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29 SES 10 B: Hands-on and play in arts education
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29. Research on Arts Education
Paper “I Draw My Play Experience”: Children’s Drawing as Reflective Narratives in Anji Play Beijing Normal University, China, People's Republic of,PHD Presenting Author:1. Topic & Research Question Topic: This study investigates the unique intersection of embodied play, artistic expression, and narrative construction within the Chinese early childhood pedagogical model of ‘Anji Play’(Jesse Robert Coffino,2019;Chris Moffett,2021) .Its core inquiry focuses on the post-play reflective session, where children translate their self-directed, outdoor physical experiences into paintings and verbal stories. Research Problem: Research Questions： This is examined through two sub‑questions:
2. Research Objective The primary objective is to provide a nuanced, empirical analysis of children's paintings as reflective narratives rather than mere aesthetic products. It aims to: (1)Theorize the "play-painting-narration" sequence as a holistic meaning-making cycle central to the Anji Play approach. (2)Document and analyze the diversity of children's individual expressive styles and narrative constructions that emerge from shared, low-structure environments. (3)Generate insights that contribute to international dialogues on reconceptualizing art education as a process of cognitive representation and rights-based expression, moving beyond technical instruction.
3. Conceptual & Theoretical Framework The study is framed by a synthesis of sociocultural and rights-based perspectives: Anji Play as an Ecology of Learning: The research is grounded in the defining principles of Anji Play itself: its commitment to love, risk, joy, engagement, and reflection as emergent phenomena in child-led play (Coffino & Bailey, 2019). The provision of open-ended, low-structure materials and the teacher's role as a non-intervening observer and documenter form the essential context (Moffett, 2021). Narrative Thinking & Semiotic Mediation: Drawing from Bruner (1991) and Vygotsky (1978), children's paintings and stories are viewed as culturally mediated tools for organizing experience. The process is analyzed as narrative thinking in action, where children select, sequence, and signify events from their play to construct personal stories. Multimodal Social Semiotics (Kress, 2010): Children's expression is analyzed as a multimodal ensemble. The study examines how visual modes (color, line, composition) and verbal modes (speech) interact, complement, and enrich each other in the construction of a unified narrative. The Right to Play and Cultural Participation: The framework is firmly anchored in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 31), which recognizes the child's right to play, leisure, and participation in cultural/artistic life (Moffett, 2021). Anji Play is interpreted as a pedagogical enactment of this right, where self-initiated art becomes a legitimate form of cultural participation and documentation. Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used This study adopts a qualitative multi case study design and is conducted in 5-6kindergartens in Anji County. The study focuses on 12-14 children aged 4-6 and collects data through triangulation. (1)Children's artwork (core visual data); (2)Video recording of the narrative process after painting (capturing multimodal expressions such as language and gestures); (3)Natural observation and field notes for outdoor games (providing background for painting content); (4)Semi structured interviews with teachers (to obtain adult perspectives and educational understanding). The data analysis adopts an iterative thematic analysis and multimodal narrative analysis framework. Firstly, encode the visual theme and form of the painting. Secondly, analyze the language structure of the transcribed children's narrative. Finally, integrate visual and linguistic patterns to examine how they collaboratively construct meaning. The analysis will pay special attention to the differences in narrative strategies among individual children and the agency they embody. Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings 1.Conclusions Aligning with Cox (2005), children’s paintings are powerful reflective narratives (not just aesthetic products).It is a constructive thinking process, not just representation. Anji Play’s cycle is a coherent, child-centered system prioritizing authentic expression over technical skill. Child agency is inherent, with individual narrative differences as valid expressions (Steele, 1999), and its integration of play, art and reflection effectively honors children’s rights, offering insights for global art education reconceptualization. 