for
creative ideas to emerge.
Bringing creativity and literacy together can be a
powerful tool in teaching.

It allows children to be active in literacy, from acting out plays through characters that
they’ve made themselves or through making props. It allows children to explore their
imaginations. Getting involved in a story re-enforces the learning and can also teach
practical skills, for example, working with templates or basic sewing.

Children are naturally creative; if you stop and listen to them they often are natural
storytellers. They love to make things up and will very often have imaginary worlds they
will refer to. They also love to get involved in making things, giving them a sense of
achievement. If they are engaged they will learn more, so it’s about harnessing their
ability to soak up information and to capture their imaginations, which can make
teaching more fulfilling.

Why Arts and Creativity are Important for kids?

It is difficult to imagine childhood without art. From the very first finger painting
displayed proudly on the refrigerator door to coloring books filled with crayon strokes
(meticulously drawn inside the lines or scribbled wildly without regard to the bounds of
picture and page) to 3D clay models and dioramas, artistic expression is a driving force
behind child development.

Pablo Picasso said it best: “Every child is an artist.”

Engaging children in creative and artistic activities plays a major role in nurturing their
growth in several important developmental areas:

Fine and Gross Motor Skills

Toddlers who pick up a crayon or a marker and begin drawing have initiated the
development of their motor skills. While it may seem that these random scribbles mean
Page 2
 BUILDING AND ENHANCING NEW LITERACIES ACROSS
MODULE THE CURRICULUM

nothing, children connect their drawings with thought and narration, and their bodies
begin developing motor skills.
The fine motor and gross motor skills learned in artistic pursuits, such as drawing and
dance; help prepare the brain for further learning by connecting tactile and visual
modalities.

Appropriate Development
Motor skills prepare children for each stage in their development as learners.
Early Childhood Central divides drawing skills into pre-schematic and schematic stages,
both of which are important arenas a child must master before becoming a teenager. By
developing eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills, children begin to prepare for
understanding complex ideas like relationships, shapes, and numbers.
This development is not possible without the arts and creativity.

History and Culture

Formal art study requires that students understand time periods and how these ages
impact culture.
When studying music, theatre, and dance, pupils take an in-depth look at history. In
doing so, they develop an awareness of culture, and they especially learn how cultures
change from region to region and across time.

Problem Solving Ability

Art and creativity teach problem solving, which is a critical skill for success in life. By
engaging in artistic activities and study, children develop confidence in their abilities,
and they learn how to innovate.
The arts encourage risk-free exploration, and it is this freedom that builds confidence.

Wellness
A strong correlation exists between art and mental health.
Therapists have used creative arts like poetry, journaling and visual media in assisting
patients with mental health. The arts are a vehicle for emotion, and they can also be a
self-soothing activity that allows the creator to work through ideas and issues.
Without access to art and creative endeavors, your child may not be building the
foundation needed for motor skills, abstract thinking or healthy emotional responses.

Social and Emotional Skills

Art is a means for creative self-expression. For children (and adults), art can be a
wonderful emotional outlet that promotes personal reflection, communication skills and
self-esteem.

Cognitive Skills
Promoting creativity and engagement in artistic activities has been shown to stimulate
growth in important cognitive areas. When children are encouraged to think creatively,
they are more likely to engage in experimentation, which fosters critical-thinking,
problem-solving and innovation skills.

Page 3
 BUILDING AND ENHANCING NEW LITERACIES ACROSS
MODULE THE CURRICULUM

Learning words to describe their artwork contributes to language development. Creating

art involves sensory experiences that enhance the learning of foundational concepts
(shapes, colors, textures) and higher-level ideas (visual cues and symbolism).

Academic Achievement
The process of creating art cultivates “habits of mind” important for children’s academic
success, including persistence to task, attention to detail, visual thinking and
improvisation.

Freedom of Expression
Though childhood is often considered the most carefree time of one’s life, children are
still at the mercy of the adults around them. Art is an enjoyable means for escaping the
restrictions of everyday life and freely engaging in creative expression.

Cognitive abilities are the brain-based skills

and thinking processes that you use to carry
out any task from the simplest to the most
complex.
Firstly to understand how art can strengthen
your cognitive skills we need to briefly
understand what they are and why they are
important. Next we look at a list of some
specific cognitive skills.

After that it's easy to understand why learning to draw can strengthen particular
cognitive skills.
The term cognition (From the Latin cognoscere, "to know", "to conceptualize" or "to
recognize") refers to your ability to process information, apply knowledge, and
change preferences.

Cognitive processes can be either conscious or unconscious.

Every task you do can be broken down into the different cognitive skills that are
needed to complete that task successfully. Just like any skill if you do not use your
cognitive abilities they will get weaker over time.
Fortunately, these skills can also be improved at any age with regular practice.
Below are some of the basic cognitive skills that are used to complete some of the
more complex tasks at work or home.

As you scan through the list you can readily recognize that learning how to draw or
paint may have a direct impact in exercising or developing that particular cognitive
ability. For others the reason may not be as evident.

