i call it art

sometimes there is nothing to blog about. other times i have 3 things pop into my head within 2 hours! today was one of the busy afternoons.

first, due to intense heat outside i went by our local craft store and bought some paints, watercolors and paper so we can have some fun inside. i think art education is one of the most important things you can introduce to a child. i worked for a year at a fine arts preschool. that was the most fun ever. kids are natural artist. when people say, think outside the box (to try and generate new ideas), kids don’t have that box at all, so creativity pours out of them. unless you’ve shushed or stifled that creativity.

at the preschool i worked for in fort worth, toddlers were self-contained and 3-5 year olds rotated through 4 classrooms in 3 hours. The classrooms were: music, creative play, art and science/reading/math. children were read at least 4-5 books a day through the different classrooms.

this was not a coloring pages type place. to this day, i hate coloring pages. why give a child lines? let them create what they are going to create. this was the philosophy in every classroom. i was amazed every day at the pride young preschoolers took in their work and even more amazed that they could create these things without much help from me.

practical applications for young children:

• give them blank paper and something to draw, paint, color, cut, glue with and let them go. give them an instrument and see what they do with it. give them some old clothes and hats and see who they become.
• do not give vague opinions like “that is pretty” or “good job”. give specific feedback like “i like the blue paint you used” or “that reminds me of a sunset” or “you must feel so proud of that painting you did”.
• better yet, don’t judge the work at all, ask questions…”why did you choose orange?” or “did you make that song up all by yourself?”
• never assume you know what that picture is supposed to be. don’t ask what it is supposed to be. this is just one way that we as adults strive to classify everything inside our box. maybe squiggles are just squiggles and when you ask that question a child is going to start to think everything has to be something.

here is some of deacon’s work:

dry-erase marker on white board
early spring 2009

watercolor on paper
july 1 2009

in this next picture you can see that he learned a new technique after the above picture. he realized that he could use his fingers in the watercolors. that is where the fingerprints came from. he also explored the darker colors in this picture.

watercolor on paper
july 1 2009

hmmm…the painting below is $900.00….maybe i should get deacon a beret and a smock!

coming up next on meetthefaulkners.com…why i don’t let deacon wear floaties and what we did when the little girl at the pool yelled “why is that black baby with them?”