Art can make a difference in the lives of young children, and how their successes are measured and mapped affects their chances for success. What is required is change and, ‘there are a thousand things to do’ (Foucault, 1981/1991, p.174). Art education is not an option. Rather, it is a way to teach and learn.

This research project analyses existing data on the impact of the arts in education. It finds that there is a relationship between listening to music and spatio-temporal reading, learning to play music and spatial reasoning, and classroom drama and verbal skills.

Wolf Trap Foundation is built on the philosophy that dance, music, and drama can help young children master skills across a range of subjects. This research has found that this approach, termed arts integration, has great potential for improving student learning in multiple disciplines.

In a series of 2010 essays, Born Creative brings together the experiences of creative practices in early years education. It shows the importance of cultures, environments and networks in the enrichment of early years learning and interrogates the role of leaders, policy and parents in creating them.

This useful collection of research studies shows that the arts can positively affect educational attainment, especially among high-risk, disadvantaged or hard-to-reach groups

This article addresses the question of whether children are or are not creative by exploring the assumptions underlying each possible answer.

Report by the Domus Academy Research Center for Reggio Children on suitable and stimilating environments for young children

An article exploring the concept of 'possibility thinking' in the early years setting, by the late Professor Anna Craft of Exeter University and the Open University.

The Creative Connections in the Early Years project examines the role of creativity through the arts in the lives of young children in Tasmania.

This book provides the rationale behind why all children and young people should achieve their entitlement to culture. It poses twenty big questions that should be asked before designing a cultural offer, and identifies the latest policies and initiatives that can support meaningful cultural experiences.

In this article, Caroline Sharp of the NFER considers evidence from research and theory as it applies to developing young children's creativity.

Commissioned by Arts Council Ireland, this seminal collection and analysis of the most effective research on the impact of creative early years learning was written by Ruth Churchill Dower and Ben Sandbrook for Earlyarts.

This evaluation of 44 schools which use creativity across the curriculum found evidence of higher standards and personal development. It also suggests that the benefit may be greater for children and young people from more disadvantaged backgrounds.

A literature review which provides an overview of the key issues and debates surrounding creativity and the potential for assessing it in individuals. Authors: Ellen Spencer, Bill Lucas and Guy Claxton from the Centre for Real-World Learning, University of Winchester.

This collection of studies highlights the possible impact of arts study on the brain. It includes links between music training and skills in geometrical representation, reading acquisition and sequence learning and training in acting and memory improvement.

Earlyarts patron, Sir Ken Robinson, makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.

Research that has shown it is possible to increase students' critical and creative thinking capacities through instruction and practice. With movement to what is often referred to as 'the information age' the ability to be both a critical and creative thinker is considered an important element of life success.

All young children take great pleasure in moving a crayon or pencil across a surface and leaving a mark. This paper examines children progress through certain stages of development in their art making.