The Benefits of Dance in Early Childhood Development

Dance is not only a captivating and expressive art form, but it also offers numerous developmental benefits for children at early ages. Engaging in dance from a young age can have a profound impact on a child's physical, cognitive, emotional, and social growth.

First and foremost, dance promotes physical development. It helps children enhance their coordination, balance, strength, and flexibility. Through various movements and routines, young dancers refine their motor skills and develop body awareness, enabling them to control their bodies with grace and precision.

Moreover, dance stimulates cognitive development. Learning dance steps and choreography exercises memory and concentration skills. Children must remember sequences, patterns, and musical cues, fostering their cognitive abilities and boosting their overall cognitive function.

Emotionally, dance provides an outlet for self-expression and creativity. It allows children to communicate their feelings, thoughts, and ideas through movement. By exploring different emotions and embodying characters or stories, young dancers gain a deeper understanding of their own emotions and develop a sense of empathy and empathy towards others.

Furthermore, dance encourages social development. Whether participating in group classes, rehearsals, or performances, children learn to cooperate, collaborate, and interact with their peers. They develop teamwork skills, communication skills, and respect for others, as they work together to create synchronized movements and showcase their collective artistry.

Finally, dance nurtures confidence and self-esteem. As children progress in their dance training, they gain a sense of achievement and pride in mastering new skills and performing in front of an audience. Through positive reinforcement and support from teachers and peers, dancers build self-confidence, self-expression, and a belief in their abilities, which can transcend into other aspects of their lives.

In summary, dance at early ages offers a multitude of developmental benefits. It cultivates physical, cognitive, emotional, and social growth, while fostering creativity, confidence, and self-expression. By embracing the art of dance, children embark on a transformative journey that enhances their overall well-being and sets a strong foundation for their future endeavors.

Generosity

Here at TCA, we see creativity as a catalyst for little minds to inspire hope and kindness in their community. We find that creating opportunities for little hands to practice good stewardship blesses others, both here and at home. We know that creativity and good stewardship lead to fostering little hearts with generosity, encouraging mindfulness toward our family, friends, and neighbors. 

Let's talk a little bit about generosity.

Generosity is a powerful characteristic that has numerous positive effects on both individuals and society as a whole. Here are some encouraging facts about generosity:

1. Increased well-being: Generous individuals often experience greater levels of happiness, satisfaction, and overall well-being in their lives. Engaging in acts of kindness and giving can create a sense of fulfillment and purpose, leading to improved mental and emotional health.

2. Strengthened relationships: Generosity strengthens and deepens relationships, whether it's with family, friends, colleagues, or even strangers. When we are generous, we build trust, foster empathy, and create meaningful connections with others.

3. Improved physical health: Generosity has been linked to improved physical health outcomes. Studies have found that generous individuals tend to have lower blood pressure, reduced stress levels, and a decreased risk of developing chronic illnesses.

4. Enhanced empathy and compassion: Practicing generosity fosters empathy and compassion towards others. By actively helping and supporting those in need, we develop a greater understanding of their challenges and become more inclined to assist and empathize with them.

5. Increased gratitude: Generosity promotes gratitude by allowing individuals to recognize and appreciate their own blessings and privileges. Giving to others helps us develop a sense of gratitude for what we have, leading to greater contentment and a positive outlook on life.

6. Positive impact on society: Generosity plays a vital role in building stronger communities and societies. When individuals and organizations engage in acts of generosity, they contribute to the well-being and progress of their communities, addressing social issues and promoting positive change.

7. Inspiring others: Generosity has a ripple effect. When people witness acts of kindness and generosity, they are often inspired to do the same. One act of generosity can inspire others to follow suit, creating a chain reaction of goodwill and positive impact.

8. Personal growth: Engaging in acts of generosity provides opportunities for personal growth and self-improvement. It allows individuals to develop qualities such as empathy, compassion, humility, and gratitude, which contribute to their overall character development.

9. Increased happiness of both giver and receiver: Generosity not only benefits the recipients of our kindness but also brings joy to the givers themselves. The act of giving, whether it's time, resources, or support, creates a sense of fulfillment and happiness for both parties involved.

10. Lasting legacy: Generosity leaves a lasting impact on the world. The acts of kindness and generosity we engage in can create a positive legacy that extends beyond our own lifetime, inspiring future generations to continue the cycle of giving.

