3-224 - Associations Between Music and Drama/Pretense Participation and Early Childhood Social Development

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Social development is an important domain of childhood adjustment (Rose-Krasnor & Denham, 2009), and refers to such skills as helping, sharing, caring, cooperation, and affiliation, as well as the ability to develop positive relationships. These social skills have been increasingly used as predictors for school readiness (Ritblatt et al., 2013) and adjustment later in life (Rubin, Bukowski, & Parker, 2006).

A budding interest in early childhood research is on the relation between arts participation and social development. Previous research has suggested that participation in early childhood music-based and drama-based activities may be associated with a variety of positive social outcomes (e.g., Kirschner & Ilari, 2014; Lobo & Winsler, 2006; Spivak & Howes, 2006).

The papers in this symposium demonstrate how the arts are associated positive social development. Paper 1 examines how participating in an infant music program is associated with helping behaviors and social affiliation. Paper 2 describes the development and psychometric testing of a new observational tool that measures theatre arts skills and how these skills map on to preschoolers’ approaches to learning, such as collaboration. Paper 3 explores how attending theater influences young children's sociodramatic play and cooperation. Lastly, Paper 4 demonstrates how young children's play materials influence shared meaning strategies and prosocial behavior during sociodramatic play.

Taken together, these papers suggest that early childhood arts participation may be important for children’s social development. These findings may have implications for the extent to which educators, parents, and policy makers include arts-based activities in childcare, parenting, schooling, and interventions.

Sub Unit

• Social Relationships

Chairs

• Melissa Menzer, National Endowment for the Arts

• Adam Winsler, George Mason Univ

Individual Presentations

• Musical Experience has Effects on Social Development in Infancy - Presenting Author: Laurel Trainor, McMaster University; Laura Cirelli, McMaster University

• Preschool Theatre Arts Skills and Children’s Approaches to Learning - Presenting Author: Amy R Susman-Stillman, Univ of Minnesota; Michelle M Englund, University of Minnesota; Chloe Webb, University of Minnesota

• Do Theatrical Experiences Improve Preschoolers' Play and Creativity? - Presenting Author: Meredith L. Rowe, Harvard Grad School of Ed; Virginia Charlotte Salo, University of Maryland, College Park; Kenneth H Rubin, University of Maryland, College Park

• The Influence of Play Materials on Children’s Shared Meanings During Play - Presenting Author: Jamie Leach, Concordia University; Nina Howe, Concordia University; Ganie B DeHart, SUNY at Geneseo