It's a beautiful day in the art classroom....

As a child I loved watching "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood" on PBS. He reminded me so much of Mrs. Carpenter, the older widow who lived next door. I adored her. We raked leaves together, she took me to Sunday School, we watched Jeopardy together (she knew ALL  the answers), and together we would weekly walk to the library for new books- she was lovely. Mr. Rogers had the same sort of kindness and interest in my learning. His smile was sincere, he was thoughtful in his choice of words, his voice was calming, his words were genuine, and it felt like he was talking directly to me, as if I were the only child in the world. I was special. I believed I could learn and do new things. I enjoyed his stories and field trips around his neighborhood. He dedicated his life to educating children and had a lot to say about how they learn. 

"Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning.
Play is really the work of childhood." 

- Fred Rogers 

Is play truly learning? I sure do think so! Preschoolers are a SUPER busy bunch. Younger students work through art projects much faster than older students do. Their focus doesn't last as long, the concepts aren't as broad, and the work isn't as skilled yet. We're getting there though. We're laying the foundation. We're figuring things out. A big part of figuring things out is exploration. Introduction to new things and seeing what you can do with them. 

So how does this apply to art class? While we do work on structured projects, like printmaking and mixing colors, sometimes between those projects we explore a bit through art centers. As a child I looked forward to visiting my grandmother because she had large colorful cardboard building blocks and Mr.Potato Heads. My cousins, siblings, and I would build walls, forts, towers. We'd arrange silly characters with Mr.Potato head parts, like little Frankensteins! We were entertained for hours because the possibilities seemed endless. We were creatively problem solving. We were inventors, architects, doctors. Thinking skills! Problem solving! It's beautiful stuff...

I recently read an article about the importance of art and creative literacy (that's a tough thing to define, but it involves generating original ideas and seeing possibilities and potential). It's worth the time to read it. My favorite part of the article stated that even though we've long had the technology to simply snap pictures of life it hasn't squashed our desire and need for painting, for creating ART. Why not? Well...making art is not about taking selfies and everyday photos, it's about the sharing of ideas and viewpoints, it's communication. Art provides opportunities for even our youngest artists to share their ideas, their feelings, their viewpoints. I'm often amazed by what they come up with! So before recycling an art project that's sent home, ask about what they've made and how they feel about it. They're often much more thoughtful than just scribbles. There might be a story or an idea there that they'd love to share.

In addition to the cardboard building blocks of my youth, I took some newer building materials that my children have outgrown to school for kids to explore. They piece together people, towers, cars, flowers, light sabers, and all kinds of other neat-o things they love to tell you all about! They share supplies. They encourage each other. They swap stories and ideas. 

Kids love stencils too! I teach students to use shapes as the parts in their drawings and lines for details, but stencils help them learn how to draw shapes they don't know how to draw yet and they add details to them to transform them into something new. They get to choose. Maybe this is a mountain? If I were to ask I wouldn't say "Hey, is that a mountain?!" or "Nice mountain!" because that might not be what it is! As an adult I'm totally deflated sometimes if people don't see my vision when I think it's super obvious. It plants seeds of doubt, and that can be a real bummer! Nobody likes feeling lousy. Instead I'd ask "Wow, what are you working on?", or "Can you tell me about your picture?". Even little artists can be offended and discouraged. My job is to encourage them to keep thinking, keep doing, keep trying. They're little engines that CAN!

Clay is a favorite for students of ALL ages! Modeling clay works those hand and finger muscles! 

We always try to make it a beautiful day in the art room....

Abracadabra!

The art room is a pretty messy place sometimes (glue, glitter, paint....and more glitter), but we can learn a lot from making messes and have fun at the same time! I tell students often to avoid wearing their favorite clothes on art day, but especially on paint day. Even with an art shirt accidents can happen, so save your favorite outfits for non-art days. Trust me on this. I have several permanently painted articles of clothing. But I'm the art teacher. So I wear 'em anyway. It's how I roll. 

The very first student art to grace the walls this year was created by our PreK! Wahoo! What a way to start the year! They're BIG, they're colorful, and folks have been stopping in their tracks to check 'em out! Can you blame them?! It's gallery quality work! So let's talk about it...

To get started we pushed up our long sleeves and donned a paint shirt. Safety first! The tables were covered with bulletin board paper and each student had a piece of large white watercolor paper at their seat. I placed newspaper in the middle of the table (I collect newspaper), globbed some black acrylic on it (acrylic doesn't wash out of your clothes and dries waterproof), and placed tubes of various sizes within reach of the kiddos for printing. Some thought this was brave, others thought it was crazy. I call it adventurous! 

We listened to music. Everyone was focused on their work. Students dipped the tubes into the paint and printed circles, often overlapping, all over their paper. Some made several, some only a few, but they were thoughtful in their choices. Even though they were given the same materials, each work is unique. I love watching that happen in art.

Clean up on days like this can be more than a little cray-cray, needless to say. We are so fortunate to have Natalie Taylor, our PreK teacher aide, swirling around the room. She's amazing! She's great with kids! And she swoops in like a superwoman to help out! 

The next big step was to add some color! This is my favorite!!! Students were given the primary colors (red, yellow, and blue). They're pretty important colors. You can't just mix them, we have to buy those, BUT... you can use them to make a bunch of other colors! Like green, my favorite! The best of all!...If you think about it, artists are kinda like mad scientist magicians. What happens if you mix a little yellow with a little red?.....What?! I can make orange?!?!

Or a little red with a little blue?... Purple?!?! I LOVE PURPLE!!! They were so excited to mix and discover new colors. It gets really exciting when we mix our favorite colors! Then we have to show our friends what we made, and they share what they've made. It's awesome. 

We learned about how to treat paint brushes and watercolor paints. We shared paints and water with the person next to us. We helped each other clean up. We learned where to put supplies when we were finished. We're working on being a team! 

When their paintings were finished and dry, I set to work making frames for each one! Time consuming, but worth it! Their names are displayed, as they would be in a gallery, and each frame is unique. They were so proud when they walked in today and saw their work on the wall. They saw other people stopping to look at it. They heard other people saying positive things about what they made. What a fantastic way to start a Monday! 

Check out those colors! Of course people were talking about it!

To add a bit of whimsy I hung them at a tilt! That might drive a few folks crazy, but they're taped pretty well, so don't try to straighten them out! 

These paintings are so bright and cheerful I'd hang them on the walls of my home! Really, I would! And I'm not the only one who feels that way. Seriously! Coworkers have said they'd hang them in their homes too! Some pretty lucky families out there will have that opportunity very soon, but we needed to jazz up our school so I'm borrowing them for awhile. Thanks for sharing and for  understanding!