Design of Calligraphy Teaching Materials from the Perspective of Chinese Preschool Education-Anshan City Case Study
Authors: Gao Qun , Sawadee Yodkwan 
Published: September 2024

Background and Aim: The art of Chinese calligraphy is an important part of Chinese culture because of its artistic and aesthetic value. It originates from Chinese characters, which evolved from traditional symbols. Chinese characters have gone through three stages of development: image, borrowing, and echoing. Chinese characters have evolved from pictures and symbols to standardized forms such as ancient seal script, small seal script, official script, regular script, running script, and cursive script. Calligraphy is a special art originating from China. Children begin learning calligraphy at an early age, with some children as young as four or five practicing scribbling and writing. Before formal literacy education, children develop curiosity about words and engage in spontaneous writing. Learning calligraphy is ideal for preschoolers because it helps develop their creativity and improves their hand-eye coordination. Studies on the emergence of reading and writing in China have been conducted since the 1990s. These studies are based on the Western pinyin writing system and aim to examine the development of literacy skills in children. The goal is to explore the manifestation of reading and writing skills in children and their ability to develop these skills. This study aims to develop and design calligraphy teaching materials for preschool children in Anshan City, China, by incorporating cultural elements unique to the region.
Materials and Methods: The study lasted 12 weeks, during which time 50 preschoolers were observed and their activities recorded using a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods, including content and text analysis and user experience research methods. Valid data were generated for analysis.
Results: The research suggests that introducing Spring Festival couplets in writing education can help preschool children understand regional culture and encourage them to learn. This can make a significant contribution to calligraphy education for preschool children, which has not been explored before. To improve the calligraphic ability and interest of preschool children, an innovative approach based on educational technology can be used to develop and design calligraphy teaching materials. The effectiveness and feasibility of these materials can be validated through their use in the learning of calligraphy for preschool children in Anshan City, providing new teaching tools for calligraphy education in the city. This can serve as a reference for calligraphy education for preschool children and promote innovation in the field.
Conclusion: The study explored the current state of calligraphy art education for preschoolers in Anshan City. Results revealed that there are some issues such as lack of engaging content and teaching methods. Questionnaires and interviews showed that preschoolers are interested in calligraphy, but there is a need for better resources and teaching methods. An experiment was conducted in two kindergartens to compare a new calligraphy education model with traditional methods. Preliminary results suggest that the new model improved children's calligraphy knowledge, skills, interest, and creativity. However, further research is needed for more accurate findings. The conclusion suggests that calligraphy teaching materials for preschool children should take into account their cognitive development and educational needs.