Creative arts

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One-year-olds recognise different qualities in music, and respond with their whole bodies to rhythm, beat and melody. Their interest in art is focused on the sensory exploration of art materials, such as paint and clay. The options for art projects at this age are limited by a one-year-old’s undeveloped hand dexterity. Children this age make an important developmental leap by beginning to pretend during play, often by imitating adult movements.

Music

• Reflects the overall mood of music (e.g. claps hands and moves body to a happy-sounding song).
• Enjoys making own music and noise (e.g. shakes a maraca, mimics the sounds that adults make).
• Uses musical sounds to aid in communication prior to the advent of language (e.g. babbles in a sing-song manner).
• Explores musical instruments to see how they work (e.g. shakes bells, bangs piano keys).
• Begins to understand that sounds and music affect behaviour (e.g. can be startled by loud music, comforted by a musical stuffed animal).

Art

• Uses senses to explore what art materials can do (e.g. scribbles with jumbo crayons, uses fingers to swirl finger paint or shaving cream, squeezes oily moulding dough).
• Takes pleasure in exploring the textures of art materials (e.g. finger paints with abandon, squeezes playdough through fingers and squeals).
• Explores basic art tools and materials (those that do not demand great manual dexterity) to see how they work (e.g. scribbles with chalk, finger paints on a tray, makes crayon dots on paper).
• Shows a preference for particular textures and art experiences (e.g. delights in squeezing soft doughs).

Movement

• Responds to music with full body movements (e.g. holds adult’s hands and sways to music).
• Uses body to communicate needs before language skills are developed (e.g. extends arms upward and toddles toward an adult to indicate a desire to be picked up).

Dramatic play

• Plays interactive games with adults to explore concepts (e.g. learns that objects are still there when they aren't visible by playing peekaboo).
• Uses gestures to communicate feelings and actions (e.g. blows a kiss and waves bye-bye).
• Relates to dolls and stuffed animals in real ways (e.g. holds and burps a baby doll, sits stuffed animals at the table for lunch).

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