Empowering children through the creative arts: Is it possible to access the voice of 2-5 year olds?

Very young children often have a great deal to communicate about their experiences within their family, especially during transition such as when a parent works away. Expressing themselves fully can be impacted by language and cognitive development, thus increasing frustration.The creative arts can be a powerful medium for children to communicate a range of experiences and emotions. In this reported research with 2-5 year olds, children from Australian Defence Force (ADF) families were able to express their experiences and understandings of parental deployment using drawings, modelling clay, craft and photography after reading storybooks with characters experiencing a parent working away.This resulted in discussion with parents and educators, who commented on the positive difference the activities had on the children’s ability to verbally express themselves about these issues. Importantly, the activities gave a voice to these young children who had previously been marginalised in this type of research.