The purpose of this study was to develop a DBAE-based art program of integrated
approaches and examine its effects on young children’s art abilities through applying the
program. For this purpose, we developed an art program for young children based on the four
content areas of DBAE and the integrated approach to early childhood education as its
theoretical grounds. The program was aimed to enhance children’s art abilities and was
developed basically with the four content areas of DBAE, central works and art genres and in
consideration of relevancy to life themes in the curricula. In executing the program, the
teaching-learning course was composed of four steps–appreciation and investigation, inquiry
and design, work creation and exhibition, and appreciation and evaluation. In the program, the
teacher plays the roles of motivator, environment creator, material provider and guide,
interaction partner, and evaluator based on intellectual understanding of the four content areas
of DBAE. In addition, the teacher respects children in a permissive atmosphere and applies the
program in an active attitude. The program developed through the procedure was composed
of weekly tasks and executed for 14 weeks, and its effects on children’s art abilities were
analyzed through a pretest and a posttest. The subjects of this study were 50 five-year-old
children at a childcare center, who were divided into an experimental group (n=25) and a
control group (n=25). The research tool used in this study was the Art Ability Scale, and
collected data were analyzed through a t-test and ANCOVA using SPSS 12.0. According to the
results, the DBAE-based art program for young children improved the children’s art abilities
significantly, and the effect was significant in all the sub-factors of art abilities, which are the
art activity process, art expression ability, and art appreciation ability.