Expressive arts and design involves enabling children to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials, as well as providing opportunities and encouragement for sharing their thoughts, ideas and feelings through a variety of activities in art, music, movement, dance, role-play and design and technology.

Expressive Arts and Design is split into two aspects:

- Creating with materials

- Being imaginative and expressive

with the following Early Learning Goals:

• Safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function.
• Share their creations, explaining the process they have used.
• Make use of props and materials when role playing characters in narratives and stories.
• Invent, adapt and recount narratives and stories with peers and their teacher.
• Sing a range of well-known nursery rhymes and songs.
• Perform songs, rhymes, poems and stories with others, and (when appropriate) try to move in time with music

We recognise that singing and sound making is a very enjoyable experience for young children. Provision is made for the regular exploration of a wide range of instruments, listening to different styles of music and singing.

Our school music scheme ‘Charanga’ forms the basis of our dance, music and singing lessons.

The provision of stimuli such as fur and other tactile fabrics, pictures, paintings, poems, music, dance and storytelling extend children’s experiences and expand their imagination.

Materials are accessible to enable children to create and develop their ideas and designs.

Resources are provided for mixing colours, joining things together and combining materials. Structured creative activities are planned to help children to learn new skills and extend those they already have.