Child care is more than a place for young children to go when mom or dad is at work. Okay, so you already know that these little learners are getting an education during their daycare days. There are lessons in math, early literacy is a major focus and preschoolers (and younger kids) are learning about school subjects such as science and social studies. But, is that it? Of course not. Children in daycare centers also get the opportunity to explore the arts. This goes well beyond crayons and finger paints. Check out the different types of arts experiences that children may get in child care.

Visual Arts

This is the most obvious form of "art" that children are exposed to in an early childhood environment. Obviously, visual arts includes are processes—such as drawing, painting and sculpting with clay. Along with these types of hands-on activities, some centers help children to learn through art viewing experiences. This could include something as complex as visiting a museum and looking at real-life artworks to an easier activity such as viewing pictures in children's books. In any form, art viewing can help young children to develop crucial thinking and problem-solving skills, and better understand literacy concepts such as a story's plot, location, and characters.

Music

Daycare teachers can use music in many different ways—teaching children about the arts as well as other concepts. Counting to a beat connects music to math, while sharing a themed song can help the kids to learn new subject matter (such as animals or colors). Music can also help young children to express their emotions and better understand themselves. 

Dance

Young children are building essential motor skills during the preschool years. Child care centers can use dance as a way to explore art and boost movement abilities. This doesn't have to mean that the young students are learning complicated choreography or are building up ballet skills. Instead, creative movement activities (such as free movement to music or moving while swooshing and twirling scarves) can help kids to develop muscle strength, balance and coordination, all while getting an introduction to the world of dance.

Drama

The pretend play kitchen that's in the corner of the daycare classroom is much more than just a fun place to hang out. Acting out scenes and situations (even everyday ones, such as cooking breakfast) are actually arts activities. Whether the children are imagining their own dramas in dress-up or are acting out a storybook in a school play, drama can help them to get creative. This type of creative learning not only helps them to better understand the artistic process, but it also helps them to problem solve, develop emotional understanding and build social skills.

The arts have many different functions in the early childhood environment. From learning about different types of creative processes to building new skills, the arts hold benefits galore for children in child care. To learn more, contact child care centers like Rainbow School, Inc.