2.Expected Outcomes Consistent with recent research (e.g., Ring, 2006; Cox, 2005), this study expects to identify children’s personalized visual symbolic strategies (line, color, composition) and narrative structures in paintings reflecting Anji Play experiences—framing drawings as meaning-making rather than mere representation.It will confirm Anji Play’s "play-painting-narration" cycle as a holistic system (Kress, 1997), challenging skill-based paradigms. Stanczak’s (2007) view of images’ interpretive meaning and child agency in narratives (shaped by age, temperament) will be highlighted, supporting Anji Play as an enactment of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 31). References Anning, A. (1999). Learning to draw and drawing to learn. Journal of Art & Design Education, 18(2), 163–172. Coffino, J. R., & Bailey, C. (2019). The Anji Play Ecology of Early Learning. Childhood Education, 95(1), 3–9. Cox, M., Perara, J., & Fan, X. (1999). Children’s drawing in the UK and China. Journal of Art and Design Education, 18(2), 173–181. Cox, S. (2005). Intention and meaning in young children’s drawing. International Journal of Art and Design Education, 24(2), 115–125. Gardner, H. (1973). The arts and human development (1st ed.). Basic Books. Hall, E. (2009). Mixed messages: The role and value of drawing in early education. International Journal of Early Years Education, 17(3), 179–190. Kress, G. (1997). Before writing: Rethinking the paths to literacy. Routledge. Matthews, J. (1996). The young child's early representation and drawing. In G. M. Blenkin & A. V. Kelly (Eds.), Early childhood education and developmental curriculum (pp. 150–183). Paul Chapman Publishing. Matthews, J. (2003). Drawing and painting: Children and visual representation (2nd ed.). Paul Chapman Publishing. Qi, X., & Melhuish, E. C. (2017). Early childhood education and care in China: History, current trends and challenges. Early Years, 37(3), 268–284. Ring, K. (2006). Supporting young children drawing: Developing a role. International Journal of Education through Art, 2(3), 195–209. Stanczak, G. C. (2007). Introduction: Images, methodologies, and generating social knowledge. In G. C. Stanczak (Ed.), Visual research methods: Image, society, and representation (pp. 1–21). Sage Publications. Steele, B. (1999). Notes on the aesthetics of children’s drawings. The Education Network, 15, 16–24. Vygotsky, L. S. (1962). Thought and language. MIT Press. 29. Research on Arts Education
Paper Integrating Traditional Turkish Play into the STEAM Approach 1: Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey University, Turkey (Türkiye); 2: Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey University, Turkey (Türkiye); 3: Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey University, Turkey (Türkiye); 4: Kırıkkale University, Turkey (Türkiye) Presenting Author:STEAM activities have gradually began to gain in importance in recent years, there remains a need to apply and evaluate how such activities remain appropriate to early years’ education and how they can be integrated with the playful nature of such children. This is the starting point of this study that aims to combine the STEAM approach and traditional play to evaluate the productive outcomes for teachers and children alike. Türkiye has its unique heritage of traditional play, which have been, and indeed remain, a source of laughter, joy, dynamism, and enthusiasm. However Turkish traditional plays require their own particular materials, open spaces, a group of children; yet, nowadays, as a results of the extensive and general urbanization, digitalization, and the change in social life the connection between children and traditional play has been broken. This study represents an attempt to help to reconnect children and traditional play via the up-to-date nature of the STEAM approach. The culture surrounding traditional Turkish plays include processes like choosing the group members for the play, deciding which group will start first, where it will be played, and when it will end, which would nominally require problem-solving abilities on the part of children. Also, many of these traditional plays require materials unique to their particular production, which represents a highly useful to learn about many scientific and mathematical concepts, and which are open to redesign with current technologies, engineering design processes, and indeed artistic interpretation. Play is one of the most important activities that children can experience. They acquire skills such as leadership, following rules, sharing, using time efficiently, problem solving, and decision making, and recognizing their own culture. In acquiring of these skills, they also gain the substructure of the skills necessary to adulthood (Barnett, 1990; Cohen, 2018; Smith, 2009). Unfortunately, children today spend increasing amounts of time indoors in front of screens instead of playing outdoors with their peers (Domingues‐Montanari 2017; Guellai