In art, the focus is on forms and their relationship to each other. The representation of different objects can be achieved in various ways, and from my point of view, the variety of materials used is the only proper way to competent teaching. My concept is that different artifacts (both physical and digital) influence the formation of children’s motor and cognitive functions (Dong and Xu, 2020). My main area of expertise is audio-visualization, and I want to demonstrate that it is impossible without an understanding of principled materials. In my work, I point out that through physical objects (sketches, plans, and paintings), children learn to understand art, and through digital (audio, photo, and video), they understand how to create it. I will demonstrate that each artifact develops a sense of art and increases opportunities for self-expression.
Artefacts
Sketches are one of the simple forms available for creativity. Students can create them with just paper and pencil. Santin and Maria (2017) assert that sketching can be a powerful tool for creativity. Teachers use them to teach children creativity and imagination. Sketching things from the environment is necessary to examine children’s behavior. The resulting student sketches are needed to establish how children perceive natural objects and whether they can depict them. Sketches are simple presentations of real things that enable the development of a rough idea of what the actual object looks like (Santin and Maria, 2017). Children’s interactions with the representations of artifacts in sketches and books enable educators to develop practical approaches to promote their engineering skills during their early stages of learning and development.
Using sketches is a tool to assess young children’s ability to understand environmental details. Sketches vary in form and structure and can be simple or schematic (Santin and Maria, 2017). The combination of these features should be a pictorial representation of reality. Teaching children to notice details and understand why they are part of reality is one of the tasks of sketches. It means that sketching shapes thinking and the ability to analyze.
Research on early childhood education shows that sketches significantly impact how students perceive their environment and the things around them. Sketches and simple drawings are self-expression tools children use to show how they see reality (Sethusha, 2020). Sketching is believed to be the earliest form of writing, so using it in educators’ practice will be helpful. Sketching consists of various artistic elements (lines, angles, shapes) that are organized together to form a type of visual narrative (Seo, Ga, and Hong, 2018). As children develop and grow, this ability evolves, and sketches develop into full-fledged images. Consequently, the use of sketching in practice is an effective tool for assessing children’s visual analysis and thinking abilities and an opportunity for children to demonstrate their concepts and ideas.
Plans
In any activity, one of the most important steps in implementing an idea is planning and making structures. Kharriah (2018) argues that using plans to develop different objects is a way to teach students analytical and strategic thinking. Consider an example of an experiment conducted with students and the plans provided to them. The students were taken to a room where clay pieces were placed in different containers. They were then presented with plans that contained the procedure they would use to develop different projects. The plans were different as the students were placed in several groups with a unique object to create. The objects differed in shape and form as the main aim was to examine how useful plans can enhance student creativity and imagination. The interaction of students with aspects like size and shape was recorded to show how form is an important element in art.
Art is an opportunity for self-expression and realization of feelings, thoughts, and ideas. Santin and Maria (2017) believe that it has a role in the evolution of students’ creativity and imagination. Encouraging such activities using materials from the external environment will allow students to demonstrate their capabilities and the inner world they want to show. Consequently, the purpose of using plans in the classroom is to guide students’ creative process.
Plans are important tools for teachers in early childhood education as they enable them to manage classroom activities. Through such an artifact, teachers can meet every childâs individual needs as it promotes inclusivity as the activities contained in the plans are predetermined (Neitzel, 2018). The process enables the articulation of ideas, supports the development of complex play, and promotes childrenâs level of self-control (Seo, Ga and Hong, 2018). Through the use of plans, students develop an understanding of what materials are used in certain areas. Plans develop skills in estimating the cost of materials, tooling costs, resources, time, and skills to complete tasks. Incorporating planning into early childhood education will allow them to maintain sustainability in the implementation of an idea.
Plans are important tools in early childhood education because they can be used to manage classroom activities. Plans promote inclusive education: teachers create activities based on the needs of the classroom and respect the interests of each group (Neitzel, 2018). Seo, Ga and Hong (2018) argue that inclusive planning promotes self-control and autonomy for children because they see their options in advance and learn to allocate time and workload. Having multiple choices of activities allows children to self-select one activity or another, which increases confidence and self-esteem.
Paintings
Students first master simple solids, which are clear and moderately accessible because they are tangible. As they grow, students gain access to liquid materials, which become a new step in visualizing space. Humans perceive the same object differently depending on the colors and materials used (Hong, Broderick and McAuliffe, 2020). Providing colors to modify their sketches has been found to establish how students perceive reality in color and why it appears that way to them. In addition, the flowing materials reflect students’ capabilities in how reality is felt. Understanding this has led to the inclusion of fluid work in students’ creative learning programs.
Among other things, creative learning is made up of play activities that make it easier and more accessible to understand oneself. Sethusha (2020) says this improves student achievement and develops students’ potential by providing every opportunity. In particular, this is due to the very properties of the material: they are liquid and easy to move, so young children are excited to observe and find new forms of creativity (Hong, Broderick and McAuliffe, 2020). Consequently, with the help of paintings and paints, teachers can develop students’ imagination and see their interests and goals in creativity.
