10:30 Wonder Arts Class: Paint!!!

This Tuesday, I set up many different painting "provocations" for the toddlers. By provocation, I mean... an invitation to investigate and explore various "possibilities" of a medium. I think it's important for teachers to always ask themselves, "Why?" What is my intention? Am I trying to create something that will be "cute" or am I actually setting up situations that will create children to reflect, wonder, and think? I also try to consider different ways I can encourage social interaction between the children (as well as adults), and different areas of their development (cognitive, gross motor, fine motor, etc...) that could be enhanced. When planning the "experiences" provided, I have to remember to make sure there are multiple ways to engage with the medium and that it will not only offer one way of exploring. For example...

One piece of long piece of paper...Red and Yellow Paint...Animals

It seems very simple but take away one of these elements and you leave out many opportunities for exploration.

Red and yellow paint provide an invitation to explore the possibilities of using them one on one or perhaps mixing the colors.

Having the tray on the floor indicates to children they may put their hands and feet in the paint and explore how it might feel.

The paper lends itself to being painted on which allows the children to witness cause and effect between their foot and handprints.

The animals provide an entry point for those children who might be hesitant to dip their own feet or hands into the paint. But more importantly the animals provide an avenue of social interaction with imaginative stories, as well as, taking turns and sharing with peers.

In the book, In the Spirit of the Studio, by Gandini, Hill, Cadwell, and Schwall, it is stated:

As children use paper, clay, wire, Paint, etc... different alphabets will develop from the different materials. As children use their hands and minds to act on a material using gestures and tools and begin to acquire skills, experience, strategies, and rules, structures are developed within the child that can be considered a sort of alphabet. It is essential for children to acquire knowledge of materials, gain competence with them , and use them in a variety of ways. They often discover or invent different ways of using materials in the process of experimentation and observing through other children.
After all, I don't feel the studio's goal is to create child prodigies or "artists" but instead to give children a safe and joyful place to develop familiarity with different creative mediums so that when they are ready, the materials begin to present themselves in a way that will become a "conduit for expression that communicates the child's thoughts and feelings".

Koosh balls, white paint, black paper hung on a wall...

As we are always reminding children NOT to throw things, I wanted to give them an opportunity TO throw. The big arm movement, eye-hand coordination, as well as, the cause and effect relationship between the paint left behind on the paper from the ball, seemed like a fantastic combination. However, very few of the children seemed to be drawn to this experience. Could have been the texture of the ball did not lend itself to being "Ball-like" enough, or perhaps something about how the paper was displayed on the wall...Well, something about this set-up did not invite much interaction. Ideas are swirling right now in my brain about how to alter this experience for next time.
This guy did seem to enjoy finger painting with the white paint and then making handprints on the black paper. "The ways in which children invent with materials are often unexpected and surprising; therefore, it is important for the adults who work with children to adopt an attitude of freedom and open-ended possibility toward the children's work."

In the Spirit of the Studio p17







Making soup! I am a big believer and in agreement with the fabulous Bev Bos who says, Children must have more, more, more, so that they learn about what enough means!