et al, 2022; Putnick et al, 2023). Families are looking for new ways to protect their children from excessive screen exposure (Sugiyama, 2023). Traditional plays that have emerged through the hundreds of years of humanity’s diverse experiences are being forgotten (Yuniasih et al., 2023). As such, we plan to bring traditional plays that are on the verge of being forgotten to the forefront and keep them alive by updating them via the STEAM approach and making them more attractive to toady’s youth. In traditional play, adult intervention is limited, with children determining the play environment, participants, and materials themselves, in most cases with the latter even being created by the children themselves. Based on these characteristics, they are very suiru for the application of all STEAM disciplines. Further, this study would enable traditional Turkish plays to be unearthed and actively performed by teachers, children, and families through implementation of the STEAM approach during the pre-school period. In doing so, a degree of structural synergy between the modern world and traditional values will be achieved. Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used 35 pre-service ECE teachers (31 female, four male) taking the “Traditional Turkish Play” course participated in this study. During the theoretical courses, pre-service ECE teachers were encouraged to read, reflect, discuss, and investigate ways to integrate STEAM and traditional play. Over the first four weeks of the course, researchers emphasized the significance of the STEAM approach and its advantages for children. They were asked to find a traditional play and design a play-integrated STEAM activity. They adopted their traditional play to the STEAM approach and prepared an activity plan. During this phase, the pre-service teachers were supervised by the researchers. Pre-service teachers actively work in the STEAM laboratory to produce traditional play material and toys. As the final step, each group implemented their activity in three different ECE class with children between the ages of 52-69 months. There were approximately 15 children in each class and four or five plays were implemented in each. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used together in the study. The quantitative phase was designed according to the one-group pretest-posttest experimental design (Creswell, 2012). In this design, a pretest, then an intervention, and finally a posttest was administered to a single study group; the STEAM attitude scale developed by Kim and Bolger in 2017 and adapted into Turkish by Çevik and Ata used both pretest and posttest (McMillan & Schumacher, 2010). In the qualitative phase of the study, a descriptive qualitative design was embraced and interviews conducted with preservice teachers and rubric were applied to assess child engagement in the plays. The researchers designed a rubric to assess how children engage with and respond to the processes involved in STEAM activities. If the option ‘very good’ (3) is awarded more in the rubric, it can be considered that the children have made the expected gains; if the ‘needs improvement’ (1) option is awarded more, it is recommended that the activity be repeated. Preservice teachers were interviewed following the completion of the STEAM-integrated “Turkish Traditional Play” course. To analyse the data, interview recordings were transcribed verbatim and open coding was employed to assign codes for deriving each meaningful expression from the raw data. These codes were then grouped into categories, which were further synthesized into overarching themes. As a result of this analytical process, two main themes emerged. Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings The ability to provide STEM-associated teaching is predicted by teachers’ efficacy and confidence with STEM content areas. Research has also shown that if teachers provided more opportunities regarding STEM content areas and practiced teaching these subjects to students, their efficacy and confidence would increase (Nadelsonetal et al., 2013). Our results supported this point of view. Even one semester course enriched with the STEAM approach resulted in higher STEAM knowledge and self-efficacy in the application of STEAM-associated learning activities with young children among the participating preservice early childhood educators. This finding indicates that Turkish early childhood teacher education programs should include a course to enable pre-service teachers to prepare STEAM-associated learning activities for young children. One of the most significant findings of this study is that traditional children’s plays can be seamlessly integrated into the STEAM framework, contingent upon the provision of high-quality guidance for educators. While STEAM is often perceived as an inherently academic endeavor, educators frequently adhere to conventional