What Families Should Know:
Art at Home
created by Claire Cornish Winkeler shared via Facebook
In our art studio at school, we learn about artistic behaviors—coming up with ideas, setting up our workspace, learning new skills and reflecting on our work. In our studio, the child is the artist and they make artistic choices about the materials they use and what they make. They are familiar with these expectations and are intrinsically motivated to make and create independently.
Provide them with time, space and art supplies and they will direct their own learning. The following are ways you can support them in their art making and learning while they are home. Follow their lead and enjoy watching their creativity in action! Join in if you are able. It’s fun!
Preschool and Kindergarten
Provide them with time, space and art supplies and they will direct their own learning. The following are ways you can support them in their art making and learning while they are home. Follow their lead and enjoy watching their creativity in action! Join in if you are able. It’s fun!
Preschool and Kindergarten
- Art at this age should be process based. That mean’s the end product isn’t predicted or defined. It may be that their art is not something they want to save or even feel that attached to. That’s okay!
- The supplies they use don’t need to be anything special. Crayons, pencils, markers and any kind of paper (the back of junk mail or old work papers, paper bags, newspaper) will work. They love to draw and they have brilliant complex stories to tell.
- Ask them about their work with open ended questions.
- Offer to write down the story as they dictate it to you if they’d like to add text to their artwork.
- You’ll have some time on your hands, so draw and color every day!
- If you’re feeling ambitious, add paints, glue, scissors and play-doh or try one a homemade art supply recipe.
- These students are bold and fearless in their art making. Sometimes they make art urgently and may come up with an idea, execute it and be done with it before the product looks finished or polished. That’s okay.
- Do something every day—draw, glue, cut, paint, build. If they feel finished after five minutes, let them stop. If they get super involved, give them this rare opportunity to work without a time limit or schedule. It’s a gift they don’t often get in their busy school day.
- Listen to them tell you about their work. “Do you like it?” they’ll ask. Instead of offering your approval, ask them if they like it, what they like about it and if there’s anything they think they should change or improve.
- They become more aware of themselves and each other at this age and this can be seen in their artwork. They may stray from observational or realistic drawing if it doesn’t look “perfect” and they may explore abstract, non-objective art to avoid those feelings. That’s okay!
- They are not too old for blocks and building, and they love the opportunity to use those materials. Legos and blocks are sculpture materials. If that’s how they want to spend their art time, let them go to town!
- If they have younger siblings at home, let them be the teacher and show them a new technique or skill, or make something together. Collaboration is one of the great gifts of the choice art studio.
- Allow them to solve their own problems. They can be very resourceful if given the opportunity. We learn by making mistakes, so while it may be frustrating for them, working through it is where the growth happens. They’ve got plenty of time to figure it out.