“Art helps you learn, have more ideas and be more creative. Sometimes you make mistakes and then you can practice.”
This isn’t a teacher speaking, or an educational theorist. This is a child at Cire Early Learning Mount Evelyn, articulating the very heart of learning itself. And during Children’s Week 2025, that child’s understanding was on full display at the centre’s art show, an evening where over 40 families gathered to see learning made visible through paint, song, light, and imagination.
Children’s Identity and Community
The self-portraits stopped visitors in their tracks. Each child had been given a small canvas and paint, then asked: “What makes my face mine?”
Children mixed paints to create their unique skin and hair colours, used mirrors to capture their features, and engaged in respectful conversations about different hair types, lengths, and skin tones.
While exploring identity and difference, the children were learning something fundamental: we can be different and still belong together. The self-portraits, arranged as a group, became a visual representation of the Cire community.
“My favourite thing is painting,” one child announced. And another, proud young person: “They all liked my pictures.”
Audio Art
In the brand-new music and movement area, children had explored drums, ukuleles, guitars, piano, and percussion instruments. More than making noise, this was about the science of sound. They learned that both sound and music are created through vibrations, a concept that came alive when they felt the tambourine and triangle vibrate in their hands.
One child chimed in: “Art gives you ideas,” and they’re right. Music supports emotional expression, mathematical thinking, fine motor skills, creativity and imagination. It’s all connected.
Our Children Write The Cire Song
Not to be outdone by visual art, the children’s love of music and its creation was there for everyone to enjoy. Guests could press a button and listen to the Cire Song, created by the children.
They’d identified everything they could see at Mt Evelyn: kookaburras, cockatoos, noisy miners, magpies, Bunjil the eagle, rainbow lorikeets, slimy snails, rabbits, worms, blue-tongue lizards, red and blue rosellas, and buzzing bees. The educators help put those observations into lyrics, choreographing actions and sign language for a whole-body experience.
Connection through action and music is embedded in the Mt Evelyn experience, not just with the Cire Song but with an acknowledgement of country, formed together by the children and educators. This forms a deep and respectful connection with the country and its peoples from a young age.
A Dark Kaleidoscope
The most striking addition to 2025’s Art Show was the Glow Room, a space transformed by ultraviolet light where ordinary materials became extraordinary. Painted branches glowed, jars illuminated, skeletons and collaborative family sticks hung in vibrant patterns. Children had explored Diwali through firework-effect paintings, their vibrant colours celebrating light and culture.
But here’s what made the glow work fascinating from a learning perspective: it’s hard to see the paint without the UV light. Children had to plan, experiment, and problem-solve in ways that traditional painting doesn’t require. They learned about pattern-making, spatial awareness, and the challenge of creating something you can’t fully see until it’s finished.
Children Build Community… Literally
The box city was built from beautifully painted boxes and recycled materials. Mark-making explorations showed different textures and mediums: drawing, sticky notes, pencil, markers, hole punching, cutting, tearing. Window decorations captured moments in time through paper plate frames with transparent paper and gum leaves, designed so light shines through. A wombat cave incorporated natural branches from outside.
And in a playful twist, staff recreated some of history’s most iconic masterpieces with only markers: Da Vinci, Monet, and Van Gogh reimagined. It was a reminder that at Cire, everyone is a learner and creator, modelling the same curiosity and willingness to experiment that we encourage in children.
“I liked the box city and the road,” one child reported. “I like the pet rock I made,” said another.
Wombats, roads, nature, and pet rocks. What more could we want in a community?
What Families Saw
The feedback from families reflected what the art show achieved: a bringing together of community and a celebration of the children’s learning process made visible. There were mosaics, woodwork, and 3D printed pieces contributed from students at Cire Community School’s Lilydale campus. Group artworks showcased the collaboration between children at Mt Evelyn, and children at Cire Early Learning’s sessional kinder at Chirnside Park, a special connection for the children who attend Mt Evelyn for long day care, and Chirnside Park for kindergarten.
Visitors were treated to a special performance by preschool children of The Dance Den, including a child from Mt Evelyn who was proud to perform with their dancing troupe!
“We could see all the effort put in. Thank you for a wonderful show.”
“A really beautiful night, loved all the creative things the children made.”
“Wonderful to see all the creations and celebrate the children, and the efforts of the staff team.”
From an enthusiastic child: “My family liked going in the glow room.”
The art show represents six months of preparation and countless hours by staff and children. More than that, it represents an approach to early learning that recognises art not as decoration or entertainment, but as a language through which children explore identity, community, science, culture, and their own capacity to create.
As one child put it: “Art is important, to have fun.”
Yes. And to learn. And to practice. And to belong. And to make mistakes and try again. All the languages children speak when we give them the space, tools, and encouragement to express themselves.
Discover how Cire promotes children’s learning and expression with Our Programs.