methodologies aimed at achieving a satisfactory final product. In contrast, early childhood education prioritizes process over product, emphasizing the developmental journey rather than the outcome. When pre-service teachers incorporate STEAM into traditional play activities, they engage more deeply with the various STEAM disciplines, placing less emphasis on the end product and academic performance. Play, as a fundamental right of children, remains an essential component of early childhood development. Consequently, it is inequitable to diminish the playtime of young children in the pursuit of fostering their 21st-century competencies through educational paradigms such as STEAM. Regrettably, traditional play—which serves as a vital cultural pillar—and STEAM are frequently regarded as disparate domains. This study, however, demonstrates that through intentional and expert guidance, it is entirely feasible to merge STEAM principles with traditional play in early childhood education. References Barnett, L. A. (1990). Developmental benefits of play for children. Journal of leisure Research, 22(2), 138-153. Cohen, D. (2018). The development of play. (4th ed.). Routledge. Domingues‐Montanari, S. (2017). Clinical and psychological effects of excessive screen time on children. Journal of paediatrics and child health, 53(4), 333-338. Guellai, B., Somogyi, E., Esseily, R., & Chopin, A. (2022). Effects of screen exposure on young children’s cognitive development: A review. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 923370. Nadelson, L. S., Callahan, J., Pyke, P., Hay, A., Dance, M., & Pfiester, J. (2013). Teacher STEM perception and preparation: inquiry-based STEM professional development for elementary teachers. The Journal of Educational Research, 106(2), 157–168. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2012.667014 Putnick, D. L., Trinh, M. H., Sundaram, R., Bell, E. M., Ghassabian, A., Robinson, S. L., & Yeung, E. (2023). Displacement of peer play by screen time: associations with toddler development. Pediatric Research, 93(5), 1425-1431. Smith, P. K. (2009). Children and play: Understanding children’s worlds. John Wiley & Sons. Sugiyama, M., Tsuchiya, K. J., Okubo, Y., Rahman, M. S., Uchiyama, S., Harada, T., ... & Nishimura, T. (2023). Outdoor play as a mitigating factor in the association between screen time for young children and neurodevelopmental outcomes. JAMA pediatrics, 177(3), 303-310. Yuniasih, R., Bone, J., & Quiñones, G. (2023). Encounters with stones: Diffracting traditional plays. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 24(1), 57-69. 29. Research on Arts Education
Paper Pedagogical Ideas in the Making: How Students Express Through Sloyd Södertörn University, Sweden Presenting Author:This paper examines how pedagogical ideas become present and recognisable in educational practice through materially grounded forms of representation in sloyd education. In several earlier studies, the relationship between the material and the crafter has often been centered on the practical encounter and the embodied interaction that occurs during the making of craft in pedagogical sloyd (Broman m.fl., 2013; Frohagen, 2016; Jagell & Homlong, 2024; Westerlund m.fl., 2021). This study instead focuses on students’ articulations of expression in relation to the sloyd objects they create and discuss. The specific focus lies on students’ sloyd objects as materializations of sedimented pedagogical discourses on expression, through which such ideas take form and become open to interpretation. The study is guided by the following research question: The objective is to understand how knowledge in sloyd education is shaped through interpretive frameworks that precede students’ expressive acts and filter what appears as possible or meaningful ways of expressing though craft. The study examines how representation is articulated through students’ objects, through their talk about these objects. The theoretical framework combines pedagogical theory Mollenhauer (2014) and discourse theory (Laclau & Mouffe, 1985). From a pedagogical perspective inspired by Mollenhauer (2014), representation is understood as the educational selection and mediation of the world, through which certain aspects of culture are made accessible to learners. Representation is thus seen as a pedagogical construction that organises what can be encountered, practised, and understood within education. Drawing on discourse theory as developed by Laclau and Mouffe (1985) , representation is understood as an articulatory process through which meaning is provisionally stabilised. Through articulation, relations between elements are established in ways that foreground certain interpretations, while rendering others absent. Read together with Mollenhauer’s (2014) pedagogical concept of representation as the mediated selection of the world for educational purposes, this