Through creativity and different artistic approaches, e.g. play, children learn about new materials, shape their inner selves and acquire new skills. In preschool, they have the opportunity to explore, take on new challenges and learn new things at the same time. Expressing oneself through art is one of the many activities of preschool daily routine. The main aim of the paper was to explore the possibilities of integrating art therapy based on opinions of preschool teachers and a licensed art therapist.
In the theoretical part, we introduced the concept of artistic expression and the aims and goals of art therapy, described its target groups and the process of meeting an art therapist, and defined the differences between verbal and non-verbal communication during the therapy itself. We also presented the basic definition of art therapy, its therapeutic effects and areas of work, and touched upon the term creativity, introducing the stimulation of creativity and its phases.
A survey was used to explore the opinions about and knowledge of art therapy among professionals and the possibilities of introducing art therapy in preschools. 95 professionals participated in the survey. We found that they consider art therapy to be strongly linked to making children calm and relaxed. Through artistic expression, children can express their feelings and all the things they cannot or do not want to express in words.
We also interviewed an art therapist, who gave us a brief overview of her work and the profession of art therapy.
Through our paper, we found that the knowledge of art therapy in preschools is more familiar to some employees and less to others. Most professionals agree that more training courses on this topic should be available. The question is also raised as to how employees could manage to perform art therapy in the face of already severe staffing problem and large wards. Everyone agrees that, in order to be able to perform quality art therapy, it is necessary to have adequate knowledge, time and space. In addition, cooperation with external art therapists would be essential because only by working together can we achieve the desired results.
The distress that preschool children experience is, unfortunately, growing more severe. The turbulent times in which we live are also taking their toll on our youngest children. If we want to help children, we should pay more attention to art therapy in the preschool period in the future. Childhood is a very important time for children's development because it is when they develop physically and mentally. If we want to give children a good start in life and teach them the right social skills and how to cope with difficulties, it is essential to ensure that they have good mental and physical health.
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