We hope these facts help highlight the transformative power of generosity and the profound benefits it brings to individuals, relationships, and society as a whole.

The Benefits of Drama and Theater in Early Childhood Development

​​Early childhood development encompasses a variety of subjects and activities, including math, science, language arts, and physical development. However, one subject that often gets overlooked in early childhood development is drama and theater.

Drama and theater can be incredibly beneficial for young children, as it encourages creativity, communication, and confidence. Here are just a few of the benefits of drama and theater in early childhood development:

1. Enhances Communication Skills: In drama and theater, children learn to communicate effectively through speaking, listening, and body language. This skill is incredibly important as it helps children to express themselves better, and communicate their ideas and emotions with others.

2. Boosts Confidence: Drama and theater require children to perform in front of an audience. This can be an intimidating experience, but it also helps to boost children's confidence levels. As they become more comfortable performing in front of others, they also become more confident in their own abilities.

3. Encourages Creativity: Drama and theater offer a unique opportunity for children to express their creativity. They can create their own characters, stories, and even props and costumes. This allows them to use their imagination and think outside the box.

4. Develops Emotional Intelligence: Drama and theater require children to explore and express a range of emotions, from happiness to sadness, anger to joy. This helps them to develop emotional intelligence, which is an important skill for navigating the complex social world.

5. Promotes Teamwork: Drama and theater often involve group activities, such as working on a play or performance together. This helps to promote teamwork, collaboration, and communication skills, all of which are important in the real world.

Incorporating drama and theater into early childhood development is relatively easy, and can be done through simple activities such as role-playing, puppet shows, and storytelling. Parents and teachers can also encourage children to create their own plays or performances, and provide them with opportunities to practice performing in front of others.

In conclusion, drama and theater offer many benefits for young children. It encourages creativity, communication, and confidence, while also developing emotional intelligence and promoting teamwork. It is a valuable subject that should be included in early childhood development programs.

Tea Time

by Taylor Roberts

Most of us have heard of tea time, and commonly associate it with a fancy tea room. However, have you ever thought about having a tea time in your home…with your kids? “Yikes, and no thank you” may be some of your responses. This is completely understandable if a fancy tea room is what you associate it with. I first heard of doing tea time with kids from a fellow mama who wanted to slow down each day and have an intentional snack time with her boys. I immediately loved the idea but wanted to make it my own. 

Traditionally, tea time takes place anywhere from 3:30-5pm. It’s not realistic for most of us to do this daily but it is a fun activity to do occasionally or during a school break! For my family, 3:30 is perfect because my son has just napped and wants a snack anyway. If you have a younger child still sleeping, it’s a great opportunity to spend quality time with your older child!

Okay, so how to set this up:

• Find your tea time space. It’s helpful to have a specific place for this. Like the kitchen table or as a picnic in the living room! If it’s warm outside, take it all out in the backyard!

• Brew your tea. Herbal is best for no caffeine (insert “yikes!” here). Make sure the tea has cooled before serving it to your little one. I like to top it off with a little cold water or offer cream/dairy alternatives. 

• Snacks. Make yummy snacks ahead of time or maybe have a stash of “tea time” snacks so it feels extra special. We happened to have some tarts from a local coffee shop on hand and that made our tea time feel fun and different for my three year old son. 

• Teaware. You do not have to use glass teaware but I find it adds to the magical feeling and sets a certain intention. You may decide to opt for plastic if you have smaller kiddos and that’s great! 

• Activities. If you have older children, you may keep it simple and use this as a time of conversation and hearing about their day at school. A couple of great options for younger children are to read books or even do a small craft. Also, include your little one in the process as much as you safely can. Picking out their tea, setting up the space, or putting the snack out on little plates. Kids love to help and are more likely to engage in an activity if they have ownership in it!

Please make this tea time your own! It will look different for each family and that’s what makes it so wonderful for you and your child! The main thing I hope you take away is to really try to make tea time feel special and full of wonder. It’s so fun to watch our children get excited and create something together!

Let’s Make Overnight Oats

by Taylor Roberts

As parents, having an easy breakfast planned or….already made in the morning (gasp!) is a major step towards getting everyone out the door. Cue the perfect and tasty solution, overnight oats! This is exactly as it sounds, oats that we prepare the night before but with some extra yummy additions. It is super easy to make and is a great activity to do with your toddler. They will love being a part of creating a meal for themselves and their family. I included my son in the process and he loved scooping out the ingredients into our jars- and taste testing of course! Do be prepared for a bit of a mess with this recipe, but you can also include your little one in the clean up process too! 

