Art and Music
Singing, listening to live instruments, shaking, striking, and moving to music; drawing, painting, tearing, gluing, dough, and snipping, with the child's own actions as the purpose.
15 works · 2 strands
See on the mapWhy this area comes where it does
In the 3–6 room, art and music are strands of the Cultural area, beside geography and science. The 0–3 program has no Cultural area, so art and music stand as a small area of their own. The aims are also different at this age: music is for listening, joining in with a familiar adult, and body control, and art materials are for hand control and seeing that a movement leaves a mark. The adult's own voice and real instruments come before recordings. Art is offered one material and one or two colors at a time, and the adult describes what the child did instead of drawing for them, giving models to copy, or praising the product.
It prepares the child for
- listening and joining in with a group
- hand strength and grip for writing
- steady beat and body control
- the art and music strands of the 3–6 Cultural area
Music and Movement
8 worksThe adult's singing and live instruments, then shaking, striking, and moving to music, ending with a steady beat and stopping and starting with the music.
Why this order
Begins at birth with the adult singing during care, because a familiar voice is the sound an infant attends to most and it needs no materials. Listening to a live instrument follows: a live player can watch the child, stop, and repeat, and the child sees the object and the action that make the sound. For this reason live music and the adult's singing are used in preference to recordings; recorded music, when used, is chosen on purpose, played at low volume, and turned off afterward rather than left on in the background. Shakers and bells come once the infant can grasp and shake (about 6 months), the drum once the child can strike with an open hand, and moving to music once the child walks. The xylophone asks the child to aim a mallet at one bar, so it comes later. Clapping a steady beat and stopping when the music stops ask the child to match or control their movement to the music, which most children begin to do in the third year.
- AM T1.01Singing to the ChildThe adult sings short songs to the child in their own voice during care, play, and changes in the day.
- AM T1.02Listening to a Live InstrumentThe adult plays single notes and a short, simple piece on a real instrument near the child, who watches and listens.
- AM T1.03Shakers and BellsThe infant or young toddler shakes a well-made shaker or bell and hears the sound their own movement makes.
- AM T1.04Playing a DrumThe child strikes a hand drum with an open hand, and later a padded mallet, and hears the sound change with the strength of the stroke.
- AM T1.05Moving to MusicThe adult sings or plays while the walking child moves freely: swaying, bouncing, walking, turning, and later marching and tiptoeing.
- AM T1.06Playing a XylophoneThe child strikes the bars of a small tuned xylophone or glockenspiel with a mallet and hears high and low notes.
- AM T1.07Clapping a Steady BeatThe adult pats or claps a steady beat while singing, and the child joins in, at first loosely and then closer to the beat.
- AM T1.08Stop and Go to MusicThe child moves while the adult sings or plays and stops still when the music stops.
Art
7 worksDrawing, chalk, tearing, painting, dough, gluing, and snipping, each offered as one material on a tray with a short routine to get it, use it, and put it back.
Why this order
The order follows hand development. A chunky crayon needs only a whole-hand grip and an arm movement, and is offered once the child no longer puts most objects in the mouth. Chalk and tearing paper follow, with a firmer grip and two hands working together. The easel adds a brush, paint, and an apron routine. Dough comes once the child reliably does not eat materials. Gluing asks the child to put glue down first and then place a piece on it. Snipping comes last because scissors need the thumb and fingers to open and close separately and a rule the child can keep: scissors stay at the table. In every work the adult does not draw for the child, give a model to copy, or praise the product; the adult names what the child did ('You made long blue lines'). One or two colors are offered at a time so the child sees each one. All materials are labeled non-toxic with the AP seal and are too large to be a choking hazard.
- AM T2.01Drawing with a Chunky CrayonThe toddler makes marks on a large sheet of paper taped to the table, using one thick crayon.
- AM T2.02Chalk on a ChalkboardThe child makes marks with a thick piece of chalk on a small chalkboard and wipes the board clean.
- AM T2.03Tearing PaperThe child tears strips of soft paper into pieces and drops them into a bowl.
- AM T2.04Painting at the EaselThe child puts on an apron and paints on a large sheet at a low easel with one color and a thick brush, then helps clean up.
- AM T2.05Working with DoughThe child presses, squeezes, pokes, and rolls a ball of soft dough on a mat, then returns it to its container.
- AM T2.06Gluing Paper PiecesThe child rubs glue on a spot of paper with a glue stick and presses a paper piece onto it.
- AM T2.07Snipping with ScissorsSeated at a table, the child snips narrow strips of paper into small pieces with small child-safe scissors.