1.Research Background

Globally, early childhood art education faces deep-seated dilemmas alienating it from nature and children’s artistic authenticity, with prominent localized manifestations.

Firstly, it is trapped in "skill-oriented indoctrination": adult-dominated teaching simplifies art to mechanical skill training, prioritizes standardized works (Zhang, 2022), and suppresses children’s autonomous expression via adult-centered evaluation, stripping art of its essence as a natural medium for perceiving and expressing emotions (Powell & Somerville, 2020).

Secondly, practical dislocations prevail: art education is confined to closed indoor scenes (Zeynep Temiz, 2018), overrelies on standardized artificial materials, and teachers act as dominators/evaluators (Zhang, 2024), whose over-intervention disconnects artistic expression from children’s natural exploration (Tao, 2023).

Thirdly, core value is narrowed: art education is reduced to skill acquisition, neglecting its role in fostering natural perception, creative thinking, and aesthetic literacy, and decoupling artistic development from daily play and holistic growth (Welch et al., 2014). Even "return to nature" initiatives often remain superficial, lacking logic to leverage natural play as an intrinsic driver of artistic expression (Bradshaw, 2018).

As a localized innovative practice in China, Anji Play—centered on "love, adventure, joy, engagement, reflection"—integrates natural exploration, play, and art, offering a potential solution. However, existing research on Anji Play lacks in-depth exploration of its art education reconstruction mechanism, creating a research gap this study aims to address.

2.Research Questions

(1)What are the core connotations of Anji Play’s reconstruction of early childhood art education under "returning to nature" and "art authenticity"?

(2)What specific paths does Anji Play adopt to reconstruct early childhood art education in practice

(3)What effects does this reconstruction have on children’s artistic development, and what are the key influencing factors?

3. Research Objectives

(1)Clarify the core connotation and theoretical essence of Anji Play’s art education reconstruction, revealing differences from traditional models to enrich relevant theoretical systems.
(2)Systematically sort out Anji Play’s implementation paths (natural environment utilization, play-art integration, teacher support strategies) to provide practical references.
(3)Verify the practice effect, identify key influencing factors, and propose optimization suggestions to promote Anji Play’s sustainable development and offer a localized case for global art education.

4. Conceptual/Theoretical Framework

The study is grounded in three core theories: (1) "Return to Nature" Educational Theory (Rousseau, Pestalozzi) guides the value orientation of reconnecting art education with nature; (2) Child-Centered Educational Theory (Dewey, Piaget) emphasizes children’s autonomy in artistic expression; (3) Embodied Cognition Theory explains how natural play experiences transform into artistic expression. A "connotation analysis - path exploration - effect verification" framework structures the research.

This study adopts a qualitative research methodology to explore Anji Play’s reconstruction of early childhood art education in depth, focusing on contextualized practices, subjective perceptions, and meaning-making processes. The research is conducted over 4 months in 3 kindergartens with mature Anji Play practice (1 urban, 2 rural) in Anji County, China. 1.Core Research Methods (1)Case Study Method: The 3 kindergartens serve as key cases to capture the contextualized logic and local adaptations of Anji Play’s art education reconstruction, enabling in-depth exploration of implementation details and practical dynamics. (2)Participatory Observation: Researchers embed in daily kindergarten routines to observe children’s natural play-art integration (e.g., natural material use, post-play artistic expression), teacher roles (observation, support, dialogue), and outdoor natural environment design. Non-participatory observation supplements to record unobtrusive interactions. (3)Semi-Structured Interviews: 18 participants are interviewed, including 12 teachers, 3 principals (in charge of Anji Play implementation), and 3 early childhood art education experts. Interviews focus on their perceptions of art education reconstruction, practical experiences, challenges, and support strategies. (4)Document Analysis: Analyzes kindergarten practice plans, children’s artistic works, teacher reflection logs, and relevant academic literature (Zhang, 2022; Welch et al., 2014) to triangulate data and enrich analysis. 2.Research Instruments (1)Observation tools: Custom observation record forms, video cameras, and photo cameras to document on-site practices, children’s artistic expressions, and teacher behaviors. (2)Interview tools: Semi-structured interview outlines (tailored for teachers, principals, experts) and audio recorders, with all interviews transcribed into text for thematic analysis. (3)Document tools: A thematic coding framework aligned with research questions to analyze children’s works, teacher logs, and literature. 3.Data Sources (1)Primary sources: On-site observation records, interview transcripts, and children’s artistic works (drawings, natural-material crafts). (2)Secondary sources: Academic papers, kindergarten internal materials, and relevant theoretical literature to support analysis and triangulation. Qualitative data are analyzed via thematic coding to extract core themes, ensuring in-depth understanding of Anji Play’s art education reconstruction process and meaning.

This study expects to generate three core conclusions and outcomes by exploring Anji Play’s reconstruction of early childhood art education through qualitative thematic analysis, aligned with its research questions and theoretical framework. Firstly, it is expected to conclude that Anji Play reconstructs early childhood art education around “returning to nature and art authenticity,” fundamentally breaking the skill-oriented indoctrination dilemma (Zhang, 2022) by shifting from adult dominance to child autonomy. Its core connotation lies in positioning natural play as the intrinsic driver of artistic expression, rather than mechanical skill instruction. Secondly, the study will identify specific, contextually adaptable paths for this reconstruction, including utilizing outdoor natural environments and low-structured materials, integrating spontaneous play with artistic expression, and redefining teachers as observers, supporters, and interpreters of children’s artistic authenticity (Powell & Somerville, 2020). Thirdly, expected findings highlight that this reconstruction fosters children’s natural perceptual ability, autonomous artistic expression, and creative thinking, while practical challenges (e.g., teacher professional capacity) may influence implementation depth. Theoretical outcomes enrich Anji Play and early childhood art education research, while practical outcomes provide actionable insights for educators globally. This study also offers a localized, nature-centered model to address the superficial integration of natural and art education (Bradshaw, 2018), promoting art education’s return to child nature.

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