We're back again with another focus on the EYFS as part of our wider series sharing insights into these milestone moments, and how we as parents can help our littles along their journey.
Today we're looking at Expressive Arts and Design!
The Expressive Arts and Design area of the EYFS is all about exploring and using different media and materials to express ourselves creatively and imaginatively. As well as being great for building a strong foundation for (unsurprisingly...) creativity, imagination and self-expression, it's also a key element in communication, problem-solving and critical thinking skills.
So let's have a look at some top tips on how we can support our littles on their creative learning journeys...
🎨 EXPLORING + USING MEDIA AND MATERIALS
0-11 months
Make a mess together with different materials and items!
8-20 months
Let your little use their hands and feet to explore the marks they can make with paint or to make items change, like popping bubbles
Make sock puppets together to move to music and songs
Encourage them to tap and clap along to their favourite songs (perhaps alongside those sock puppets!)
Place big sheets of paper or plastic on the floor to faciliate making a mess - baby sensory classes are a great way to support this activity if you don't have the space at home!
16-26 months
Get some ribbons or scarves for your little one to use as they move and dance, to explore the different shapes and sounds they can make
Listen to a variety of sounds and music together, and discuss them - what do they sound and feel like, do they have any favourites, how are they different?
Have a wide range of materials and sensory experiences available which help with exploration of colour, texture and sounds (again, baby sensory classes can be a great outlet for this, as well as a social opportunity!)
22-36 months
Explore the different sounds you can make together using everyday household items like spoons, pots and plastic bowls
Choose and celebrate interesting materials and resources, such as textured wall coverings and raffia, to continue building this exploration
30-50 months
Let them mix up colours with paints, and discuss why and how they change
Introduce vocabulary to enable them to talk about their observations, such as smooth / shiny / rough / prickly
Make suggestions and ask questions to extend ideas of what is possible, such as "I wonder what would happen if...?"
40-60+ months
Make believe and act out stories which encourage imagination, like Going on a Bear Hunt
Sing and dance together!
Encourage your littles to notice what happens to different materials and media when they're treated in different ways.
🧠 BEING IMAGINATIVE
0-11 months
Speak to your baby about your day, activities and interests - the more words they hear, the better!
8-20 months
Provide a range of items to be explored such as scarves, boxes, rattles and (safe) mirrors
16-26 months
Offer soapy water to wash toys, and create a scenario to play through together
Show genuine interest - and be willing to play along! - as they make up scenarios and stories
22-26 months
Encourage dressing up so they pretend to be other people
Observe make-believe scenarios for themes and interests so you can fully engage and encourage
Speak in a variety of tones during pretend play, and encourage your little one to try too
30-50 months
Use toys and items in the house to make up stories together
Offer story stimulus to encourage more events and imagination - “This bear has arrived in the post. He has a letter pinned to his jacket. It says ‘Please look after this bear.’ We should look after him in our room. How can we do that?.”
40-60+ months
Help them to gain more confidence in the way they represent their ideas by actively listening and responding
Create new imaginery worlds and secnarios which you can explore together.
Ready to get started on your own Onoco learning journey? We have over 460 milestones available to celebrate, broken down into age appropriate categories, each with their own hints and tips similar to those we’ve listed here…
You can even get those tips delivered directly to your profile with Onoco Premium.
Better yet, when you’re marking off your milestones, you can add photos to share with your connected family accounts so everyone can get involved in the celebrations!