Page 4
 BUILDING AND ENHANCING NEW LITERACIES ACROSS
MODULE THE CURRICULUM

Alternating Attention: the ability to shift the focus of attention quickly.

Auditory Processing Speed: the time it takes to perceive relevant auditory stimuli,
encode, and interpret it and then make an appropriate response.
Central Processing Speed: the time it takes to encode, categorize, and under-
stand the meaning of any sensory stimuli.
Conceptual Reasoning: includes concept formation, abstraction, deductive logic,
and/or inductive logic.
Divided Attention: the capability to recognize and respond to multiple stimuli at
the same time.
Fine Motor Control: the ability to accurately control fine motor movements.
Fine Motor Speed: the time it takes to perform a simple motor response.
Focused (or Selective) Attention: the ability to screen out distracting stimuli.
Response Inhibition: the ability to avoid automatically reacting to incorrect stimuli.
Sustained Attention: the ability to maintain vigilance.
Visuospatial Classification: the ability to discriminate between visual objects
based on a concept or rule.
Visuospatial Sequencing: the ability to discern the sequential order of visual
objects based on a concept or rule.
Visual Perception: the ability to perceive fixed visual objects.
Visual Processing Speed: the time it takes to perceive visual stimuli.
Visual Scanning: the ability to find a random visual cue.
Visual Tracking: the ability to follow a continuous visual cue.
Working Memory: the ability to hold task-relevant information while processing it

For the visual and visuospatial abilities there is a clear benefit in the practice of
drawing and painting. Similarly for the fine motor skills.

For the attention based abilities there is an easily recognized relevance between art
and the "Focused Attention" ability. Also it is likely that specific drawing exercises
such as sketching a model in rapidly moving poses may assist in exercising the
"Alternating Attention" ability.

Central Processing Speed is an interesting area for discussion. There is evidence

that the visual "right brain" has a significantly faster processing speed than the
mathematical "left brain".
This is highlighted when you consider that a computer can perform calculations at a
rate far superior than a person - but even the world’s fastest computers struggle at
visual tasks such as facial recognition.

It is possible that "Conceptual Reasoning" can benefit from art in a number of ways.
The process of drawing that takes a set of visual elements (lines, shapes, tones) and
Page 5
 BUILDING AND ENHANCING NEW LITERACIES ACROSS
MODULE THE CURRICULUM

organizes them into a higher level framework. Abstract art takes a real item and
creates a new but related image - exercising concept formation.

Also the ability to perceive and correct differences between a subject and a drawn
image is relevant to the "Response Inhibition" cognitive ability.
Finally for some of the auditory skills the relevance may not exist at all. (To exercise
those you might like to take up a musical instrument as well)

How Art Encourages Creativity (And Other Development, Too)

If you’ve ever seen the look of delight or

wonder that comes over a young child’s face
when they first use a crayon to draw, then
you’ve witnessed the effect that art can have
on a child’s development. Art engages
children on many different levels as it
supports eye-hand coordination, creativity,
and visual learning, among other
developmental skills.

And children often enjoy making art, even if it’s only for a few minutes at a time and
using inexpensive items, like recycled food containers or homemade materials.
By encouraging young children to engage in artistic activities, parents and caregivers
can help their children’s brain development and provide a good source of stress
relief, too.
According to several recent studies cited by the National Endowment for the Arts, art
can also improve language development in young children. When parents talk with
children about the art they are making, children learn how to describe visual elements
like colors and shapes, and build their vocabularies even as they fine-tune their motor
skills.

Making art also helps young children express their emotions and provides a good
outlet for stress. When children finger-paint or mold shapes with age-appropriate
clay, they build their self-esteem and learn how to find comfort in quiet activities. By
finding creative ways to include art in a young child’s life, parents can encourage their
children’s social and emotional well-being.

Color as a Catalyst

If navigated intentionally, learning about color can help children develop vocabulary,
complex thinking, and keen observation. Use a variety of tactile experiences to help
them gain an understanding of the nuances of color that will be missed if left to a
computer program or flashcards.
Page 6
 BUILDING AND ENHANCING NEW LITERACIES ACROSS
MODULE THE CURRICULUM

1. Take a nature walk to collect

leaves in various shades of
green. On your walk, point out that
just as family members have different
names, so do colors. Hunter,
emerald, moss, mint, fern, celadon,
and avocado more accurately
describe the many hues of green.
2. Ask open-ended questions
about the colors: What are all the
fruits and veggies you can think of
that are in the green family?
What if all animals, houses, streets and
buildings were green, too?

3. Experiment with paints to create new shades and tints. Let the child mix
yellow and red paints. After some time, introduce white so they can see the colors
soften or add bits of black and see shades of orange emerge.

Exploring Art around You

Before children learn to read and write, exposure

to the arts enables them to express representative
and abstract thinking. They learn to see things
through a lens that is uniquely theirs.
They learn that there is no right or wrong way to
create. By examining and making a variety of
artwork, including abstract art, children learn that
people are individuals with unique expressions of
ideas and emotions.

