Recreation for Music and Drama for Preschool

Alexis Bon Castillo

Batch 67B
Activity No. 2

1. Which toy would better stimulate the creativity of a young child, a block of wood or a toy robot?
Explain your answer.

For me, the toy that better stimulate the creativity of a young child is a block of wood or now, we
call it building blocks, because it helped the children develop their motor skills and hand – eye
coordination, it improves their spatial reasoning, their cognitive flexibility, language skills, and
will make them divergent thinkers. It does not juts stimulate their creativity but there are other
skills that can improve and enhance just like their logical thinking capacity where it provides
mental stimulation and teaches kids cause and effect, for example if the kid places the block too
close to the edge then the tower topples. Lastly, I think the benefit of playing blocks is that it help
the kids develop their vocabularies, improve math skills and even teaches them about gravity
and balance. They will also learn how to describe colors, shapes, sizes and positions as they build
various structures.

2. What does the Multiple Intelligence Theory say about creativity in children? What are its
implications to teaching?

The Multiple Intelligence Theory of Howard Gardner says that children have different abilities
and capabilities regarding in learning and discovering their own capacities. For instance, the
theory postulates that a child who learns to multiply easily is not necessarily more intelligent than
a child who has more difficulty on the same task. The child who is slow in mastering
multiplications may best learn it through another approach that gives him a deeper
understanding of the multiplication concept at a fundamental deeper level or may even excel
outside the field of mathematics. The child that uses the other approach to understand the
multiplication process at a fundamental deeper level may be slow and can hide a mathematical
intelligence potentially higher than that of a child who quickly memorizes the multiplication table
without understanding the process of multiplication.
Gardner proposed that there are eight intelligences, and has suggested the possible addition of a
ninth known as “existentialist intelligence”. The learning styles are as follows; Verbal – Linguistic,
Logical – Mathematical, Visual – Spatial, Bodily – Kinesthetic, Musical – Rhythmic, Inter-
Personal, Intra-Personal and Naturalistic.
The implication of this theory in teaching is that it should focus on the particular intelligences of
each person. For example, if an individual has strong spatial or musical intelligences, they should
be encouraged to develop these abilities. Gardner points out that the different intelligences
represent not only different content domains but also learning modalities. A further implication
of the theory is that assessment of abilities should measure all forms of intelligence, not just
linguistic and logical-mathematical.

3. Why do we need to teach creative arts, music and movement, and dramatic play in preschool?

As teachers, we need to teach creative arts in preschool because it foster the development of
children’s cognitive abilities. Exploring and participating in creative play triggers the use of kids’
imagination, which in turn stimulates and expands their mental capacities. The creative arts
provide an outlet for young children to explore and gain control over their emotions.
We also need to teach music because Listening to music and playing music games, therefore,
helps children to use the various parts of their brains simultaneously. Music also stimulates a
 child’s frontal lobes, which are important to both language and motor development. Movement
also is very important because it stimulate the brain which reinforces language concepts. The
frontal lobes of the brain go through to main growth spurts – one between the ages of two and
six, and one at about age twenty-two. Therefore, music and movement classes are most beneficial
during the toddler and preschool years. Music and movement classes develop the innate
understanding of music in children, which enables them to tap into this aspect of music later on
in life.
Lastly is dramatic play because it is an integral part of a well-rounded preschool program as it is
healthy for early childhood development. The benefits of teaching dramatic play are the
following; dramatic play teaches self – regulation, it encourage language development, teaches
conflict resolution, supports math and literacy, relieves emotional tension and it is empowering
children.

4. How does the art activity help or enhance children’s growth in the following domains?

a. Physical - the enhancement of fine and gross motor skills. For instance, when kids work with play
dough, they fine-tune their muscle control in their fingers. All manipulative movements involved in
art help develop hand and finger muscles that are needed to properly hold and use a pencil.

b. Emotional - Children learn about themselves and others through art activities. It really helps them
build self-esteem. It’s an opportunity for children to make a personal statement about their
uniqueness through art while allowing them to express happiness, joy, and pride.

c. Social - The arts help them figure out who they are by exposing them to other cultures, new ways of
thinking, of expressing themselves, and of communicating with others.

d. Cognitive - Art also enhances children’s cognitive development which can help kids with their early
math skills. Children who have experienced a wide range of people and places will have an array of
ideas to choose from when doing art. Art reflects what a child knows about the world and enables
the child to choose how to translate those ideas and experiences.

5. In what way do music and movement activities help children grow?

Music and movement activities help children grow by the following domains:

 Health and Physical Development – Moving to music serves as a wonderful aerobic activity for children. It
gives them a chance to be active, maintain a healthy weight, keep bones and muscles strong, and work
on developing their motor skills.

 Social Development – Dancing and music play a huge role in cultures around the world, so it makes sense
that they also play a large role in helping children connect with each other through a playful and fun
social-bonding experience.

 Emergent Literacy – Music and movement activities help children learn to interpret auditory signals,
support auditory memory, and introduce new words to help children build their vocabulary.

 Musical Concepts – Music and movement activities introduce children to musical concepts with a
multisensory approach. Hearing the teacher discuss and demonstrate a musical concept, such as soft and
loud, fast and slow, and legato and staccato, and then doing the movement activity themselves
strengthens and reinforces children's learning.
  Math – Teaching children to keep the beat of the music and showing them how the activity or their
movements are in a pattern helps them learn basic concepts in both math and music.

 Emotional Development – Music and movement activities give children opportunities to gain confidence,
let off steam, relax, and be playful and silly.

6. How do music and movement activities help in developing the foundations for lifelong learning?

Music and Movement in children can help increase memory, perception, language, attention, emotion
and decision making. Peanut butter and jelly, socks and shoes, bats and balls, hide and seek, music and
children — are all elements of childhood. Children are naturally interested in music, and music is naturally
good for children. Why is music so attractive to children, and why is music so well suited to children?

 Music is a language, and children are oriented toward learning language.

 Music evokes movement, and children delight in and require movement for their development and growth.

 Music engages the brain while stimulating neural pathways associated with such higher forms of intelligence as

abstract thinking, empathy, and mathematics.

 Music's melodic and rhythmic patterns provide exercise for the brain and help develop memory. Who among

us learned the ABC's without the ABC song?

 Music is an aural art and young children are aural learners. Since ears are fully mature before birth, infants begin

learning from the sounds of their environment before birth.

 Music is perfectly designed for training children's listening skills. Good listening skills and school achievement

go hand in hand.
 Developmentally appropriate music activities involve the whole child-the child's desire for language, the bodies

urge to move, the brain's attention to patterns, the ear's lead in initiating communication, the voice's response to
sounds, as well as the eye-hand coordination associated with playing musical instruments.
 Music is a creative experience which involves expression of feelings. Children often do not have the words to

express themselves and need positive ways to release their emotions.

 Music transmits culture and is an avenue by which beloved songs, rhymes, and dances can be passed down

from one generation to another.

 Music is a social activity which involves family and community participation. Children love to sing and dance

at home, school, and at church.

7. Explain the statement: “How well a child performs a motor skills depends on the interaction between
learner, task and environment”.

My understanding in this statement is that a child’s development will depend on the interaction
between the learner, task and environment. The learner first, because they can be influenced by
the people around them and what they see, they will always use that until they grow. Second one
is task, because in doing tasks you are forcing them to do it which will help them in the future or
in solving real – life problems. Lastly is the environment, because this is where the child sees the
opportunities and strategies to make them a better learner.