4 Reasons Why the Creative Arts Matter in Early Childhood Education

Young children love music, dancing, painting, playing, and other creative ways to express themselves and make sense of the world around them. However, as if those reasons weren’t enough to include things like art and music in early childhood education, research indicates that the arts, including music education for kids, significantly impacts cognitive development, increases self-esteem, and actively engages everyone in learning—children, parents, and teachers!
We believe that music is the best vehicle for early childhood learning. We want to empower our Educators, parents, and teachers to instill a lifelong love of music and learning in their children.

4 Reasons to Include the Arts in Early Childhood Education

1. The creative arts engage children through multi-sensory learning.

   Children thrive on (and naturally respond to!) multi-sensory learning opportunities, such as music and the visual arts. Each of our five senses (sight, smell, sound, touch, taste) activates specific neurons in the brain. For young children, multi-sensory activities provide more learning opportunities than single-sensory activities because more of the brain becomes involved in the lesson. For example in a music class, children experience multi-sensory learning when they listen to and imitate animal sounds vocally or with an instrument, see the animals in the story, and then move around like them. Art activities can bring in the sense of smell and taste through edible art works, such as creating rainbows out of colored cereal or even using edible finger paints for the youngest learners. Plus, experiences that integrate several senses simultaneously are responsible for lasting impressions and greater retention.

2. Musical activities stimulate development in every area of the brain.

   While multi-sensory learning engages children and provides greater retention, music education for children—in particular—provides research-proven cognitive benefits. Incorporating music and movement into a child’s learning routine stimulates all areas of the brain, including: vision, balance, hearing, speech, behavior, sensation, cognition, movement, and emotion. Take a look at the mental benefits of playing music: [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0JKCYZ8hng#t=76[/youtube]

3. Art and music classes teach children to love learning and school.

   Teachers and parents agree. We all want children to love learning and school. After all, it makes those early morning wake-up calls and afternoon lunch slumps a little bit easier. When asked: “What was your favorite thing about school today,” art and music consistently rank high on the list for young children. Why? It’s fun! As children grow beyond the early years, they carry that love of learning and school into the upper elementary years and beyond. Plus, the lessons learned in music classes can be applied throughout the day. Children who actively participate in playing music together learn teamwork, sharing, listening to and incorporating the ideas of others–and in turn learning the value of their own ideas, too! Plus, musical activities can help children learn self-regulation, the ability to regulate thoughts, feelings, and actions. All together, these skills translate into being ready to learn and success in school.

4. Grown-ups love the arts, too.

   While we spend much time thinking about children in early childhood education (of course!), the grown-ups remain equally important. After all, children can tell when educators enjoy teaching. When teachers laugh and smile during the lesson, they model for students that learning is fun…and it is! For parents, the arts provide an easy way to support children’s education and get actively involved. This could mean listening intently as a child explains the colors of the rainbow on a painting brought home from school and then finding the perfect spot on the refrigerator to hang it. Or it can mean singing and dancing to the songs from music class or pretending to be favorite characters in the book from circle time.

Music In the Classroom

In our Preschool curriculum (ABC Music & Me supplemental curriculum for ages birth to early elementary), children and teachers sing and play instruments, participate in dance and creative movement activities, engage in vocal and pretend play, and receive all of the benefits of the creative arts.
Plus, teachers and parents love Kindermusik. It’s easy to use with minimal planning and intentionally provides a method for teachers to participate, notice, and observe the class. Teachers can just pop in the hosted audio and a trained Kindermusik educator comes alive in their classroom through the guided activities.
ABC Music & Me brings the learning home with materials that provide a peek into the classroom with “teachable moment” extensions and favorite songs, stories, and activities from class.

Want to Learn More? Request a Demo: abcinfo@kindermusik.com

Contributed by Lisa Camino Rowell, a freelance writer living in Atlanta, Georgia.