The main concern of this article is to introduce the concept of the authentic gesture as a vital, largely self-determined expression of the child and to make it fruitful for art education. Because of the assumed educational importance of the concept, some hints to other learning areas will also be given. This should be done from a historical and…

Looks at individuality, in the sense of a personal expressive idiom or style, in children's art production. Shows that early stylistic differences manifest in children's art making correspond to basic cognitive/affective learning processes. Outlines implications for ideas about child development. (DSK)

Notes that there are strong indications that for young children, play and creative work in the arts fill an essential role in the development of an understanding of identity, reversibility, and point of view which are essential to all cognitive growth. (Author/AM)

There are many myths about young children based on the definition of creativity as an innate capacity for openness to experience. This definition of creativity as a personality trait or attitude (creativity as expressiveness) has little relationship to creativity as the making of original and socially valuable products. Studies of children's art…

This final report describes the activities and outcomes of a 3-year Expressive Arts Outreach project at Western Illinois University to integrate and replicate the Expressive Arts (EA) model based on developmentally appropriate experiences in the expressive arts, with an emphasis on visual arts, into early childhood programs for children (ages 3-8)…