Art therapy in preschool educational institutions: methods, application technology, effectiveness

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

Art therapy can be attributed to one of the most unusual and interesting areas that exist in practical psychotherapy and psychology today. Rich in techniques, it is able to remove and eliminate the symptoms of various ailments, calm the soul and body, and achieve positive changes in personal, emotional, intellectual and social development.

Not so long ago, this direction began to be practiced in preschool institutions. Art therapy is understood as classes with children that are associated with various types of artistic creativity. This article talks about what art therapy is at preschool and how it can benefit preschoolers.

What's the use?

Various art classes help not only to reveal the creative potential of children, but also to form the right worldview in them. Art therapy as a he alth-saving technology in preschool educational institutions is aimed at developing attention, imagination,speech, memory, logic and thinking. With the help of fairy tales, drawing, dancing or music, you can help your child express himself: the hyperactive ones can switch to a more calm type of activity, and the indecisive and timid ones can get rid of fear.

Thus, regular creative activities can save a child from mental tension and stress, teach him to be focused and attentive, and also form the skills of a child's interaction with himself and with adults.

Varieties and methods of art therapy

There are a huge number of areas of art therapy in preschool educational institutions, some of the most popular include:

• music therapy;
• dance therapy;
• laughter therapy;
• isotherapy;
• fairy tale therapy;
• color therapy;
• play therapy.

As a rule, in kindergarten all of the above types of art therapy are used in combination, which contributes to the comprehensive and full development of children. You can also use some of the technologies of art therapy in the speech therapy group of preschool educational institutions. In every kindergarten there are children with speech disorders. To work with such pupils, not only speech therapists work in kindergartens, but art therapists are increasingly appearing in the state. To date, the problem of speech defects in preschool children has become particularly relevant, since the number of such babies is growing at a tremendous pace. In this regard, in addition to using standard methods and techniques of speech therapy, specialists began to use other methods aimed at eliminating speech defects in children and their general development. Therefore, more and more often, specialists in children's institutions began to assign a huge role to art therapy in the speech therapy group of preschool educational institutions. We propose to consider each direction of art therapy separately, which are most popular in kindergartens.

Isotherapy

Probably every child loves to draw, so it will not be difficult to apply this type of art therapy in a preschool educational institution. According to the drawing of the baby, the specialist can determine his emotional and mental state. Sometimes parents may notice that their child from a certain point begins to draw exclusively in dark colors. This suggests that at the moment the baby is experiencing a state of anxiety and tension, and the task of parents is to find out the cause of his anxiety. Art therapy can significantly improve the condition of the baby.

Sand Therapy

Many children enjoy building sandcastles, bunnies and various other shapes. Experts have proven that such entertainment has a positive effect on the emotional state of the child. The fundamental idea of sand therapy is to get rid of psychological trauma during the game. Contact with sand contributes to the formation of control over one's inner impulses and the development of fantasy. Playing with sand helps the baby to get rid of fears and express his feelings, so that this does not develop into psychological trauma. Sand therapy for children in kindergarten has a beneficial effect: it helpschildren to become the most responsible in their actions and actions, to master a sense of control, to increase self-esteem and gain faith in oneself. Play in free form, and not on someone else's orders, contributes to the self-expression of the child.

This type of art therapy in preschool is most suitable for preschool children. As a rule, babies of this age are characterized by difficulties in expressing their fears and experiences, and this arose mainly due to a meager vocabulary, poor ideas, or insufficient development of the verbal apparatus. Sand therapy can be very useful, since non-verbal contact when using sand and plastic materials is a kind of small world where the baby sets his own rules, brings a certain character to life, and comes up with various scenes associated with fictional characters. During the game, everything that was hidden inside the child is released outside: fictional characters come to life, which express the thoughts and feelings that are relevant to the crumbs. This method of art therapy does not involve active contact with the child. On the contrary, in the process of art therapy in the work of a preschool psychologist or other specialist with certain knowledge, it is required to play the role of a spectator. What is important here is not leadership of the process, but active presence. During the game, a preschooler releases positive energy, which has a beneficial effect on his learning and development in general.

