Printmaking, Color Mixing, Golf Ball Painting 12-8

Printmaking has endless opportunities for exploration and learning. When introducing this new "language" to children, I try and keep the steps to a minimum, and I love to see the "surprise" when a parents helps the child to place the paper down and lift it to see what happens. "See what happens" is one of my favorite phrases! I noticed some of the children using this phrase during class. I believe in the magicness of childhood and encouraging children to experiment rather than adults always telling them what will happen. I think it is good for adults to listen to the children because often what you think might happen doesn't, something new and magical occurs.

"Imagination is more important than knowledge, for while knowledge points to all there is, imagination points to all there will be." -Albert Einstein

Often I hear wonderful questions from children, "Why is the sky blue, or how does this work?" Sometimes, adults want to say, "Let's look it up on the internet and find the "real" answer. We think we are doing them a favor and filling them up with important facts. Unfortunately, that "real" answer steals away, the drive to seek our own answers, the spirit of experimentation, imagination, learning to problem solve, learning to THINK. When children ask questions like this, I see it as a wonderful opportunity for the adults in their life to "set the stage" for learning. Turn off the computer! While it can be a useful tool for older children, it is too abstract for young children. Young children (and older ones too!) neeed to use their hands (not a mouse!) and their heads. Saying to your child, "Interesting question, what do you think?" puts the ball back in their court. It shows them that Mommy and Daddy are not the only sources of information, perhaps I can be a source of information as well! Brainstorm yourself or with other adults around you, how you could set up the environment to allow your child to discover the answers they seek!

M. and her Mama sharing a beautiful moment of discovery!

Rolling balls dipped in paint invites children to many ideas of physics! According to The Young Child as a Scientist by Chaille and Britain p76-78, physical knowledge is constructed by the child's action on objects his observation of the object's reaction. There are four criteria to be targeted in maximizing the child's ability to observe the effects of his or her action on objects.

1. The child must be able to produce the movement by his or her own actions.
2. The child must be able to vary his or her actions.

3. The reaction of the object must be observable.

4. The reaction of the object must be immediate.

So while many people see Golf Ball Painting as "Cute", we understand that our children are really learning how to experiment, establishing correspondence between themselves and objects, learning cause and effect, and so much more!

C. exclaimed, "Spiderwebs!"

Mixing colors is a fantastic gift to children. It's so hard for us adults to watch all the colors turn to brown, because they always seem to want to mix every single color together! However, with time and repeated exposure to this idea, they will learn how to make different shades, what colors to mix together to form others. While we want them to be successful in achieving beautiful hues and shades, dissapointment and frustration are necessary in creating something new! Frustration can be healthy and can often lead to learning. However, when you see them starting to give up or losing interest, that's a good time to intervene. My motto is wait...wait...wait... and then wait some more....Then as they are about to really lose it...It's ok to give children an idea and they can either take it or perhaps they don't care for it..."See what happens when you just mix 2 colors?" "What would happen if you mixed red with white?"

"I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that won't work." - Thomas Edison

C. came over to the paint mixing table with a clear goal of making pink. "I want to make Pink!" How do we do it? After allowing him some time to experiment with mixing different colors, Mom made a suggestion which led to...

PINK!

The interest in pink was contagious!