Exploring Lines

H was carefully drawing lines. 

She made little curve with her felt.

                                               They are going to the water Park.

                                        Mama Mermaid, Dada Mermaid and baby Mermaid.

                                         There is a monster.

•My Reflection :

This is a completely new concept for me to encourage children with drawing lines. I was wondering how I can introduce this activity to my preschoolers. What will they do –will they stick to just drawing lines?  Will they scribble or draw something else? It filled all of  my thoughts this wonder and I was curious to observe them. Morning Class –when all of the children came -I sat down with them and on a large paper drew a line with a felt and told them ,”This is a line.” I Also  encouraged them to find some lines from around our class room. They all were excited to find lines –they pointed table edge, poster  , ceiling, door - everywhere they found lines. Once we finished our line hunting adventure, I set the art table with felts and large white paper for each child.

•I was observing all of them and they all were drawing lines carefully .Some of them were interested to change the felt color as well. “H” was using brown felt for her lines-she drew a few lines and told me –Teacher, look, water –I was wondering what she was trying to draw. I said, I can see you drew some lines –I can see that its look like water. She made a little curve with the felt which gave the water little wave .She was changing her felt color, sometimes she picked green and sometimes yellow. She was enthusiastically drawing and took a long time to finish her art. Once she was done, she said—inside the water there are Mama Mermaid, dada mermaid and baby Mermaid. They are  going to the water park .I noticed that all of them were holding hands-she said ,they are holding hands or they will be lost. Finally she drew another figure and said –look this is sea monster-all mermaid need to hide now.

Rainbow Butterfly

 1:Children have been learning about butterflies and their life cycle.

 2:We extended this to the art activity and discussed about the Butterfly's Body parts.

 3:Children were observant and creative while they were designing their Butterfly.

 4:Some children decided they needed to add antenna, so we grabbed pipe cleaners from our art cupboard.

5:One child explained that his Butterfly was so happy because we had a Sunny Day.

Spring is coming soon, Mashaallah, so many Caterpillar were at the outdoor play area .Children were curious about their body parts,what they eat, and how they grow. We created the learning environment where children can investigate,observe, explore, and can get all the answer they were curious about. We started our discussion about who created butterflies and how they help us.  Also, why we need to be kind to the the creation of Allah.

Children were adventures to find what is inside the butterfly body.  How they use their wings, why their wing are too soft. We tried to answered their question by reading a book, showing the video clip about butterfly life cycle, and also we did some movements to show how the butterfly flap their wings-Alhamdulillah  Allah created a beautiful world for us. When we extended it to the art activity, I observed that children were curious and creative when they were decorating their butterfly .They wanted to colour it with various felt pens. They also wanted to glue it with the pipe cleaner and I was amazed when one child asked me to provide glitter for her "Rainbow Butterfly", Subhanallah .

Ice Cube Art and Science Experiment

Ice cube art and experiment

Winter in Vancouver is not snowy like other provinces-we have limited opportunity to experience snow here. Fortunately,  we had some chances to experience some snow a few day ago in Richmond and Vancouver. Sometimes we cannot have plenty of time for the preschool children  to spend a long time in the outdoors to explore and investigate more about Nature. I decided to create some opportunities for the children ice inside the classroom. 

We already had made artificial snow in the classroom sensory table before this art activity. This is the extension activity we provided after that sensory experience. Children were so delighted to observe the ice cube with the Popsicle stick; it was colorful and appealing for the children. They were touching it, and discussed how they felt when they touched it. Before we presented it to them, we explained that it was only for art, we couldn’t eat it because the color was not safe for putting in their mouths. (Next time may be we will put something they can taste -maybe in the summer time. 

Some children wanted to touch it, some of them enjoying the way it was melting on the paper and some were curious to observe why the water was absorbed in to the construction paper? They were creative and investigative while they were doing the art. After finishing art we decided to save it in the jar and displayed it on the science area to observe how the ice was melting. Teachers were showing and explaining to the children why ices were melted. Children were free to touch and feel, and had opportunity to experiment with the ice cube .It was a fun and exciting experience for our preschoolers.

Changing the Paper Colour

For the art activity we provided oil pastel, water colors and paint brushes -because we have been doing color mixing with our preschoolers, we thought it will be beneficial if we provided two different colours for their art. At the beginning we just put oil pastel to be creative -They were scribbling, drawing and doing experiments with the medium.  When they finished exploring,  we demonstrated to the children how can we covered the pastel and page with the water colour. Children were very excited to use their brushes with the water color. Some of them were doing experiments with mixing the colour-They carefully observed what happened when they mixed pink and blue together.  Some of them were really enthusiastic to put more water colour on their paper. When they finished their art, they noticed how their paper had changed colour -also we put it on the rack and after a few minutes they noticed how their paper dried--how the colours looked a bit different when dry.

