Collage and montage as collaborative experiential learning: A qualitative description of children’s creativity and emotional regulation and pre-service PG-PAUD students’ facilitation practices

Abstract

This study describes the implementation of experiential learning through collage and montage art activities in relation to creativity and emotional regulation in early childhood education. Employing a qualitative descriptive approach within Kolb’s experiential learning framework, the research was conducted at an early childhood education center in Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Twenty-one pre-service Early Childhood Teacher Education (PG-PAUD) university students served as facilitators for 40 preschool children aged 4–6 years. Data were collected through structured observation, semi-structured interviews, and documentation of artworks and reflective journals, then analyzed using Miles and Huberman’s interactive model. Results indicate that locally sourced natural materials, including dried leaves and fabric scraps, facilitated concrete sensory experiences bridging tactile exploration and emotional expression. Observational findings were associated with behaviors reflecting children’s fine motor coordination, divergent thinking, and capacity to externalize complex emotions through process-oriented artmaking. The collaborative facilitation process was associated with evidence of university students’ pedagogical empathy, emotional attunement, and reflective teaching practices. These findings suggest that culturally grounded, art-based experiential learning, facilitated collaboratively by pre-service teachers, offers a promising contextual approach worth further investigation for supporting holistic development in early childhood education settings.