perspective makes it possible to analyse not only what is pedagogically selected, but how such selections become fixed as meaningful. This perspective allows pedagogical representation, in Mollenhauer’s sense, to be analysed as becoming provisionally fixed both in the sloyd object itself and in students’ ways of articulating and relating to it. An important point of departure is a previous study (Author, forthcoming) which has established that in sloyd education, aesthetic expressions are commonly framed pedagogically in relation to individual freedom, imagination, and future orientation, while cultural expressions are framed in relation to shared values, historical continuity, and the common good. This distinction is approached as an established and sedimented pedagogical understanding. The study examines how it is represented and articulated through students’ sloyd objects. By highlighting representation through articulation in materially grounded practices, the study contributes knowledge about how pedagogical meanings are formed and made recognisable over time within sloyd educational practice, linking established pedagogical ideas with future-oriented forms of expression. Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used The empirical material consists of focus group interviews with students aged 7–12. During the interviews, students’ own sloyd objects are used as stimuli for discussion. The focus group format enabled collective meaning-making and allowed the students to relate to each other’s ways of speaking about their sloyd objects. The analysis draws on articulation (Howath &Torfing, 2005), derived from discourse theory, to examine how students’ sloyd objects and their accounts of making take form within particular pedagogical understandings of expression. The analysis attends to what becomes possible for students to express, recognise, and value when a certain pedagogical orientation is at work. In this study, representation is examined as a pedagogical relation in the sense of Mollenhauer(2014), while articulation provides a way of analysing how such representation takes shape in students’ engagement with their sloyd objects, a contingent practice of meaning-making in line with Laclau and Mouffe. The analysis is conducted through close reading of the focus group transcripts, attending to how students position their objects, themselves, and their expressions in relation to pedagogical ideas about expression. The analysis remains open and exploratory, tracing recurring patterns of articulation as they emerge in the material. Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings The study is expected to clarify how pedagogical representation shapes the conditions under which meaning is continuously formed in students’ sloyd practices. The results will mediate how aesthetic and cultural expression are articulated in relation to one another, and on what comes to count as expression within a certain pedagogical framework. In addition, how pedagogical ideas shape the forms of expression that become recognisable in practice, will be presented. In relation to the conference theme Knowing and Acting, the study highlights how knowledge takes form through action, material engagement, and articulation, as students engage with established practices while orienting themselves towards future possibilities for expression. References Broman, A., Frohagen, J., & Wemmenhag, J. (2013). Vad är det man kan när man kan tillverka ett uttryck i slöjdföremål? Forskning om undervisning och lärande, (10), 6–28. https://doi.org/10.61998/forskul.v1i10.27601 Frohagen, J. (2016). Att kunna såga rakt. Om manuell bildning i skolämnet slöjd. Techne serien - Forskning i slöjdpedagogik och slöjdvetenskap, 23(2), Article 2. https://journals.oslomet.no/index.php/techneA/article/view/1374 Ekman, C. (u.å.). Forthcoming article on sloyd education. Howarth, D. (2000). Deploying discourse theory. I Discourse. Howarth, D., & Torfing, J. (Red.). (2005). Discourse Theory in European Politics Identity, Policy and Governance. Palgrave McMillan. Jagell, E., & Homlong, S. (2024). Föreställningsförmåga som kommunikativ resurs: Slöjdelevers gemensamma estetiska erfarenheter i idéutveckling. Techne series: Research in sloyd education and crafts science. A, 31(2), 1–21. Laclau, E., & Mouffe, C. (1985). Hegemony and the socialist strategy. Verso. Mollenhauer, K. (2014). Forgotten Connections On culture and uppbringing (N. Friesen, Red.; Norm Friesen, Övers.). Routledge Taylor and Francis. Stewart, D. N., & Shamdasani, P. N. (1990). Focus Groups Theory and practice. SAGE Publications, (20). http://www.upv.es/i.grup/repositorio/Stewart%20Shamdasani%201990%20Focus%20Groups.pdf Westerlund, S., Borg, K., Porko-Hudd, M., & Lindberg, V. (2021). Slöjdkunnande i förändring: Nordisk slöjdforskning. Nordfo, Techne serien. https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-203525 Winther Jørgenesen, M., & Phillips, L. (2000). Diskursanalys som teori och metod (1:22). Studentlitteratur. 29. Research on Arts Education