Here’s what you’ll need:

• A jar for each family member; we used 8oz ones for adults and 4oz for kids

• Spoons or scoops

• Small bowls

• Liquid measuring pitcher or cup

• ¼ -½ cup of oats per jar

• ¼ - ½ of milk, or a milk alternative

• Chia seeds or other nuts/seeds

• Fruit of your choice; we used blueberries and pomegranate

There is really so much freedom to add extras in too! Some examples would be: nut butters, protein powder, collagen powder, or even chocolate chips.

After you’ve gathered up all your ingredients and prepared a space for you and your little one to create, you’re ready to begin!

Pour oats into each jar. 

Next, layer your fruit.

Then sprinkle those nuts or seeds in another clean layer.

Finish with pouring milk over the top.

Voila! Now dig around for some lids to those jars and pop them in the fridge for breakfast in the morning! We hope you enjoyed this recipe as much as we did! 

Differences in the development of creative competencies in children schooled in diverse learning environments

by Maud Besançon & Todd Lubart

Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1041608007001355?via%3Dihub

Abstract

Studies on the development of creativity have highlighted the impact of learning environments. In particular, pedagogical approaches are hypothesized to differ concerning their emphasis on individual initiative, and action-based learning. A semi-longitudinal study was conducted during two consecutive years with 210 children in elementary schools with traditional and alternative pedagogical approaches. Our results highlight (1) an influence of pedagogy on children's creative performance; (2) a positive influence of alternative pedagogy on creative development from year 1 to year 2 mainly for Montessori school. Children's creative performance was influenced not only by the type of task but also by the type of school.

Introduction

Pedagogical practices evolve continually in order to take into account societal needs. Since the 1950s, creativity, defined here as the ability to produce novel, original work that meets contextual constraints, has been viewed as an increasingly important characteristic for professional success and personal development (Amabile, 1996, Gardner, 1996, Lubart et al., 2003, Ochse, 1990, Sternberg and Lubart, 1995).). In this paper, the impact of different learning environments on children's creative development is examined. Various pedagogies, which contrast on their potential support for creativity, have been implemented since the beginning of the 20th century. We examine the prototypical characteristics of traditional and alternative pedagogies. Then, task-centered factors concerning different components of creativity are described. Finally, the results of an empirical study are presented in which traditional and alternative learning environments are compared in terms of their effects on creative development.

The main goals of most educational systems are to transmit knowledge, rigorous working habits and societal values. According to Danvers (2003), traditional pedagogy is characterized by (1) a central role assigned to the teacher: teaching is frontal, i.e. the teacher is in front of the class; (2) an impersonal relation with pupils because there are usually many pupils in a class; and (3) the importance of abstract knowledge which is not always linked with the everyday life. Generally, teaching is dispensed in a collective way and the teacher's authority is based on the fact that the teacher masters the subject matter (Morandi, 1997).

Traditional pedagogy is supposed to offer a structure in which children can evolve. At the beginning, children acquire knowledge but they do not critique it. Then, pupils develop the capacity to criticize and propose new ideas, which occurs because they have initial cultural knowledge. Class time is devoted to learning and critical thinking and there is little attention to creativity.

During the 20th century, some educators and psychologists developed alternatives to the traditional approach. According to Piaget (1969/2004), it would be stimulating for children to make discoveries by themselves and thereby construct their knowledge through actions. The teachers' role is, in this view, to provide the pupil with a rich environment including situations favoring the emergence of cognitive and socio-cognitive conflicts, viewed as the engines of development. Vygotsky (1934/1997) introduced the concept of “Zone of Proximal Development” (ZPD): a child could then be defined with respect to a current level of development and a second, potential level of development that could be attained with assistance from an adult (Schneuwly & Bronckart, 1985). Between the two levels there is the ZPD. Thus, this concept indicates the importance of mediation in teaching methods: the teacher must engage the pupil in the ZPD and allow him or her to progress, after which, the pupil will be able to succeed alone.

