What California’s DRDP says about creative arts and expression
California’s Desired Results Developmental Profile (DRDP) recognizes creative arts as an essential mode of expression, communication, and cognitive development. Administered by the California Department of Education, the DRDP addresses children’s creative development not as an enrichment add-on but as a fundamental domain through which children process experiences, develop symbolic thinking, and build the foundations of literacy and problem-solving.
Under the DRDP, creative arts development is addressed within the Cognitive Development domain through measures for creative expression and symbolic representation. These measures capture children’s growing ability to use art, music, dramatic play, and movement as intentional modes of expression — transforming ideas, feelings, and observations into representational form through a variety of media.
California requires all licensed childcare programs to document children’s creative development through DRDP observation records. Creative arts documentation is particularly valuable because it captures cognitive development, symbolic thinking, and self-expression in an integrated way — a child’s painting can document language, fine motor, cognitive, and social-emotional development simultaneously.
Research from Harvard’s Project Zero and the Dana Foundation’s arts and cognition studies confirms that sustained engagement in creative arts in early childhood develops transferable thinking skills — including divergent thinking, symbolic representation, observation, and self-expression — that predict success across academic domains. Children who have rich arts experiences in early childhood enter kindergarten with stronger cognitive flexibility and creative problem-solving skills.
Developmental milestones
Creative arts milestones by age group
Understanding where children are developmentally helps educators plan meaningful activities and document DRDP progress accurately. These milestones align with California’s DRDP levels and nationally recognized frameworks including NAEYC’s Developmentally Appropriate Practice and the CDC’s Milestone Moments.
| Age group | Key DRDP milestones | What educators can do |
|---|---|---|
| Infants Birth–18 months | Responding to music with movement and attention; beginning to explore mark-making materials; imitating facial expressions and vocalizations; sensory exploration of art materials | Sing and play music during routines; offer safe sensory art materials (finger paint, stamps); respond to infant vocalizations musically; provide musical toys and instruments |
| Toddlers 18–36 months | Scribbling and mark-making with increasing intentionality; beginning to name marks and creations; imitating movements in music; exploring dramatic play scenarios; experimenting with color mixing | Process-art invitations daily; simple instruments and movement music; dramatic play dress-up and props; celebrate the process, not just the product; describe what you observe in their art |
| Preschool 3–5 years | Drawing recognizable figures and scenes; explaining artwork with narrative; cooperative dramatic play with complex scenarios; moving expressively to music; creating songs and chants; using art to tell stories | Open-ended art studio with varied media; author/illustrator studies; dramatic play scenarios with complex props; music and movement daily; art displayed with children’s descriptions |
Curriculum alignment
How Experience Curriculum supports California’s DRDP creative arts standards
Experience Curriculum integrates creative arts into every monthly theme as a central vehicle for learning, not a supplementary activity. Art, music, movement, and dramatic play are embedded in every daily schedule across all three age bands — with process-art invitations, music and movement activities, and dramatic play scenarios that connect directly to the month’s theme and DRDP creative development measures.
Every Experience Curriculum kit ships with a verified alignment to California’s DRDP. The downloadable California Alignment PDF maps each curriculum activity and skill to the specific DRDP measure and developmental level it targets — saving teachers significant documentation time.
Creative arts skills covered
- Visual arts and process-art exploration
- Music appreciation and music-making
- Creative movement and dance
- Dramatic play and role-play
- Symbolic representation and mark-making
- Creative problem-solving and divergent thinking
How it’s delivered
- Monthly kits with process-art materials and invitations included
- Music and movement cards with teacher guides
- Dramatic play scenario guides and prop suggestions
- Open-ended creative exploration prompts
- Brightwheel digital documentation tied to CA DRDP creative development measures
- Family creative arts take-homes for home expression
Experience Curriculum’s creative arts philosophy is grounded in Reggio Emilia’s Hundred Languages of Children and Dewey’s experiential learning theory: the creative process itself — not the finished product — is where development happens. California’s DRDP creative expression measures assess the intentionality and symbolic thinking children demonstrate during the creative process, making process-art approaches the most aligned to DRDP documentation goals.
Skills spotlight
Key creative arts skills in the 35-skill framework
Experience Curriculum’s 35-skill framework maps directly to the DRDP domains. Here are four skills that feature prominently in every age-band kit.
Visual Arts
Exploring and creating with varied media — paint, clay, collage, drawing tools. Developed through open-ended process-art invitations that prioritize exploration over predetermined outcomes.
Music & Movement
Responding to and creating with sound, rhythm, and movement. Built through daily music and movement activities, instrument exploration, and expressive dance embedded in every theme.
Dramatic Play
Using imagination to create roles, scenarios, and symbolic worlds. Developed through rich dramatic play environments, prop kits, and scenario invitations that deepen with each monthly theme.
Creative Expression
Communicating ideas, feelings, and experiences through multiple art forms. Nurtured through an arts-rich environment, adult encouragement of artistic risk-taking, and celebration of diverse creative approaches.
Implementation guidance
Practical tips for embedding creative arts into your California program
1. Prioritize process over product in art
California’s DRDP creative development measures assess the creative process — how children manipulate materials, make intentional choices, and represent ideas — not whether the finished product looks like a model. Remove coloring sheets and model art from your program in favor of open-ended invitations where children make their own decisions about materials and outcomes.
2. Make music and movement daily
Music is not just an enrichment activity — it develops phonological awareness, mathematical patterning, and physical coordination simultaneously while also supporting creative expression. Experience Curriculum includes music and movement activities in every daily schedule, aligned to the month’s theme and age-appropriate developmental goals.
3. Create a permanent art studio space
A dedicated art studio — or even a well-stocked art table with rotating materials — gives children the autonomy to engage in creative work on their own schedule. When art materials are always accessible, children use them to process ideas and experiences naturally, generating authentic DRDP creative expression documentation throughout the day.
4. Document with the child as narrator
The richest DRDP creative arts documentation captures not just what a child made, but what they said about it. Ask “Tell me about your painting” and record the child’s words alongside a photo. This practice documents language, symbolic thinking, and creative expression in a single observation.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about California’s DRDP and creative arts curriculum
Related resources
California DRDP alignment PDF
Full mapping of Experience Curriculum to California’s DRDP framework across all domains
California early learning standards
Overview of California’s DRDP framework and all 8 domain alignments
CA Social-Emotional standards
California’s DRDP Social-Emotional domain and Experience Curriculum alignment
CA Approaches to Learning standards
California’s DRDP Approaches to Learning domain and Experience Curriculum alignment
California DRDP resource guide
Official DRDP implementation resources from the California Department of Education