Paper Returning to Nature and Art Authenticity: Anji Play’s Reconstruction of Early Childhood Art Education Practice Beijing Normal University, China, People's Republic of Presenting Author:1.Research Background Globally, early childhood art education faces deep-seated dilemmas alienating it from nature and children’s artistic authenticity, with prominent localized manifestations. Firstly, it is trapped in "skill-oriented indoctrination": adult-dominated teaching simplifies art to mechanical skill training, prioritizes standardized works (Zhang, 2022), and suppresses children’s autonomous expression via adult-centered evaluation, stripping art of its essence as a natural medium for perceiving and expressing emotions (Powell & Somerville, 2020). Secondly, practical dislocations prevail: art education is confined to closed indoor scenes (Zeynep Temiz, 2018), overrelies on standardized artificial materials, and teachers act as dominators/evaluators (Zhang, 2024), whose over-intervention disconnects artistic expression from children’s natural exploration (Tao, 2023). Thirdly, core value is narrowed: art education is reduced to skill acquisition, neglecting its role in fostering natural perception, creative thinking, and aesthetic literacy, and decoupling artistic development from daily play and holistic growth (Welch et al., 2014). Even "return to nature" initiatives often remain superficial, lacking logic to leverage natural play as an intrinsic driver of artistic expression (Bradshaw, 2018). As a localized innovative practice in China, Anji Play—centered on "love, adventure, joy, engagement, reflection"—integrates natural exploration, play, and art, offering a potential solution. However, existing research on Anji Play lacks in-depth exploration of its art education reconstruction mechanism, creating a research gap this study aims to address. 2.Research Questions (1)What are the core connotations of Anji Play’s reconstruction of early childhood art education under "returning to nature" and "art authenticity"? (2)What specific paths does Anji Play adopt to reconstruct early childhood art education in practice (3)What effects does this reconstruction have on children’s artistic development, and what are the key influencing factors? 3. Research Objectives (1)Clarify the core connotation and theoretical essence of Anji Play’s art education reconstruction, revealing differences from traditional models to enrich relevant theoretical systems. 4. Conceptual/Theoretical Framework The study is grounded in three core theories: (1) "Return to Nature" Educational Theory (Rousseau, Pestalozzi) guides the value orientation of reconnecting art education with nature; (2) Child-Centered Educational Theory (Dewey, Piaget) emphasizes children’s autonomy in artistic expression; (3) Embodied Cognition Theory explains how natural play experiences transform into artistic expression. A "connotation analysis - path exploration - effect verification" framework structures the research. Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used This study adopts a qualitative research methodology to explore Anji Play’s reconstruction of early childhood art education in depth, focusing on contextualized practices, subjective perceptions, and meaning-making processes. The research is conducted over 4 months in 3 kindergartens with mature Anji Play practice (1 urban, 2 rural) in Anji County, China. 1.Core Research Methods (1)Case Study Method: The 3 kindergartens serve as key cases to capture the contextualized logic and local adaptations of Anji Play’s art education reconstruction, enabling in-depth exploration of implementation details and practical dynamics. (2)Participatory Observation: Researchers embed in daily kindergarten routines to observe children’s natural play-art integration (e.g., natural material use, post-play artistic expression), teacher roles (observation, support, dialogue), and outdoor natural environment design. Non-participatory observation supplements to record unobtrusive interactions. (3)Semi-Structured Interviews: 18 participants are interviewed, including 12 teachers, 3 principals (in charge of Anji Play implementation), and 3 early childhood art education experts. Interviews focus on their perceptions of art education reconstruction, practical experiences, challenges, and support strategies. (4)Document Analysis: Analyzes kindergarten practice plans, children’s artistic works, teacher reflection logs, and relevant academic literature (Zhang, 2022; Welch et al., 2014) to triangulate data and enrich analysis. 