Specialists found that this particular method of therapyhelps to rehabilitate the child in case of loss of loved ones, beloved pets, as well as in connection with the transition to another kindergarten, etc. In addition, it was noted that in the process of playing with sand, the teacher can correct the behavior of children who have mental retardation developmental or mild form of autism. This method requires a sandbox, a small amount of water, various toys and sand sculpting figures. In the process of classes, the specialist should ask questions to the child, trying to direct his actions in the right direction, thereby helping the baby control his emotions and adapt to the world around him.

Fairytale therapy

Probably, many parents are aware of the importance of reading fairy tales to their children, because with the help of them the child gets acquainted with the world around him and learns the norms of behavior and interaction with people. This method of art therapy consists not only in reading books, but also in discussing the meaning, characters and their actions. In addition, art therapists advise offering children to compose fairy tales themselves, giving them one or more characters. Since children at this age love to make up stories, they will like this session. In the process of fairy tale therapy, the teacher can draw a conclusion about the psychological state of the baby, based on the content of the child's story, his fictional characters and their actions. If certain problems are identified with the help of fairy tales, a specialist can help the baby. For example, naughty children are told stories in which, if they behave well, they are hugged, praised, etc. It is this approach that contributes to the correction of the behavior of a preschooler, because every kid wants attention, to be praised and appreciated. But not every child at this age knows how to achieve what he wants in the right way, sometimes children begin to behave irrationally to attract the attention of adults. Therefore, to help the child form the correct behavior, you can use fairy-tale characters.

Music therapy

Most likely, every mother knows the wonderful properties of quality music, because that's why many of them include classical music even during pregnancy. For a nursery group, passive listening to melodies by such composers as Vivaldi, Mozart, Bach, Beethoven is suitable. The fact is that it is classical music that is saturated with a variety of emotions, in connection with this, it is not difficult for a child to associate his own feelings with the sounds he hears (joy, sadness, etc.). Experts advise older children not only to practice listening to musical compositions, but also to use active methods of music therapy, for example, independent playing of musical instruments. Even at home, mothers are encouraged to practice music therapy as an accompanying method when modeling, drawing, and dancing. Unobtrusive and quiet music can be played while cooking or cleaning together.

It is noted that passive listening to classical music helps to reduce the level of emotional stress, helps to get rid of stress and relax. Active music-making increaseslearning and communication skills, and awakens creativity. For example, children who attend music school are more successful in the exact sciences and learning foreign languages.

Dance Therapy

Dancing is not only active entertainment for children, but also a pleasant way of healing. Even a completely he althy child will enjoy moving to music, having fun playing or just jumping to the beat. The healing effect of dances has been known since ancient times, which were used to express their feelings and emotions. Dance exercises help develop a sense of rhythm and coordination of movement, relieve muscle stiffness and get rid of nervous overload, and solve problems of physical inactivity.

The objectives of this technique of art therapy in preschool educational institutions according to GEF are:

• development of creative abilities of preschoolers;
• strengthening the psychological and physical condition of children;
• improving the psychomotor abilities of babies;
• overcoming barriers between children and their peers;
• positive psychological dynamics of children with disabilities.

Puppet Therapy

This technique is based on the identification of favorite characters from fairy tales or cartoons with the images of the child. Specialists use puppet therapy if the baby has various behavioral disorders, fear, problems in the development of the communicative sphere. The essence of this art therapy is that with a hero dear to the babya scene is played out in faces with a certain history. It is important for the teacher in the process of "director's game" to ensure that the child compares himself with this character, and also shows sympathy, empathy and joy for him. The technology of art therapy in the preschool educational institution is to unfold the plot in an "increasing" manner, and at the same time, the emotional stress of the crumbs should increase.

In a theatrical performance, it is important to follow several rules: the story must have a beginning, a climax where something threatens the main character, and a denouement when the hero wins. The end of the scene should always be positive so that the child feels relieved after the story. Thus, the technology of this technique of art therapy with children in the preschool educational institution is expressed in an increase in the emotional stress that the child experiences throughout the session, to such an extent that it can smoothly move into a new form - relaxation.

In closing

Art therapy for preschoolers is a very important area that helps a child stop being shy, find their own individuality and adapt to new conditions. Recently, preschool educational institutions have begun to actively introduce innovative forms and methods of improving children's he alth. To date, art therapy is one of the most effective and affordable, among many other non-traditional methods that allow solving a set of tasks and problems facing teachers.