Montessori (1958/2004) considered that imaginative thought must be based on contact with reality and sensory impressions. Based on these principles, she proposed targeted activities (such as learning how to see, feel, hear, and graduate colors or thermal stimuli…), beginning in preschool. For example, some pupils begin to learn the letters of the alphabet with the sense of touch: children had to follow the outline of letters drawn in various textures and their teachers provide directions on how to conduct the movements. For Montessori (1958/2004), to foster imagination, teachers should let it evolve freely (freedom to choose an activity, to handle objects placed at their disposal) but within a well established framework.

In a similar vein, Freinet, a French pedagogue, proposed a “psychological” theory of the child as primarily founded on two postulates (Freinet, 1994): (1) “Vital boost”: a child is animated by a natural dynamism, which should not be opposed; (2) “Experimental fluctuation”: error is a means to access knowledge. Moreover, creativity is allowed and fostered in various activities in which children themselves create their own productions from their knowledge or personal experience. Activities such as the “free-text”, the “free drawing” or the school newspaper allow creativity. For example, in the “free-text” activity, children write a text on a subject that is important to them. This text is then corrected and can be sent thereafter to another school or discussed in the class council (with other children and the teacher).

Given the fundamental differences between traditional and alternative pedagogical methods, the question of effects on children's creative development can be raised.

During the second half of the 20th century, several studies tried to examine children's performances in traditional compared to alternative pedagogies. In particular, Horwitz (1979) conducted a review of the literature from the 1930s to the late 1970s. In the 1930–1940s, studies compared performances obtained by children either attending alternative or traditional pedagogy schools; children who were exposed to alternative pedagogy showed more initiative, better capacity to face problems, knowledge acquisition and social participation. In the 1950–1960s, the studies focused on performance differences between children exposed to traditional pedagogy and alternative pedagogy. First, the results showed that there was no significant difference either on school performance, problem solving tasks or creative thinking tasks. Second, children exposed to alternative pedagogies described themselves as less rigid, more subtle and imaginative; they were more open, less conventional and had fewer stereotypes concerning social roles. The results indicate also that children attending alternative schools were more cooperative, less competitive and more accessible than children exposed to traditional pedagogies. Based on research carried out in the 1970s, Horwitz (1979) found, regarding creative thinking, that children exposed to open classes outperformed those in traditional classes. However, the results did not show a complete consensus: whereas the majority of studies found better results for children in alternative pedagogy, some highlighted benefits for children in traditional pedagogy. These divergent results could be due to the fact that creativity is a concept that encompasses many definitions and, in addition, no indication is provided concerning the family and cultural environment, which may vary across schools and studies.

Two studies focused particularly on the effects of Freinet's pedagogy. First, Avanzini and Ferrero (1976–1977) found that, in general, the Freinet pedagogy was as effective as traditional pedagogy. However, with regard to creativity, children in Freinet schools (in France) showed better performances than children in traditional schools. One explanation is that teachers practicing the Freinet techniques grant greater freedom to pupils and allow them to express themselves with no threat of giving a grade or judgment; thus, these pupils take more initiatives, are more open to the world, qualities that are necessary for the development of creativity.1 In another study, Frankiewicz (1984) examined in a Polish school the effect of the free-text exercise: in a first group, teachers used the free-text task whereas in the second group, teachers used traditional lessons of Polish language. Results indicated in a post-test that pupils who had the free-text task showed better performances on different indices of creative thinking (fluency, flexibility and originality). Moreover, these same children proposed more original, richer and more coherent stories than children who did not receive the free-text method. These results suggest that practicing free-text composition supports the development of creative performance. However, it is difficult to draw any strong conclusions about the superiority of this method because there is no information on pupils' initial level of performance: indeed, it is possible that pupils of the free-text group already had higher performances than other children in the pretest.

Thomas and Berk (1981) conducted a literature review concerning the effects of different school environments on children's creativity, which revealed non-conclusive results as well. They emphasized that these divergent results can be due to the various definitions allowed for the school environment. In order to clarify the findings, Thomas and Berk undertook a study analyzing the creative performance of 225 children in first or second grade, in six different schools. Their hypothesis was that the environment that best supports the development of creative performance is an intermediate one, neither too structured, nor too open or flexible. Their results highlighted a complex relation for the development of creativity, which is influenced by the type of school, the pupil's gender and the type of creativity (verbal or figural). Notably, they found that (1) an intermediate environment promoted best creative development; (2) in general, boys were more creative than girls.

In conclusion, the results on pedagogical effects on creativity are preliminary. It is difficult to conclude on the influence of learning environments because the few studies that have been conducted focus only on creative performance at one moment in time and do not take into account certain variables such as the nature of the creativity tasks.

