Nursery World - Nursery Equipment: Expressive Art and Design

Well-thought-out art activities in which practitioners also take part can significantly improve children’s language and communication skills. Meredith Jones-Russell reports

The arts provide children with a unique opportunity to discover and express their own voices through creative expression.

Early years and creative arts consultant Anni McTavish says language and communication can be significantly boosted by well-designed art activities in a setting. ‘Art is so open-ended, and if it is well facilitated and organised it can give children and adults lots of ways to share experiences and things they can’t say.’

Ms McTavish believes the key to encouraging and enabling children’s language development through arts is for adults to be ‘companions’.

‘It is about joining children on their artistic journey. If you are willing to stop and observe children, they can tell you a lot about themselves through the materials they choose and the ways they use them,’ she explains.

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