This week we are introducing watercolors. We say introducing because it really is a process. A process of experimenting, discovering, creating, and exploring. While assisting in our classroom, you will undoubtedly observe teachers focusing on the process of exploring art materials. There are many important reasons that we allow children to investigate art supplies and leave them be.
One reason is simply that children take joy in creating. When they engage in art as a process, they have numerous opportunities to observe, predict, plan, compare, and problem solve. “Do I put the brush in the water first or in the color?” “How do I get the color on my brush?” “What about if I want to try another color?” “Why is my paper so wet?” The benefits of open ended art activities (like our art shelves) help children refine their fine motor skills by using scissors to cut, tape to pull, markers to draw, stampers to push, etc… you get the idea. And just as important, they also get to feel a sense of ownership and pride in their original creations.
And so let’s talk about some ways to engage with children while they are creating or when they come to show you what they worked on. Although it is completely natural to ask children, “What is it you're making? or “What is it?” we find that these are not really questions that encourage self expression. The reason being, a lot of times children aren’t creating art to make “something.” They are just exploring the materials at hand. You will undoubtedly hear teachers saying things like, “I see you put paint on all the parts of the paper,” “You are cutting long pieces of tape,” “You are making squiggly lines,” “Tell me all about it,” “You are using two crayons at the same time!” “You worked so hard cutting those pieces,” ...etc. These kinds of observations allow children to take ownership over their work, and can really create a feeling of confidence. We encourage you to try this at home.
Prompts to encourage talking to kids about their art-making:
• I wonder…
• I notice…
• I see…
• Tell me about that…
• I see you are taking your time…
Questions to ask about their art
• How did you do that?
• Would you like to tell me about your art?
• How did you make that color?
• What were you thinking about when you made this?
• I wonder what might happen if you keep going...
