Art and Children

Book excerpt: Art and literature are essential components of a child's education that encourage creativity, self-expression, and abstract, critical thinking. These skills, in turn, help a child excel in math, science, reading, and drama. However, traditional educational settings often destroy a child's innate self-esteem and creativity. Art and Children is an indispensable aid to educators and librarians interested in helping young children achieve their artistic and creative potential. This teaching aid provides thematic, unit-based activities that use art and literature to develop skills such as interpretation, self-expression, critical thinking, experiential learning, and problem solving. Accompanied by numerous examples, it offers step-by-step suggestions on how to plan, implement, and present these units and their related activities. Addresses of art suppliers are also provided.