The study of light as an experimental factor in observing the development of children’s artistic abilities in kindergarten

Merlin, Urianni (author), Duh, Matjaž (author)

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.

• Language: English
• Keywords: art, artistic exploration of light, approach to planning, artistic development
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: PEF - Faculty of Education
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: Str. 187-206
• Numbering: Vol. 16, no. 1
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-181738
• UDC: 373.32.016:74
• ISSN on article: 2232-2647
• DOI: 10.26529/cepsj.1746
• COBISS.SI-ID: 198802435
• Publication date in RUL: 15.04.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: CEPS Journal: Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal = revija Centra za študij edukacijskih strategij
• Publisher: Pedagoška fakulteta, Univerza v Ljubljani
• ISSN: 2232-2647
• COBISS.SI-ID: 254029824

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Študija svetlobe kot eksperimentalni dejavnik pri opazovanju razvoja otrokovih umetniških zmožnosti v vrtcu

Abstract

Igra s svetlobo in senco je za predšolske otroke neizčrpna spodbuda za razvoj divergentnega mišljenja in umetniškega izražanja. Z umetniškim izražanjem se razvija ustvarjalnost, z zavestnejšo uporabo umetniškega jezika pa se izkušnja bogati in tematsko dozoreva. Namen eksperimentalne študije je bil izmeriti stopnjo umetniškega razvoja pri otrocih, starih pet in šest let. Opazovali smo raven ustvarjalnega, optično-tematskega in umetniškega razvoja. V študiji sta bila načrtovana dva različna programa z izvedenimi dejavnostmi (eksperimentalni dejavniki) ter primerjana s kontrolno skupino. Prvi program (eksperimentalni dejavnik EP 1) je bil opisan kot sodoben ter prilagojen interesom in spodbudam otrok, drugi program (eksperimentalni dejavnik EP 2) pa je bil vnaprej pripravljen in poimenovan kot tradicionalni. V študiji je sodelovalo 161 otrok, starih pet in šest let. Za merjenje stopnje splošnega umetniškega razvoja so bile na začetku in koncu eksperimenta izdelane testne risbe. Te je skupina strokovnjakov analizirala glede na zgoraj omenjene razvojne vidike. Rezultati eksperimentalne skupine s tradicionalnim pristopom so pokazali statistično znatno boljšo uspešnost pri spremljanju ustvarjalnega razvoja kot pri kontrolni skupini. Znotraj obeh eksperimentalnih programov so otroci v programu EP 1 dosegli statistično boljše rezultate z vidika ustvarjalnega razvoja kot otroci v programu EP 2. Rezultati kažejo, da ima lahko dobro zasnovan program za igro s svetlobo in senco pozitiven učinek na otrokov umetniški razvoj.

• Keywords: umetnost, umetniško raziskovanje svetlobe, pristop k načrtovanju, umetniški razvoj, otroci