Different Ways of Learning

For one of the art activities, I put multicolored pompom balls, glue and Popsicle sticks- and also displayed colored pencils, if they wanted to explore more. X is the only child who often ignores the art activity. When he saw that we put pompom balls, he was really excited to join with the other children. He was very careful to spread the glue on his orange paper, then with his two fingers he picked black, orange, black and white balls--whenever he was picking, he was saying the color. I was amazed to observe how the other children were helping him to tell the colors as well. They were improving their fine motor skills, counting the balls, sorting them and being very creative when they were placing the Popsicle stick on their paper. X was so engaged and enthusiastic while gluing all the materials I provided for the children. When X had finished his art, he was looking at it with his beautiful smile and told me, "Sister Fatima-I did it, I will show mummy."  I have seen the enjoyment and passion in X-how happy he was when he had finished his activity. He recieved uninterrupted time and various materials to explore his creativity and expand his skills.  Children always need that support from adults-no matter if it is from their parents or teachers.  Please give that opportunity to our young people to be confidence and secure.

Encouraging Creativity Through Open Ended Art

Painting our 'Kaba" for Hajj

Children's Open-ended Art

Encouraging Creativity through Open Ended Art
by Debbie Gray

Creativity is defined as the ability to generate a new idea and product.
Creative thinking is random and intuitive, meaning, exciting ideas appear from nowhere, unexpected connections occur, and solutions to different problems can reveal themselves.  Creative thinking is as
important as the analytical thinking which our society has traditionally emphasized.  Creativity needs to be nurtured.

Young children have the desire to create.  Art is a means of selfexpression, a way for a child to show his/her feelings and express emotions.  It is important as educators that we take a child’s artistic
talent seriously and appreciate and value the process of creating open-ended art as well as the product.  Open-ended art allows the children to do “free art” and make independent choices on what materials to use and the outcome of the work.  Open-ended art is focused on individual expression rather than
on the final product.  When a child experiments with open-ended art with a variety of materials, the child is learning initiative, problem solving, taking risks by showing originality, and expressing herself through representation.

In contrast, with pattern or teacher directed art work, the focus is on the finished product.  This type of art work stifles the child’s creativity and can hurt their self esteem if their picture does not look exactly like
the pattern or their friends’ work.

How do we as educators (and parents) support and encourage open-ended creative art work?
• Provide a rich assortment of materials and experiences.
• Follow the child’s lead.  Children generally learn from experiences that are an interest of their own.
•  Expand on the child’s ideas whenever possible by explaining other uses for the materials that are provided, and asking open-ended questions.
• Make objective observations.  As the child is creating try to make descriptive, factual observations about the work, for example, “I like the way you used a lot of green and red.” or  “I see you have made a lot of blue circles in your picture.”instead of statements such as “I like your picture.”
• Encourage conversation by asking open-ended questions or prompts such as “Tell me about your picture.”
Exploration and creative thinking are linked to meeting challenges throughout our life!
                                             
i
 Parents As Teacher National Center –Born to Learn Curriculum 3 years to Kindergarten Entry.
ii
 Zellich, K. (1996).  Constructivist Art-Decoding the differences
http://www.claytonearlylearning.org/files/encouraging-creativity-through-open-ended-art.pdf

Dear Mom and Dad

Dear Mom and Dad, 

It may not look like much, but my scribbles are very important!  Scribbling is the first step in learning to write, 

and I am developing the muscles I will need to hold a pencil! 

Sometimes a scribble is not just a scribble! 

Love, 

Your Child

*****

Stages of Art Development:

Stage One:  Manipulative 

Random attempts to manipulate various materials – scribbling, thick sweeps of paint strokes, pounding and squeezing of clay.  Typically seen in children under 4 years, with focus on experiential and tactile. 

Stage Two:  Patterning/Design

Typically develops by age 4, experimentation with beginning to master materials. Children discovering lines, shapes, dots, spaces, and patterns. 

Stage Three:  Naming/Symbolic

Children able to make models or pictures representing things, often with object in mind as they begin the process.

Stage Four:  Representation

Develops around age 5 or 6, with children’s art actually resembling objects represented.  Initially many details missing, with more detail as skill level and motor control develop. 

*****

Open-ended Art:
(Open-ended art is about the experience of creating and exploring the material, not just the end product.)

1.   Provides a means of communication and  

     expression 

2.   Serves as an emotional release 

3.   Heightens aesthetic awareness and sensitivity 

4.   Develops and promotes creative thinking 

5.   Develops an appreciation for individuality 

6.   Serves as a balance in classroom activities 

7.   Assists in the development of physical 

     coordination  

8.   Strengthens self-concept and self confidence 

9.   Increases self understanding 

10. Enhances the ability to visualize 

11. Helps develop fine motor skills 

12. Provides opportunities for problem-  

      solving and decision making 

13. Provides insight and assists the adult in  

      understanding the child 

14. Develops self-help skills 

15. Illustrates cause and effect

(taken from http://123child.com/website-share/Open_ended_art.pdf)