Art|Play is a collaborative action research project looking at the integration of modern and contemporary art practices into Boston Public Schools’ early childhood curriculum.

While 88% of Americans believe that arts are an essential part of a well-rounded education¹, research has indicated a steady nationwide decline in people’s access to arts education across all tiers of education over the past 30 years².

The marginalization of the arts from curriculum has generated significant inequalities across different communities with a recent study highlighting white students being nearly twice as likely than Hispanic and African American students to have engaged in an arts education³.

Additionally, children whose parents have at least one tertiary education degree are six times more likely to have participated in an arts learning experience compared to those whose parents have less than a high school degree⁴.

With engagement in the arts during childhood being the strongest predictor of an individual’s lifelong participation in the arts⁵, questions of how to cultivate children’s equitable access to meaningful, engaging, and playful arts experiences through public school systems are now more relevant than ever.

Led by Louisa Penfold and Steve Seidel, Art|Play's pilot phase has focused on the design of both open-source curriculum activities and professional development for teachers and administrators that facilitate connections between contemporary and modern art practices and children’s play.

Funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, Art|Play is also being run in partnership with the Harvard Art Museums, the Smithsonian Learning Lab, and MoMA to utilize artworks and archival materials from their collections to design curriculum experiences and pedagogical support materials for educators.

As of June 2024, the Art|Play curriculum and professional development activities, developed as part of Boston Public Schools’ Focus on 3s and Focus on 4s curricula, have been implemented across 228 classrooms, reaching over 4,008 students, and 375 public school teachers.

Outcomes of this project include the final iteration of the Boston Public Schools’ open-source curriculum, instructional videos for educators, and printable resources for families, which can be found under the ‘Curriculum and Resources’ tab on this site.

¹Americans for the Arts (2018). Americans Speak Out About The Arts: An In-depth Look at Perceptions and Attitudes About the Arts in America (Washington D.C, September 2018), 
^2-5Rabkin, N and Hedberg, E., Arts Education in America: What the Declines Mean for Arts Participation (2011), National Endowment for the Arts Research Report no. 52 (Washington, D.C.: National Endowment for the Arts, February 2011)

We have also created instructional videos for teachers and activity guides for parents and caregivers relating to the following six Art|Play activities. The Activity Guides are available in English, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Spanish:

Cardboard Construction
Children explore concepts such as construction, size, shape, and form by building 3-dimensional sculptures out of recycled cardboard, tape, clips, and glue. This activity connects with the creative practice of sculptor Louise Nevelson.

Sound Sculptures
Children use recycled and repurposed materials to create sculptures that make different sounds. This activity connects with the creative practice of artist Nick Cave.

Action Painting
Action painting is a painting in which paint is splashed, brushed, or poured on the canvas to create movement. In this activity, children use a variety of tools to paint on large "3D canvas" made out of cardboard boxes. This activity connects with the creative practice of artists Cicely Carew, Joan Snyder and Kazuo Shiraga.

Light & Shadow Sculpture
Children use found and recycled materials to create sculptures that interact with natural and artificial light sources to create shadows. This activity connects with the creative practice of artists Rashad Alakbarov.

Nature Arrangements
Children use natural materials such as leaves, sticks, petals, stones, and soil to create compositions and arrangement. This activity connects with the creative practice of environmental artist Andy Goldsworthy.

Nature Constructions
Children create nature sculptures using natural materials and clay. This activity connects with the creative practice of artists Anya Gallacio and Andy Goldsworthy.