By Alek Phan

Early Childhood: Infancy to Five

• (1) Title: Art From A to Z 
• Name of person/organization: Kitchener Waterloo Art Gallery (KWAG)
• Source: Link
• Age Group: 2-4
• Description of Activity: Art From A to Z is designed to ignite the creative spark in your little ones aged 2 to 4! Each session brings forth a new and exciting theme, encouraging your little artists to explore colours, shapes, textures, and more, all while expressing their unique creativity. Every activity is designed to foster artistic growth while nurturing a love for self-expression. Our Artist Educator will lead you and your little ones through our current installations. Our educator’s insights will illuminate the artworks and spark engaging conversations, fostering a deeper appreciation for the world of art in both young minds and guardians alike.
• Is the program age/developmentally appropriate? Why/Why not? 
• In general, I think it is suitable for preschoolers within the specified age range from 2-4 as children are encouraged to enhance their appreciation for the world of art  through art installations, which boosts their confidence and creativity. However, this type of activity depends heavily on the art educator to ensure a worry-free environment with age-appropriate materials and equipment, clean and sanitized space, and make sure the children could or couldn’t touch certain artwork in the gallery.
• Another challenge is the activity would involve a lot of conversation to preschoolers to engage with them. As children at this age tend to please the adults, parents and artist educators should be careful to not have closed questions and talk slowly to help them develop their linguistic skills.
• (2) Title: ROMKids Junior
• Name of person/organization: Royal Ontario Museum 
• Source: Link
• Age Group: 2-4
• Description of Program: A seven-week sensory adventure as you tour galleries with our early learning instructors, and join them in creative play-based activities, and social interaction in a classroom setting. Meet other parents, caregivers, and children and engage your child in interactive learning for life.
• Is the program age/developmentally appropriate? Why/Why not? 
• I have a preference for this program over “Art From A to Z” at KWAG because it offers a highly interactive experience that encourages toddlers to engage with their surroundings through sensory play. This program is appealing to me due to its inclusivity as sensory plays are suitable for children with special educational needs, complex requirements, or developmental challenges.
• The sensory activities, including playdough, clay, and the exploration of small objects, help enhance cognitive development and refining fine motor skills for children of diverse abilities.
• Additionally, as an artist educator, I will be very careful when selecting art materials (such as glitter) to ensure they do not pose any risk of bodily harm to the children, particularly in terms of potential choking hazards. Safety should always be a top priority in any creative and educational setting.
• (3) Title: Childhood Expressions™ Fine Arts Preschool
• Name of person/organization: Generation Performing Arts
• Source: Link
• Age Group: 2.5-4
• Description of Program/ Activity: Exploring Art
  *The Exploring Art is a class in their childhood expression program. Therefore, this class can be considered as an activity.
• This class allows the young child to ‘do art’ to discover, explore and experiment. In this process they will discover many things including color, shape, form and texture while experiencing joy, patience, creativity and the mystery of manipulating various materials while engaging their eye and inner vision. For this reason the ‘process’ is more valuable to them than the ‘product’ and is most beneficial at this stage of development. This Visual Art class will allow them to explore and discover their world and through our program will also offer preliminary concepts introducing science, nature and math skills through counting, shapes, measurement and patterning.

• Is the program age/developmentally appropriate? Why/Why not?
  I like this class when they make it clear that the process is more valuable to children than the product, especially to their children so they can set the expectation to the parents. It’s crucial to communicate to parents that at this developmental stage, children may undergo frequent changes in their interests and pursuits. It’s perfectly acceptable for them to abandon a project halfway through, leaving an unfinished clay piece or any other creative endeavor. In certain art exploration activities, such as acrylic painting using hands, it is important for artist educators to recognize the differences in children’s backgrounds and preferences. Some children may have been taught to always keep their hands clean, leading them to be hesitant about engaging in messy activities. Conversely, a child with sensory disorders may have entirely different needs and preferences. 

• (4) Title: Ballet
• Name of person/organization: City of Toronto
• Source: Link
• Age Group: 3 – 5
• Description of Program: Early child level courses that teach the basics of correct body alignment and proper ballet technique. Participants can achieve balance and grace as they learn basic ballet positions, postures and movements through fun and engaging choreography.
• Is the program age/developmentally appropriate? Why/Why not?
• I think children at any age can enjoy dance as long as the instructors have experience working with young children and be able to use fun and engaging choreography to create an enjoyable learning environment. Children can easily focus when they feel like playing. Having a good posture is highly recommended for children to have good physical development, especially if the children have tendency to use devices too much in their daily routine. Ballet classes also require the ability to follow instructions to make certain movements, hence, the instructors should be more considerate to different needs from children. 
• My Idea 1: Tò He Folk Art Reference
• Age Group: aged 2 to 5
• Description of the activity: this is a traditional play in Vietnam, and I think it can be adapted to the classroom environment here in Canada. Tò he is made from glutinous rice powder in the form of puppets such as hello kitty, or doraemon… Children are given instructions to make simple forms of tò he figures. The materials are entirely edible, making it an enjoyable sensory experience for toddlers who often explore the world by putting objects in their mouths. The outcome can also be cherished as toys or decorations to children afterward.

• Idea 2: X-Mas Snow Globe 
• Age Group: 3-5
• Description of the activity: I believe in our childhood we’ve all been captivated by bubbles dancing up and down in colorful liquid. Children have the opportunity to create their very own snow globe using a simple empty bottle, some miniatures and water. This hands-on activity can also serve as an inspiring way to teach kids about recycling and caring for the environment.