When the visual arts are positioned at the heart of inquiry-led curricula, children and teachers step into a dynamic learning ecology where curiosity, purposeful engagement, and meaning-making thrive.

This presentation explores how playful encounters with materials, grounded in the UNCRC Articles 13 and 31 and their support for children’s rights to participate in cultural and artistic life, invite learners to think with their hands, engage their senses, and build rich, interconnected understandings of their world. Such encounters not only strengthen children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development but also nurture teachers’ professional confidence, pedagogical artistry, and capacity to notice and extend emerging ideas. Drawing on values informed by John Dewey and the Reggio Emilia educational project, this presentation shows that when educators slow down, build shared knowledge, and honour the inquiry process, children are able to produce genuinely sophisticated artistic responses.

Examples of contemporary artistic practice will be used to show how analysing the processes and decisions of working artists can illuminate powerful pathways for students’ own explorations. Practical strategies for fostering personal efficacy, designing meaningful provocations, and sustaining creative inquiry will support delegates to adapt these ideas in ways that honour their diverse contexts.