The Study of Light as an Experimental Factor in Observing the Development of Children’s Artistic Abilities in Kindergarten

Abstract

Playing with light and shadow is an inexhaustible stimulus for preschool children to develop divergent thinking and artistic expression. Creativity develops through artistic expression, and the experience enriches and matures thematically through the more conscious use of artistic language. The aim of the experimental study was to measure the level of artistic development in children aged five and six years. The level of creative, optical-thematic and artistic development was observed. In the study, two different programmes with implemented activities (experimental factors) were planned and compared with a control group. The first programme (experimental factor EP1) was described as modern and adapted to the children’s interests and incentives, while the second programme (experimental factor EP2) was prepared in advance and called traditional. A total of 161 children aged five and six years took part in the study. In order to measure the level of general artistic development, test drawings were made at the beginning and end of the experiment. These were analysed by a team of experts according to the aforementioned developmental aspects. The results of the experimental group with the traditional approach showed a statistically significantly higher performance in monitoring creative development than the control group. Within the two experimental programmes, the children in the EP1 programme achieved statistically better results in the aspect of creative development than the children in the EP2 programme. The results show that a well-designed programme for playing with light and shadow can have a positive effect on children’s artistic development.