2.Research Instruments (1)Observation tools: Custom observation record forms, video cameras, and photo cameras to document on-site practices, children’s artistic expressions, and teacher behaviors. (2)Interview tools: Semi-structured interview outlines (tailored for teachers, principals, experts) and audio recorders, with all interviews transcribed into text for thematic analysis. (3)Document tools: A thematic coding framework aligned with research questions to analyze children’s works, teacher logs, and literature. 3.Data Sources (1)Primary sources: On-site observation records, interview transcripts, and children’s artistic works (drawings, natural-material crafts). (2)Secondary sources: Academic papers, kindergarten internal materials, and relevant theoretical literature to support analysis and triangulation. Qualitative data are analyzed via thematic coding to extract core themes, ensuring in-depth understanding of Anji Play’s art education reconstruction process and meaning. Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings This study expects to generate three core conclusions and outcomes by exploring Anji Play’s reconstruction of early childhood art education through qualitative thematic analysis, aligned with its research questions and theoretical framework. Firstly, it is expected to conclude that Anji Play reconstructs early childhood art education around “returning to nature and art authenticity,” fundamentally breaking the skill-oriented indoctrination dilemma (Zhang, 2022) by shifting from adult dominance to child autonomy. Its core connotation lies in positioning natural play as the intrinsic driver of artistic expression, rather than mechanical skill instruction. Secondly, the study will identify specific, contextually adaptable paths for this reconstruction, including utilizing outdoor natural environments and low-structured materials, integrating spontaneous play with artistic expression, and redefining teachers as observers, supporters, and interpreters of children’s artistic authenticity (Powell & Somerville, 2020). Thirdly, expected findings highlight that this reconstruction fosters children’s natural perceptual ability, autonomous artistic expression, and creative thinking, while practical challenges (e.g., teacher professional capacity) may influence implementation depth. Theoretical outcomes enrich Anji Play and early childhood art education research, while practical outcomes provide actionable insights for educators globally. This study also offers a localized, nature-centered model to address the superficial integration of natural and art education (Bradshaw, 2018), promoting art education’s return to child nature. References Addison, N., Burgess, L., Steers, J., & Trowell, J. (2010). Understanding art education. Routledge. Bradshaw, M. (2018). Natural connections: Forest schools, art education, and playful practices. Art Education, 71(4), 30–35. Chen, L. (2024). Current situation and strategy construction of art teachers' ability improvement under the guidance of new curriculum standards. Frontiers in Art Research, 6(5). Chen, C., Wu, J., Wu, Y., et al. (2022). Developing metacognition of 5-to 6-year-old children: Evaluating the effect of a circling curriculum based on Anji Play. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(18), 11803. Coffino, J. R., & Bailey, C. (2019). The Anji Play ecology of early learning. Childhood Education, 95(1), 3–9. Dewey, J. (1974). John Dewey on education: Selected writings. Gardner, H. (1990). Art education and human development (Vol. 3). Getty Publications. Hewes, D. W. (1992). Pestalozzi: Foster father of early childhood education. Kellow, G. C. (2022). Rousseau and the redefinition of nature and education. In The wisdom of the commons: The education of citizens from Plato’s Republic to The Wealth of Nations (pp. 147–186). Springer International Publishing. Li, Y. (2023). The development of children's creativity in Anji game activities. Procedia of Multidisciplinary Research, 1(8), 13–13. Mattil, E. L. (1966). A seminar in art education for research and curriculum development. Moffett, C. (2021). The play of art: Propensity and pedagogy in contemporary Chinese early childhood education. Studies in Art Education, 62(3), 222–235. Piaget, J. (1964). Cognitive development in children: Piaget. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 2(3), 176–186. Tao, J., & Kamarudin, D. (2023). A qualitative study of the current situation of early childhood art education in third-tier cities in China. International Journal of Education & Technology, 1(2). Temiz, Z., & Semiz, G. K. (2018). Combining art activities and nature in pre-school education. Erken Çocukluk Çalışmaları Dergisi, 2(3), 556–570. Welch, G. F., Himonides, E., Saunders, J., Papageorgi, I., & Sarazin, M. (2014). Singing and social inclusion. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 803. Zhang, X. X. (2022). Analysis of the characteristics and educational paths of preschool children's art education from the perspective of the new era. 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