According to Sternberg and Lubart (1995), creativity is a cognitive ability which requires a confluence of six distinct and interrelated resources: intelligence, knowledge, intellectual style, personality, motivation and environmental context. Individual differences in abilities reflect different patterns of prior learning (Anastasi, 1970, Snow, 1978, Snow, 1980). According to Snow (1994), different levels of ability development and different patterns of ability differentiation result from different types of educational programs. In addition, each individual's learning history is also unique and personal because individuals perceive situations differently according to their own history or their interests. Thus, children's creative performance could be influenced by their initial creative aptitude, by their learning environment, and by the interaction between these two variables. In this vein, it is possible that the effects of pedagogy will be greater for pupils with certain levels of initial creative ability compared to others. The effect of the pedagogy is hypothesized to be greatest when children have relatively low creative potential.

Creativity is partly domain general (Plucker, 1998) but largely domain specific and even task specific (Baer, 1999, Lubart and Guignard, 2004). Models of the creative process have distinguished various phases of processing and kinds of thinking that may come into play. One broad distinction opposes divergent thinking, in which the goal is to explore multiple cognitive paths, and convergent thinking which seeks to focus on a single, perhaps optimal path (Simon, 1960). Complex creative performance tasks involve certainly both kinds of processes, in various degrees and in specific sequences that favor the generation of new ideas in a task. In this vein, Lubart and Guignard, (2004) proposed that the moderate correlations observed between different creative performance tasks stem from the fact that there is a different mix of cognitive operations, and knowledge, involved in each creative domain and task.

In related work, Maker (1996) distinguished several types of problem solving tasks in the school setting. A continuum is proposed from closed problems (Type I and Type II) to intermediate problems (Type III and Type IV) to open problems (Type V and Type VI). According to Maker and Nielson (1995), only the first four types of problems, characterized mainly by known standardized methods and solution paths, are employed in the school system (Types I, II, III,IV). However, only the last three (Types IV, V and VI) of problem solving activities engage creativity. Problem types I to III emphasize convergent thinking, problem type IV focuses on divergent thinking, and problem type V and VI combine both kinds of thinking. These different considerations argue in favor of using a range of creative performance tasks in order to measure the effects of pedagogy on creative development. Both divergent thinking measures and integrative creative thinking tasks are necessary. Divergent thinking tasks require children to generate many ideas from a given starting point and have been the basis of creativity testing in schools during the past fifty years. These measures, in both verbal and figural domains, must be used together with tasks that involve integrating numerous generated ideas into a cohesive production. In this way, integrative tasks in the verbal (story-telling) and artistic (drawing composition) domains complete classic divergent thinking measures.

In the current study, we examined the influence of learning environment on the development of children's creative performance. We hypothesized that children schooled in alternative pedagogies (Montessori and Freinet) will have greater creative performance than children schooled in traditional pedagogy. This study is the first, to our knowledge to compare these three types of pedagogies (Montessori, Freinet and traditional) in terms of multiple measures of creative performance. Creativity was measured with two types of tasks (divergent and integrative ones) across two content domains (verbal and graphic expressive domains), in order to examine the consistency of pedagogical effects on creative performance. In addition, we examined the extent to which the school pedagogy effect may be greater over time (a one year span) for some children than for others, as a function of children's initial scores on a creativity task, children's grade level, and gender. To address these issues, we conducted a longitudinal study with approximately one year between test and retest for children from traditional and alternative pedagogies.

Population

After obtaining school and parental consent, 211 children (96 boys and 115 girls) participated. Children were enrolled in 1st grade to the 4th grade, the first year of the study and from 2nd grade to the 5th grade, in the second year (from 7 to 12 years old). Children came from four primary schools in Paris or its suburbs.2

Five judges (Mage = 27; SD = 1.73) evaluated story creativity and five other judges

Discussion and conclusion

Concerning the first hypothesis of an influence of pedagogy on children's creative performance, our results indicated that, in general, children schooled in alternative pedagogies (Montessori and Freinet) obtained higher performances than children schooled in traditional pedagogy. These findings replicate results obtained by Avanzini and Ferrero (1976–1977) and Frankiewicz (1984). However, our results are not completely congruent with those of Thomas and Berk (1981), which revealed, like

How Tyler & Joi Met

Our family spent some time on a retreat to the lake this weekend. It was a restful few days spent by the water reflecting on where we’ve been, where we are, and where we are headed. In the midst of raising four little ones, I often find myself looking across the table at my partner with gratitude. We met in fall of 2009 when we were just a year out of high school. I was heading into my sophomore year of college, enrolled in 21 credits (dedicated over-achiever), and in the first year of starting a non-profit called Art Burns Red.