A Lifetime of Creative Problem Solving

Creative expression in the arts is as natural and

developmentally necessary for children as fresh
air and sunshine. Through the arts, children learn
the fundamental process of discovering and
imagining, originating and problem solving,
thinking and creating.

Page 7
 BUILDING AND ENHANCING NEW LITERACIES ACROSS
MODULE THE CURRICULUM

Getting Started: Inviting Creativity

Children are hard-wired to seek out activities that

stimulate their curiosity and imagination in
meaningful ways. For children, art is as natural as
breathing; it taps directly into an innate desire to
create and provides a joyful context within which
their potential thrives.

Providing the opportunity for creativity is as easy as allowing children to draw with
crayons on blank paper, to bang a pot with a wooden spoon in time to music, to build
an inviting reading area with blankets and cushions, or to hop and bop to favorite
children’s recordings.

Something as easy as drawing on a blank surface is surprisingly important.

Research shows that children who draw frequently do better in reading and math and
will shine at focusing on learning tasks.
Choosing their own drawing materials empowers children and opens their eyes to the
world around them.
What can we do as teachers to help creativity take hold? When a child presents you
with a drawing and says, “Look at what I made!”, respond by saying, “Tell me about
your drawing,” or ask, “What do you like about your drawing?”
These open-ended responses let the child evaluate his own creativity while initiating
conversation about the work at hand.

Try not to guess what that gooey green glob of paint is supposed to be because it
may only be a gooey green glob of paint.
By not assuming anything about the child’s work of art, the door to self-evaluation
and communication opens.

How Can Teachers Encourage Creativity?

Encouraging creativity in young children is a process where teachers must

open their own channels of allowing, accepting, and turning over some control
to the children themselves.
James D. Moran III, Dean of the College of Human Ecology at the University
of Tennessee, suggests that teachers:

Emphasize process rather than product.

Provide a classroom environment that allows children to explore and
play without undue restraints.
Adapt to children’s ideas rather than trying to structure the children’s
ideas to fit the adult’s.
Accept unusual ideas from children by suspending judgment of
children’s divergent problem solving.

Page 8
 BUILDING AND ENHANCING NEW LITERACIES ACROSS
MODULE THE CURRICULUM

Use creative problem solving in all parts of the curriculum. Use the
problems that naturally occur in everyday life.
Allow time for children to explore all possibilities, moving from popular
to more original ideas.

Easy Tips for Nurturing Creativity through Art

The art area is a favorite for children because it is easy and natural for them to
be creative with art materials.
The following tips will help you see how easy it is to incorporate creativity in art
throughout your classroom:

Allow students spontaneous art explorations they can do on their own.

Crafts with directions to follow and planned projects are fine in
moderation, but open-ended art should be at least 80 percent of the
program.
Having a collage area in your classroom is a great way to encourage
children’s creativity. Save odds and ends in plastic tubs or shoeboxes.
Provide tape, glue, stapler, stickers, and cardboard or heavy paper. Watch
as children assemble and design their own collages with the materials on
hand.
Create an art center in your classroom where student can freely explore
and discover on their own with easy materials kept accessible for them.

Emphasize the enjoyment and the value of the “process” of creating art,
more than the results or the finished product.
Encourage children to try new ways of doing things. Even when the
student participate in a craft project, it is important to encourage the
students to think up their own twists and turns to make their project
unique.
Expand creativity into other areas of the curriculum. Put on some lively
music, and encourage children to draw what they hear. Drawing squiggles
and dots in time with music will nurture brain development and broaden
the familiar activity of drawing to a new all-time high.
Show your appreciation of your children’s creativity by displaying the art
they choose to display. Many of their works will be experiments and may
not be important to them; that is, they may not want or need to take them
home or display them. Accept their evaluations of their own work.

Making Creativity Part of Every Day

Page 9
 BUILDING AND ENHANCING NEW LITERACIES ACROSS
MODULE THE CURRICULUM

Make creativity a part of every day in your classroom. Try some of these ideas to get
things rolling:

Use voices for the characters in the books you read out loud.
Join in the tea parties in the housekeeping corner during imaginative play.
Build towers and bridges with wooden blocks. Add cardboard tubes or scraps
to change the possibilities.
Invite puppets to talk with children and help them learn new songs and finger
plays.
Change the classroom furniture arrangement to encourage spaces with new
purposes and functions.
Have a picnic-style snack on the floor instead of at the usual table.
Move books into a private reading corner made from an appliance box.
Use common everyday objects for new uses. For example, paint with a
rubber ball dipped in paint, change a book into a talking puppet, or turn a
table over and make it a boat.

REFERENCE
https://www.nagc.org/blog/developing-creative-thinking-skills-through-art-0
https://www.marketing91.com/4-types-of-creativity/
https://educationbusinessuk.net/features/bringing-together-creativity-and-literacy
http://toosmall.org/blog/how-art-encourages-creativity-and-other-development-too
https://azurepaintstudio.com/the-importance-of-art-and-creativity-in-childrens-
lives/

VIDEO LINKS
https://youtu.be/1D69mKyndEY
https://youtu.be/FraV5xQiKfs
https://youtu.be/xKgYsEcjnqI

Page 10