When you decide to break out the art supplies with your little one...
Do you work towards a specific end result?
Do you find yourself directing their actions during the art activity?
Do you focus on the process or the product?
These are some of the thoughts that came to mind when reading an interesting article called Child-Centered Art vs.Teacher-Directed Projects (by Robert Schirrmacher, Ph.D, an Early Childhood Educator) recently which discussed child-centered art vs. teacher-directed projects.
As an artist, I am interested in exploring visual art with my toddler son, on his terms instead of through my direction. I notice that sometimes I have to remind myself that the process is more important than the product which I'm sure many parents out there can relate to as well.
The article touched on 3 differing approaches to teaching art to children; teacher-directed, teacher-guided & child-focused. When thinking about these approaches, I substituted teacher for parent.
Here is a brief description of each:
1. Structured, teacher-directed art projects involve giving specific instructions on how to achieve a recognizable product and the result is that each product looks nearly identical.
The article points out that the issue with this approach is that it relies on the child copying the adults example of the project and in a way disrespects their ideas, abilities and creativity.
2. Unstructured, child-centered art projects involve giving out a variety of art supplies and encouraging the children to make whatever they choose.
The article points out the issue with this approach which is that for some children, having no structure makes it difficult for the child to engage in the art activity and they look to the teacher for some guidance or input. They can also become bored or frustrated.
"Children cannot create from nothing"
I agree with this statement. There needs to be some stimulation involved in some way; a material, a colour, a theme, a thought, a discussion, etc. Artists are inspired by outside stimulation through their environment, discussions, landscape, music, literature, nature, experience, etc.
3. The best approach is teacher-guided art projects which combine subtle structure with child input and direction. Examples of this approach include the teacher suggesting a theme, introducing new materials to experiment with or extending art into other activities (tell a story about your picture)
For me, I think that a nice mix of parent-guided art projects along with child-centered art projects seem like the way to go as it gives the child a bit of both when experimenting with art.
Are there any art activities you do with your little one that you would say are child-centered? Post a comment if you do - I would love to hear about them.
For us, I think a favourite art activity which involves paint, dinky cars and paper ended up being a child-centered activity even though it began as a parent-guided project, to make a painting for a birthday gift.
Every time we do this art activity, he directs the colours of the paint he wants, plays with the texture of the paint, drives the cars through the paint, uses his fingers to put paint on the cars, stacks the cars, drives the cars across the paper, etc.
It is a great art activity that keeps his interest for quite a while but above all, it is interesting to observe that it is truly about the process and not the product.
The end product is an exercise in paint: a painted car, some action on the paper, a colourful abstract with a textured pattern from the wheels, painted hands, a very good time and of course a 'car wash' afterwards.
During our art time, I now aim to be more aware that artistic experimentation is the process and the product is creativity and play!
Are you interested in introducing more child-centered art activities into your child's day?
Here are some tips to keep in mind from the article for the next time you take out the crayons, markers & paints!
(Note that some of these tips will work better for different ages but its nice to keep them in mind for all I think.)
-let them be creative, unique and original
-encourage self-initiated art
-don't tell them what to make or what it should look like
-keep art time open ended and unstructured
-involve self-expression
-engage in process-oriented activities
-be OK that the end result may not be recognizable, useful or practical
-involve in success-oriented activities, with no fear of failure
-please the child
-allow art experimentation to take place within open blocks of time (no rushing within a time constraint)
-use legitimate artistic media (no glitter or googly eyes for example)
Perhaps the next time you have art time with your child, view it as a time of exploration, messiness, creativity, colour & fun. A time to relax, let go and be playful with art!
I'm interested in discovering more accessible, child-centered art activities that I can introduce into our creative time. If you would like to join me in experimenting and sharing - please comment on the blog, on my facebook page or email me at wendy@tinybrushstrokes.ca.
I will post any activities here on the blog under the tag 'tiny artists' so I hope you'll be back to check it out & give them a try as well with your little ones. Thanks for reading!
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