Many classrooms have paintings that develop visual skills and promote abstract thinking. Kaplan (2020) asserts that looking at paintings enables the students to develop observational and interpretational skills. Children can learn critical concepts like abstraction and symbolism while at the same time strengthening recognition patterns in paintings (Seo, Ga, and Hong, 2018). Paintings are an effective learning tool that allows students to understand their inner world and recognize their feelings. Expressing one’s emotions through painting is a unique experience that makes children mobile, intelligent, and capable of logic. Kaplan (2020) believes painting is a way for children to focus on small details and little things that allow them to recognize reality and draw their conclusions more quickly. Therefore, paintings are significant artifacts in early childhood learning as they equip the kids with essential skills and knowledge critical to future development and competence.
Photographs
Photography is another unique educational tool that builds visual skills. Standard experiments to explore students’ skills include asking them to take photos of an object of interest, then evaluating the photos and analyzing why they were taken. Photographs are taken from different locations that the students are interested in. According to Santin and Maria (2017), this is necessary to capture all the essential elements of the environment that will aid in realizing art. Photography helps create and explore the environment through digital media and is a more convenient and accessible tool than paints and paintings.
For young children, photography is another way to explore space and learn basic creative skills. According to SÞrenssen and Bergschöld (2021), photography is another art form for the visual expression of concepts. Capturing objects of different shapes and sizes with cameras is an opportunity to find sufficient details and unusual elements in simple objects. Public objects are most often used in education because they are simple and accessible to every child, and everyone can find something unique about it.
Using pictures as artifacts captivate the students and form a representation of natural objects that might be challenging for the students to access in real life. Due to this reason, pictures are used as additional learning materials for the students (Monsabert et al., 2021). Digital photography has become an advanced tool that teachers should incorporate into their practice as often as possible (Dockett, 2019). The ease of control will allow for various instructional materials and a comfortable learning experience (Dong and Xu, 2020). Modern technology has made learning interesting, unusual, and enjoyable, making children more likely to engage and participate in classroom activities.
Sound Recordings
The use of audio in project activities is one helpful tool for additional data verification and consideration of new material. According to Thesia (2022), audio technology for artists is an opportunity to transfer sound from the environment to another medium and record it. For young children, audio recordings are sources of sounds that can be useful in growing up and developing. According to Amini (2020), audio recordings are also an opportunity for teachers to convey new information to children and show other sensory systems’ importance. Early childhood educators can use the recording to gather and document information in oral, written, and visual forms (Cohrssen, Slaughter, and Nicolas, 2021). Educators can use sound recorders to capture children’s learning and use it to track their progress as they support their learning process. Sound records can be used to promote art among children and to record songs (Aina and Bipath, 2022). Educators can record children tapping, movements, or clapping, which are activities that promote their motor skills.
The visual load is one of the greatest compared to other sensory systems. Switching to another format, audio, promotes brain-body coordination. These activities play a critical role in the promotion of significant body connections. In particular, the educational environment through music promotes skills in a new way of self-expression and coordination (Khairiah, 2018). Music combined with motor activities helps to make the process fun, engage as many children as possible, and stay focused on the activity for a long time. In other cases, music and sound recordings are used to promote children’s ability to learn words, pronounce them, and process numerous sounds they hear from their environments, enhancing their learning process.
Videos
Video is a culminating component for many projects because it can summarize learned skills and form visual and auditory data about learning. The value of video in creative education is that it allows us to trace a phenomenon in motion and development, which allows students to think procedurally about the phenomena they want to portray. In addition, video systems are a source of recording amazing facts about events relevant to creativity (Dong and Xu, 2020). Using videos in education makes the students connect faster to the various concepts taught in classrooms (Xiao and Tobin, 2018: Walsh, Romo, and Jeon, 2018). As an educator, I use video artifacts in early childhood education to complement the learning materials as they provide additional information about the narratives and enhance the memory process as it enables the students to raise questions about the various aspects, they observe from the motion pictures (Xiao and Tobin, 2018: Walsh, Romo and Jeon, 2018). This artifact enables the development of advanced research skills, organization skills, problem-solving, and collaboration.
Videos are considered to be more persuasive compared to other types of content. Such tools address the different learning styles that range from auditory, video, and kinesthetic. Through such mechanisms, the video artifacts provide literary skills entertainingly, enabling students to attain their goals (Hall-Mills, 2022). Video creates a prolonged impression on children, enhancing their level of understanding as they motivate them to achieve their goals (Jilink, Fukkink, and Huijbregts, 2018). Additionally, educative videos significantly impact problem-solving skills as they provide visual explanations of concepts and ideas critical to childrenâs learning process.
Conclusion
The creative process uses various tools to help students better understand the world around them and how they perceive it. Instructors use materials such as paper, clay, paint, and pencils to teach students how to demonstrate their skills. Using digital opportunities such as audio recordings, photography, and video allows for significant cognitive skill development. This allows them to develop their sense of the shape and movement of objects. Sketches are essential in creating motor skills and understanding the details of various objects. Using the example of planning and making structural plans, it is proved that this activity contributes to developing time management skills and increases the self-control and inclusiveness of groups. Painting is a new stage of visual interpretation in which students learn to apprehend fluid objects and use them to understand their feelings. Through photographs, students learn to look for the unusual in familiar objects, and audio recordings allow them to establish a correspondence between sound and reality. The video art format is the most subtle and unusual, combining all the past digital virtues. Through video, students learn to see the whole picture and fully develop their creativity.
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