Children are inherently musical. They respond to music and learn through music. Music expresses children's identity and heritage, teaches them to belong to a culture, and develops their cognitive well-being and inner self worth. As professional instructors, childcare workers, or students looking forward to a career working with children, we should continuously search for ways to tap into children's natural reservoir of enthusiasm for singing, moving and experimenting with instruments. But how, you might ask? What music is appropriate for the children I'm working with? How can music help inspire a well-rounded child? How do I reach and teach children musically? Most importantly perhaps, how can I incorporate music into a curriculum that marginalizes the arts?This book explores a holistic, artistic, and integrated approach to understanding the developmental connections between music and children. This book guides professionals to work through music, harnessing the processes that underlie music learning, and outlining developmentally appropriate methods to understand the role of music in children's lives through play, games, creativity, and movement. Additionally, the book explores ways of applying music-making to benefit the whole child, i.e., socially, emotionally, physically, cognitively, and linguistically.

Bring out your child’s creativity and imagination with more than 60 artful activities in this completely revised and updated edition Art making is a wonderful way for young children to tap into their imagination, deepen their creativity, and explore new materials, all while strengthening their fine motor skills and developing self-confidence. The Artful Parent has all the tools and information you need to encourage creative activities for ages one to eight. From setting up a studio space in your home to finding the best art materials for children, this book gives you all the information you need to get started. You’ll learn how to: * Pick the best materials for your child’s age and learn to make your very own * Prepare art activities to ease children through transitions, engage the most energetic of kids, entertain small groups, and more * Encourage artful living through everyday activities * Foster a love of creativity in your family

The third edition of this popular text uses music and drama to promote learning across the curriculum and with all types of learners. Based on arts integration standards, differentiated instruction techniques, and current research, Creative Drama and Music Methods provides the theory along with applications to help teachers build confidence in using the arts in their daily lesson plans. The text is filled with hands-on activities that guide pre-service and K-8th grade teachers in understanding that integrating drama and music is easy, fun, and vital to fostering a child's desire to explore, imagine, and learn. Examples are provided in each chapter, along with the purpose of the activity and tips for instruction. Rubin and Merrion provide activities that engage elementary and middle school students and range from simple stories and rhythmic activities to story dramatization and composition. All the activities can be comfortably incorporated into the classroom routine and place no additional burdens on the teacher. They are especially useful for educators with valid learning goals but limited experience in creative drama and music. Not typical for creative drama or music texts, Creative Drama and Music Methods takes a process approach to the two arts, placing primary significance on the learner's growth and development.

It has never been easier or more fun for students to compose, improvise, arrange, and produce music than with today's technology. Perfect for pre- or in-service music educators, Using Technology to Unlock Musical Creativity offers both a pedagogical framework and a description of the technology tools for engaging students in creative musical projects.

This book creates a platform for music educators to share their experience and expertise in creative music teaching and learning with the international community. It presents research studies and practices that are original and representative of music education in the Japanese, Asian and international communities. It also collects substantial literature on music education research in Japan and other Asian societies, enabling English-speaking readers to access excellent research and practical experiences in non-English societies.

Brazilian Research on Creativity Development in Musical Interaction focuses on creativity that involves interactive musical activities, with different groups, such as professional musicians, students, and student teachers. It seeks to present research with a theoretical foundation on musical creativity and interaction, within psychology and music pedagogy. A collection of ten contributed essays present studies that promote understanding of the possibilities of creative development from the interactive process. All are undertaken within the context of teaching and learning, whether one-on-one or group lessons, ranging from elementary school music class, instrument study, choral singing, composition and teaching an autistic student.