Traditional early childhood art education has long been dominated by teacher demonstration and imitative creation, neglecting the connection between young children and their real-life experiences and play-based experiences. Anji Play, by relying on outdoor natural environments, low-structural natural materials, and children's spontaneous artistic behaviors, fundamentally reconstructs the logic of young children's artistic practice. This study employs qualitative research methods, combined with on-site video observation and contextual analysis, to explore how Anji Play supports children's authentic artistic expression grounded in real-life experience, from three dimensions: natural settings, low-structural materials, and spontaneous artistic forms. The findings reveal that the natural outdoor environment provides rich embodied experiences for artistic creation; low-structural natural materials unleash children's creativity and break through the limitations of template-based imitation; and children's spontaneous artistic activities enable them to create based on play experiences, forming reflective artistic narratives. This study confirms that Anji Play effectively rectifies the shortcomings of traditional skill-oriented art education and offers a new practical paradigm for early childhood art education.

Lilin Chen. Returning to Nature and Artistic Authenticity: The Reconstruction of Early Childhood Art Education Practice by Anji Play. Frontiers in Art Research (2026), Vol. 8, Issue 3: 23-30. https://doi.org/10.25236/FAR.2026.080304.

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