Tyler and I met because I was planning a coffee shop tour that was a combination of artists, musicians, and creative writers. Original works of art were pulled together to put on a show at coffee shops across the Oklahoma, Missouri, and Arkansa area. When both of the musicians for the tour cancelled (they broke up!), I found myself in need of two musicians that were talented song-writers and available to go on an impromptu tour with only two weeks notice. We travelled on and off for two months together. To this day- road trips are still Tyler and I’s very favorite thing to do together!

I’ll never forget the first time I talked to Tyler on the phone. His contact information came through on the Art Burns Red website and I looked up his music on YouTube. I liked what I heard so I gave him a call. A low, whisper voice came through the phone. He was 19 years old and on his first day at a new job that had him selling vacuums. He started telling me about how he was going door to door and thought it was a scam. I laughed so hard on that first phone call with this absolute stranger. That conversation was the start of a friendship that has lasted for over 10 years.

As we celebrated our 10th year of marriage and our fourth little one (a baby girl!), we are reminded of those early years when we were traveling the country and hosting live music together. In our early twenties we agreed to not only pursue our dreams together, but to share that pursuit with our children. We are so thankful for this opportunity and that we get to share this dream with you all as well!

Finding the Rhythm

We had so much fun practicing how we find the rhythm during our dance study! We used everyday household materials mixed with real instruments to create a fun sensory activity for little hands to explore.

Questions like, “What happens when we add more rice?” and “What happens when we pour out the rice” helped guide our conversation as we tapped, shook and bopped to our beats!

We loved watching our little ones explore the affects of sound with the different materials. Little hands dumped, scooped and poured rice out to see what sound they could make. At one point, our littlest got up to shake, shake, shake the shaker that we just created!

This was a fun and easy activity that engaged our sight, sound, and touch, What inspired this activity? The cutest little book we found called, “I Got the Rhythm”. If you haven’t had the chance to read this story, we highly recommend it!

Potting Plants

Excitement filled the air as me and the littles made our way to the neighborhood plant shop. What plants would we find? Would they be big? Would they be small? What colors would the be? We chatted and laughed as we made our way to the front door!

We looked around and found just the right plant to pot and take home. Each child had the opportunity to choose exactly which plant caught their eye. After finding our plant, we all took a seat to learn how to pot our new little plant. The plant lady behind the counter was so sweet to gently guide us through the process. When we were done, she told us about plant care and how we can propagate them. We had so much fun!

Things got messy! Dirt flew everywhere! The littles enjoyed getting their hands dirty as we practiced potting our plants.

After potting our plants, we gave them names: Sean, Sparkles, and Plant! The littles loved naming their little plants and finding the perfect spot to place them.

After several weeks and a whole lot of water, we learned that over hydrating our plants is a possibility. These little guys were having a hard time, so we propagated them! We learned from our trip to the plant shop, to pull healthy petals and replant them (propagate). We had so much fun extending this lesson into our own little propagation garden!

Making Murals

Art is everywhere around us. It’s in our homes, in our neighborhoods, and in our cities. As we begin this study, we first answer the most basic question. “What is art?”

Little eyes look at me filled with curiosity. Watching, wondering, what is art? “Painting!” “Colors!” “Drawing!” All of these answers are correct and many many more! We first start with a study of art that we can really, really see: murals.

When I first picked up this book, I cried. My heart filled with emotion as I read the beautiful retelling of a muralist that paints a neighborhood. Inspired by a little girl’s drawing, the muralists initiates a community wide restoration of the neighborhood! As I read this story to our littles, the cadence of the narrative and the colorful illustrations drew their attention close.

As we continue our study on murals, we set out on an adventure to find the murals that beautify our city. One, Two, Three…how many murals do you think we will find? As we discover each one, the little eyes become filled with delight as they identify colors, shapes, and familiar images!

Now it’s time to make our murals! With a little bit of tape, poster paper, and markers we are ready to bring our walls to life. After a minute or two, the mural party turned into a dance party too! Little feet and happy hearts danced as they drew!