Nurturing creativity in early years' mathematics via art-integrated mathematics lessons

Two classes of Grade 1 learners from two private nursery and primary schools in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria were involved in this research. A pretest posttest control group design was adopted to assess changes among two groups of learners regarding their creativity in mathematics. The Creativity Assessment Tool (CAT) was utilised to identify and examine fifteen creative dispositions in mathematics. The learners in the experimental group received artintegrated mathematics lessons whereas learners in the control group were exposed to a normal method of teaching (traditional) with instructions derived from the recommended mathematics textbook. Data analysis revealed that no substantial difference existed in the pretest and posttest scores of both groups after the intervention, but the CAT revealed a remarkable evidence of change in learners' creative disposition toward mathematics. The outcome of the study provided ample evidence that supported the notion that integrating art into mathematics lessons can nurture and foster creative dispositions in early-year learners' mathematical knowledge acquisition and can enhance cognition and the understanding of concepts.