Exploring Art in West AM

By Peckie Peters, Head Teacher

Macawber is a squirrel with aspirations to be an artist—a fictional squirrel, that is. He’s the main character in a children’s book by the same name, which we read in West AM this January. Macawber’s inspirations come from paintings he sees as he looks through the windows of an art museum from the branch of a tree in Central Park. One day, he decides to try out his skills, and through practice and experimentation discovers his artistic talents and interests. The story was so believable that at its conclusion many children wondered aloud whether it was a true story. The children were intrigued. Meanwhile, as the year began, the children were busy with another art-related activity. They were mixing colors, a pursuit that had taken off the previous quarter. By winter they were mixing with confidence.

As teachers, we saw the possibility of furthering the children’s interest in art and engaging them in conversations about the topic. We started by observing children’s behavior as they engaged with artistic materials. For example, as Kara approached the art table she smiled as she saw the familiar set-up with the table-top easel, a small cup of water, a small rectangular sponge, a paint brush and a limited palette of colors: magenta, yellow, turquoise and white. She sat down and dipped her brush in the magenta and spread it on her “canvas.” She again dipped her brush in water, dabbed it on the sponge, and then repeated the process with the yellow. Her attention was focused on her work and her expression was relaxed, yet thoughtful. Around the table were Tzewa, Ryan and Colin. They each demonstrated the same level of concentration.

As evidenced above, in early childhood children’s learning and creative exploration emphasizes process and repeated experience with materials. Stated eloquently by Stanford professor emeritus Elliot W. Eisner, PhD, “learning is seldom significant when it is limited to a one-time affair. …What are needed are sequential opportunities to work on problems with one material, time to get a feel for that material, and time to learn how to cope with problems engendered by the materials so that mastery is secured.” In setting the stage to expand the children’s artistic experiences, we focused on four components: 1) Making sure that children were involved in activities that were meaningful, 2) Encouraging children to discover various elements of art, 3) Providing them many opportunities to explore and 4) Helping them to see that their experiences were valued.

The activity of painting was meaningful to children as they visited and revisited it. Each week, we supported learning by expanding the array of materials and allowing the children to assimilate their learned skills, while also incorporating new materials. For example, the basic color palette included white, magenta, blue, turquoise and yellow and children mixed their own shades from just those colors.

We progressed to the point where the children were creating a vast spectrum of colors by picking from over a dozen choices. Not only did they select the paint to add to their palette, they helped themselves to more when they needed it, carefully squeezing the paint container so it would deliver a reasonable amount.

In looking at artistic elements to emphasize, teachers had to first understand, then break down the components which might be both relevant and developmentally appropriate to three-, four- and five-year olds. Elements of art chosen included emphasis on line, shape, color, texture and space. Focusing on these elements allowed us to give the children the vocabulary they needed to effectively share their work. For example, in one discussion about lines the children shared a variety of ideas: “Lines can be like a pole or a stick” (Polina), “Two lines down with one across is called a double cross” (Charlotte), “There can be breaks in lines” (Anna), or “Lines can have four teeth and look scary” (Rafferty). Rafferty then drew a picture of a “lion” using lots of lines to demonstrate his point.

In addition, the teachers increased the children’s awareness about the tools they used to better understand how different implements serve different functions. Each week we expanded the instruments available, giving children the opportunity to revisit a familiar one or experiment with a new one. We used brushes of various lengths and widths; gadgets which spread paint, others which rolled it or stamped it; sponges; and a variety of found materials. Ben even created a brush using natural materials he found outside and added it to the choices available for the group. As the children worked, they verbalized their creative inspirations and observations, sometimes to themselves, other times to another child: “Look, this brush makes a fat line,” “I made this paper stick to the paint,” “Mine looks like feet!” Other children would glance at the work of their peers and often try to imitate it. Clearly, the children’s awareness of their skills was being reinforced by the interest of their friends.

The children’s developing independence and capacity to help each other gave the teachers more freedom to observe them at work and engage them in conversation. Inviting children to talk about their artwork is one of the best ways to help them develop. Not only does it help them to develop their “artistic” language, it also shows them that adults think their art is important. Children need confidence to learn anything, and knowing that we value what they do provides a great boost. Posing open-ended questions and making specific observations encouraged the children to explore further. For example, when a teacher noticed a child had mixed magenta and turquoise to make a pleasing shade of purple, she asked the child: “Do you think you could add another color to that to make the color of your shirt?” (which was lavender) “I could add white,” the child answered quickly and proceeded to mix the new color.

With repeated opportunities to explore techniques and materials, the children developed a belief that they could experiment independently. Sponges became paintbrushes for spreading paint over a large surface. The children discovered that wet paint could be like glue and items could be stuck in it. As they made these discoveries, the teachers invited them to share their processes at story time, enabling them to share their ideas with an audience of their peers. Each day, one or two children demonstrated a technique they had discovered or showed the group how they learned to paint a particular item. This helped the other children realize that they too had capabilities and subsequently inspired them to share their knowledge with the group. Adding technology broadened this sharing experience. Both the overhead projector and the movie camera let the children in the audience see work from multiple angles and on different scales, as it was being demonstrated by a child and often narrated by a teacher. What developed was a shared culture of appreciating art, sharing information and often collaborating on projects.

It seemed that focusing on the children’s interest in painting helped to create a collective mindset that artistic skills and creative confidence could develop with consistent practice and determination. We learned that children perceive and represent their understanding of the world in a variety of ways and if you observe closely, you see that they focus on what is important to them at that moment. Like other areas of child development, the important dimension is the process, not the outcome or product. Providing children opportunities to explore artistic materials and experience a variety of processes helps them to develop a love of art, an enjoyment of different aspects of the artistic process and a growing confidence in their own competence.