Last updated: 29 Apr 2009

This area of learning includes art, music, dance, role play and imaginative play.

Creativity is fundamental to successful learning. Being creative enables children to make connections between one area of learning and another.

Art, music and drama are areas that offer great potential to newly arrived children. Most children can express themselves in paint and other media. The creation of artwork or a piece of music can boost the self-esteem of a newly arrived child. Through art and music children learn to express themselves non-verbally, thus the area of learning may offer opportunities for self-expression to children whose English language is still limited.

Art, music, drama and play can also be used therapeutically to help children reflect on their emotions. The Play and exploration area of this site gives further information on how play can be used to help newly arrived children to settle and to reflect on changes in their lives.

Teaching and learning suggestions

Time to settle and to explore

Newly arrived children need to feel secure and safe before they are able to take risks, make mistakes and be adventurous in their creative pursuits. This may take time and require adult support.

Newly arrived children may not have had the opportunity to work with particular equipment and materials. They might need extra time to experiment with art material and musical instruments before any directed activity is planned.

Music and art from different cultures

Resources from different cultures can be used to stimulate children's creative development. The artistic and musical codes and conventions that represent different ideas and beliefs are culturally specific. In some cultures, the visual appearance of artwork may be less important than the meaning attached to it.

Personal interpretations of art are influenced by our cultural heritage.  It is important to be sensitive to the values children from different cultures might attach to art and music from their cultures.

Art forms from different cultures may be examined, for example Islamic art or particular African art forms. Children can also listen to and experiment with musical instruments from different cultures. Some LAs run loan schemes whereby early years settings can borrow musical instruments from different cultures. A number of organisations also offer workshops where young children can experiment with instruments and learn songs from different cultures.

Parental support and involvement

Not all parents understand the value of art, music, drama and play in their child's development. A very small minority of Muslim parents may not support musical performance. They may also discourage or feel uncomfortable about their children's production of figurative art that portrays people and animals. This is because some religious leaders have interpreted Islamic teaching about the worship of false idols in such a way as to suggest that it forbids the production of human and animal forms. However, not all Muslims follow this interpretation of Islam. Somali folk-art has a strong figurative tradition that is often reflected in Somali children's drawings.

It may be helpful to discuss with parents the value of art, music, play and drama in their child's development, as well as discussing how parents can support a child's creative development at home.

Some parents may have particular artistic or musical skills that they might share with their own children. They may also be willing to work with a group.

Parents might want to teach songs from their home country. The ongoing involvement of parents with these skills ensures that all children learn from the breadth of parents' experiences.

Language development

Art, music and drama can help young children develop their English language skills. For example, music can be used to introduce children to words such as 'loud', 'quiet', 'fast' and 'slow' and children can be encouraged to describe sounds.

Art therapy

Art can be utilised therapeutically to enable children to express themselves and develop understanding of complex events and feelings. Art therapy is extensively used in the health service and a growing number of art therapists are also facilitating work with children in schools.

There are times and places where a registered art therapist should be used, for example for work with very distressed refugee children, but art can be used with all children in ways that help them settle.

It is best to give children time to use new art materials such as crayons, oil pastels, paints, plasticine, clay and collage materials before any directed activity is planned.

The aim of using art with newly arrived children is twofold: to boost self-esteem by creating something and to help them reflect on events and feelings. Art therapy for groups (see below) is a resource for such activities.

Self-portraits
These might be drawings, paintings or masks. Facial features and feelings can be discussed with the children.

The desert island
Children work in groups of four or five around a large sheet of paper, painting the items they would take to their desert island. There is space for painting personal items as well as communal space for children to paint together. The activity is a good prompt for talk.

My world
This can be done with groups of children. Each draws himself/herself at the centre of a piece of paper (or sticks a photograph at the centre) and then draws pictures of objects and people who are important, radiating from 'me' at the centre. The drawing can be used to prompt discussion and reflection. The same activity can be adapted to 'my world back home', where the child draws objects and people left behind.

Further resources

The role of art in psychological care and protection for displaced children, Nylund, B, Legrand J. C. and Holtsberg, P, Forced Migration Review, 1999. This article is downloadable from issue 6.

Arts therapists, refugees and migrants: reaching across borders, Doktor, D, and Kingsley, J, 1998

Art therapy for groups: a handbook of themes, games and exercises, Liebman, M, Routledge, London, 1986