My Kids both love art. My daughter especially loves it. She processes everything better when art is involved. Crafts, painting, sculpting, drawing, etc. you can just see that she comes alive when her artistic abilities are being stimulated. My son likes art as well, but not nearly as much as my daughter. He has started using multiple colors in his pictures and showing thought and planning behind his creations. I love that our Mother Goose Time curriculum uses a lot of art. There are so many ways that art is incorporated into the everyday activities. Whether it is an invitation to create that uses thought and imagination, a make and play that is more of a fun playable craft, ideas for dramatic play, or even songs and dance art is woven into almost everything we do. While it is very art rich it is nice because it can be as simple or detailed as a child needs it to be.
I particularly like the invitation to create projects. They are like open ended artist prompts that give you some basic supplies with ideas of items you can add to it. Then the kids can create what they want. They do give some ideas and prompts of things to say to the kids to get them thinking about what they want to create. My daughter has loved these since the beginning. It has taken my son a little while but after several months of doing them he seems to be doing a lot better with them and he creates some really great pictures. What I like about them is that it makes them think about what they have learned. For example the Hummingbird Invitation to Create included a picture of a hummingbird, some green background paper, cupcake liners, and a straw. I added in some paints, scissors, and glue to go with it. Here are a couple pictures that show the materials and the set up.
The prompt was what do you think a hummingbird uses to drink, what do you use to drink? We had just finished reading the suggested story about hummingbirds and had done several of the days activities before doing this project so we reflected on what we had learned about hummingbirds so far. We talked about how they used their tongues like straws, and how they liked bright colored flowers with sugary nectar in them. After we discussed this they started thinking about how they wanted to use the materials. My daughter usually knows exactly how she wants to do hers, my son needs a little help. He has a little trouble thinking outside the box sometimes and he is a minimalist. He likes things short, sweet and to the point. I usually give him several ideas on how he could use the different materials and the I let him decide ultimately what he wants to do. Then I sit back and watch them create. I can really tell how much they have learned by what they decide to add to their pictures and what they talk about while they are doing it. The invitations to create lets them process everything we have learned throughout the day and then lets them manipulate those ideas and turn them into something beautiful and concrete. I firmly believe that this helps them retain the information easier. I always make it a point to ask them about their work and have them tell me about what they created.
I particularly like the invitation to create projects. They are like open ended artist prompts that give you some basic supplies with ideas of items you can add to it. Then the kids can create what they want. They do give some ideas and prompts of things to say to the kids to get them thinking about what they want to create. My daughter has loved these since the beginning. It has taken my son a little while but after several months of doing them he seems to be doing a lot better with them and he creates some really great pictures. What I like about them is that it makes them think about what they have learned. For example the Hummingbird Invitation to Create included a picture of a hummingbird, some green background paper, cupcake liners, and a straw. I added in some paints, scissors, and glue to go with it. Here are a couple pictures that show the materials and the set up.
The prompt was what do you think a hummingbird uses to drink, what do you use to drink? We had just finished reading the suggested story about hummingbirds and had done several of the days activities before doing this project so we reflected on what we had learned about hummingbirds so far. We talked about how they used their tongues like straws, and how they liked bright colored flowers with sugary nectar in them. After we discussed this they started thinking about how they wanted to use the materials. My daughter usually knows exactly how she wants to do hers, my son needs a little help. He has a little trouble thinking outside the box sometimes and he is a minimalist. He likes things short, sweet and to the point. I usually give him several ideas on how he could use the different materials and the I let him decide ultimately what he wants to do. Then I sit back and watch them create. I can really tell how much they have learned by what they decide to add to their pictures and what they talk about while they are doing it. The invitations to create lets them process everything we have learned throughout the day and then lets them manipulate those ideas and turn them into something beautiful and concrete. I firmly believe that this helps them retain the information easier. I always make it a point to ask them about their work and have them tell me about what they created.
My daughter chose to paint a hummingbird hovering over a flower that it was eating from. She used the cupcake liner as the flower and the straw as the hummingbirds beak. She chose bright color for the flower since that is what they prefer.
My son painted two hummingbirds. He could not wrap his head around using the straw as a beak. He got that they drank nectar out of their beaks like it was a straw but insisted that their beaks were not actual straws so he painted their beaks and wings with black paint. He used the straw to paint splatters around the birds which he said were bugs. He painted a pink flower and then got the idea after seeing his sisters to use the cupcake liner as a flower so he added that as well. I have enjoyed seeing his art progress and get better. He was the boy that just a few months ago would choose one color and color the whole picture the same color. I have really seen a change in him. Even in the questions he is asking. There is a lot more meaning and thought behind everything.
The only down side is that we have so much art around that I don't know what to do with it. So far we have been successful in hanging a few pieces on the pantry doors and then clearing them when the new months theme starts. We keep some of the favorite pieces in their portfolios and there is a lot hanging all around their room. It no joke looks like we are running a Mother Goose Time store out of there. They love it though so it stays as their own personal art museum.
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