Mokopuna can learn about and appreciate the arts by being given opportunities to see, explore, and be inspired by the work of professional artists and performers.

Taking mokopuna children on excursions to experience the arts in a real-life context is a powerful way to do this. These can include:

• plays, dance and kapa haka performances
• art exhibitions
• performances at local schools
• cultural festivals.

Inviting artists and performers into the centre, as well as using and making visible the artistic talents of kaiako and whānau within a service, are also helpful ways for strengthening arts appreciation.

Exploring the illustrations in books, art created through digital technologies, cultural artefacts, and other art objects can foster curiosity and sometimes provide insights about why the art was created.

Kaiako can use open-ended questions to encourage mokopuna to talk about art experiences they have engaged with, to help them interpret and make meaning. They can discuss the techniques, concepts and art vocabulary used by different art disciplines. This can help mokopuna to think about and talk about their own and others expressive work.

These can include:

• distinctive rhythms and beats in different types of music
• elements in visual art - such as line, shape, texture and colour
• the use of different voices and movement in drama
• ways that space and movement are used in dance.

When the arts are used in ways that encourage active engagement, they support the development of specific art knowledge and skills. However, other skills and knowledge are developed by mokopuna as well.

The arts are a particularly good context for learning about:

• identity, well-being, self-expression and emotional regulation
• cultural ways of being, doing, and knowing
• new perspectives – by playing around with and trying out new roles and ideas
• communicating experiences and ideas through a range of different arts languages
• working independently and collaboratively
• evaluating, problem-solving and thinking critically.

Where kaiako foster inquiry-based learning projects using the arts, the questions, interests and developing working theories of mokopuna are listened to carefully. Kaiako respond by designing learning experiences that are connected to mokopuna ideas. These can run over an extended period. The various languages of the arts can enrich and deepen such learning, offering mokopuna multiple perspectives and ways of engaging with and responding to a range of different ideas.

Successful and meaningful arts education is created by kaiako who recognise the need to deliberately embed arts learning experiences in their programmes rather than leave it to chance.

Kaiako can use their knowledge of the arts with mokopuna to scaffold, facilitate and extend learning. Kaiako can support mokopuna to lead the learning at times, by listening to their points of view, interests, and knowledge of the arts.

When kaiako are not familiar with aspects of the arts, they can position themselves as co-learners alongside mokopuna. They can model curiosity, playfulness, giving things a go, exploring an interest, and researching to find out more. Kaiako should seek opportunities to strengthen arts understanding through professional learning and other resources.

By drawing on the familiar experiences, interests, and cultural knowledge of mokopuna, kaiako can provide arts learning experiences that are relevant and meaningful.

Rich arts learning experiences are usually open-ended and often bring a sense of delight. They offer opportunities for mokopuna to be creative, to express themselves individually and collaboratively, and to engage in deep thinking. Kaiako have an important role in planning thoughtful and meaningful arts learning experiences for mokopuna on a regular basis.

Kaiako can develop a kete of intentional teaching strategies that facilitate rich arts experiences, such as:

• role-modelling
• scaffolding skills and techniques
• introducing new ideas and resources
• having sustained conversations
• encouraging curiosity
• supporting communication, negotiation, and collaboration
• designing and facilitating experiences.

It is helpful to think ahead about how to speak to mokopuna about their creative expression. Open-ended questions, curiosity, enthusiasm, and descriptive language are all effective teaching strategies. For example, kaiako might comment, “What an interesting, speckled texture in the paint. I wonder how you made that?” or ask, "Would you like to tell me more about your creation?" or give positive reinforcement such as, "Wow, you are using your whole body to dance, how wonderful!" 

Mokopuna learn best when they have opportunities to play and learn through the arts with engaged kaiako who enjoy the experience alongside them.

In Aotearoa New Zealand, toi Māori (the Māori arts), are integral to our distinctive national identity. The arts are integral to mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge), and are woven into personal, collective, and ceremonial ways of being. This can be seen in the marae, where traditional forms of visual art represent important narratives for communities. Whakairo (carvings), kōwhaiwhai (rafters) and tukutuku (lattice) panels all tell stories of people, places and things.

Through experiencing and participating in Māori arts all mokopuna can learn about their purposes and function, and how toi Maori is often used to express ihi (power), wehi (fear), and wana (excitement). This can be seen in waiata, tā moko (traditional Māori tattooing), taonga puoro (musical instruments) and haka.

In Pacific cultures, the arts appear in important traditions and celebrations, as well as in daily life. The arts are an expression of creation and connection that tells the stories of different Pacific ways of being, communities and genealogy. More importantly, it is a way in which cultural heritage is passed on through generations. Each Pacific nation has their own ways of keeping connected to their ancestry by telling their unique stories that describe who they are through different art forms, such as weaving, print making, songs and dance.

Videos and resources with kaiako from across the motu working in Pacific early learning contexts can be found in the 'Pacific Arts' tile below (under 'Have you seen?). Pacific arts can help kaiako support, empower, and nurture Pacific children and their āiga.

Integrated learning in science, technology, engineering, and maths is commonly referred to as 'STEM.' 'STEAM' includes the arts as well, recognising that the arts add a valuable contribution to STEM learning. The arts can support mokopuna to grasp and share complex ideas, apply creative thinking, and use their design skills in relation to these curriculum areas.

A STEAM approach to curriculum enriches learning in early childhood settings by creating more opportunities for problem-solving, analytical and critical-thinking, and innovation. The provision of experiences in science, technology, engineering, and maths and the arts helps to provide mokopuna with the skills and knowledge needed for a rapidly changing world.

The arts enhance science, technology, engineering, and maths learning through experience of:

• materials and patterns in the environment
• experimentation with materials and tools
• visual representation of abstract ideas
• drawing as a way to closely observe objects.

The arts provide mokopuna with multiple ways to explore different ideas and concepts through tangible and sensory learning. Including the arts as tools for investigation can create joyful and appealing STEAM learning opportunities.

Kei Tua o Te Pae – Book 19: The Arts 
This resource looks particularly at the arts and provides several assessment exemplars. However, more arts exemplars can be found throughout Kei Tua o Te Pae Assessment for Learning: Early Childhood Exemplars. 

National Library - Discover database 
Discover is an online database of resources developed by the National Library to provide access to their collections of New Zealand art and music. It includes audio clips of New Zealand birds and early waiata, as well as images and other historic information. 

ec ART NZ 
This online magazine of professional practice showcases examples of visual art experiences for infants, toddlers, and young children. 

Move, Act, Play, Sing (MAPS): Exploring early childhood arts teaching and learning through Community Arts interventions in Reggio Emilia inspired centres 
This volume of the He Kupu Journal contains articles by teachers and researchers who undertook an exploratory research project in performing arts teaching and learning. This was a Teacher Lead Research Initiative (TLRI).  

The International Art in Early Childhood Research Journal 
This peer-reviewed, online journal has a particular focus on visual arts and young children.