>> Expert Advice from our ECE Expert: Kim Davies << Children’s overall development is affected by a combination of both their biological maturation and their environment. As they represent what they know in different ways, it is imperative to provide children with opportunities to practice their skills in a safe environment that offer real challenges. By problem solving through artistic play, children cognitively go through the process of accommodation. During this process, children learn new information and add it to their existing knowledge base, to come up with a refined idea about their world. So, when I walked into the spacious art room, illuminated by sunlight streaming through the windows, I smiled as my eyes immediately noticed the long tables’ set-up with a variety of water colour paints, paint brushes of multiple sizes, colourful and bright pastels and multiple large canvases. As a qualified and experienced Early Childhood Educator and Elementary School Teacher, I understood the critical components that produce an ideal and amazing art program for children. An ideal art program must provide children …