MaryAnn Kohl: The Importance of Art in Early Childhood, Part 3

~Part One is here~   ~Part Two is here~

***Enter to win a copy of MaryAnn Kohl’s book, Scribble Art!
Rules for entering are at the end of this post.***

Here is a little collage I put together of just a few of the projects we’ve done that were taken from Scribble Art:

1. Salty Watercolors (like magic!)

2. Painting with a variety of things, mixing colors, gluing things on (so much fun!)

3. Dipping colored chalk in white paint and drawing on black paper

4. Drawing with our homemade “scribble cookies” (shaped like Christmas trees)

5. Painting with melted crayons (one of our favorites!)

Whoever wins this book is in for such a treat!! :)

 

Art versus Crafts

Here is the third and final question I asked of MaryAnn:

3. Is it truly important to do "art", where a child simply enjoys the process, with no expectations placed on what the finished product will look like; instead of  making "crafts" where a finished product is the goal?  Don't crafts help develop a child's creative side and give them a final product that they can be proud of?

MARYANN:  I love art and I love crafts too, but they are very different. It is art where a child learns to trust his own thinking and finds out how art materials behave and learns to control them, all within his own power. It is art that holds the unknown and the excitement of discovery and exploration. Crafts are fun and teach skills like following directions and give a child an activity that has a product that may work around a theme like Fall Leaves or Dinosaurs, and all of that is good. Children are often proud of crafts they have created, though sometimes their final products fall short of the sample they were shown and they can feel disappointed too. With art, they are the only judge of a final product, but truly, it is the learning and the exploring that has the most value, that is, the process of experiencing art. The final product is like a road map of what occurred, not the reason for the exploration. So yes, do a craft, and yes, do art!  

MaryAnn wrote the following to me at the conclusion of our interview, and I think this may just be the most important message of all:

MARYANN: I'd like to explore what makes art special a little further: Children express themselves through art on a fundamental level. Sometimes their artwork is the manifestation of that expression, but more often, the physical process of creating is the expression. Picture the toddler who has a new baby sister busily pummeling his fists into Play-Doh; a six-year-old joyfully painting flowers with huge arm movements blending, reds and yellows; a ten year-old drawing a portrait of her grandmother who recently passed away. Creating art allows children to work through feelings and emotions, and referring to a finished piece of artwork helps a child talk about feelings in a new and meaningful way. Art also develops a child's creativity. Rather than being told what to do, answers and directions come from the child. Art is an experience that requires freethinking, experimentation, and analysis -- all part of creativity. And it is the creative person who develops his thinking process so that he can become an adult who can think, who is not afraid to try new things and new ways of solving problems and making the world a better place.

Thank you so much, MaryAnn, for taking the time to share your thoughts and knowledge with us.  I hope my readers have enjoyed this; I’m very grateful for the awareness you work so hard to bring to educators and parents regarding why art is so important.  Children seem to intuitively know this already, and now I can better understand why they love art so much!

 

Giveaway Rules

MaryAnn’s wonderful website is Bright Ring.  Please visit it and follow the link to her Free Art Activities (the link is located on her left sidebar).  To enter this giveaway, come back here and leave a comment letting me know which art project you think would appeal most to the children in your life. :)  While on her website, you can also join her mailing list and check out her blog!

This giveaway will run through Friday, October 14th.  I will pick a winner via random.org and post the winner on Saturday the 15th.  Be sure to check back!  More good news – if you just can’t wait to get one of MaryAnn’s books, she has many of them available as e-books!

For more great information about MaryAnn, her work, and her thoughts about children and art, you might be interested in reading the excellent interviews she did with Jean over at The Artful Parent (here, here, and here).

Good luck with the giveaway everyone, and have a beautiful day! :)

Maryann kohl: the importance of art in early childhood, part two

How Art Affects Development

~Part one is here.~

 

***Remember!  There is a giveaway of MaryAnn Kohl’s book, Scribble Art at the end of this series!  Any comments left on this post or the first post will earn you an extra entry in the giveaway.  Comments on part one and part two will be closed when the final post is published.***

 

The second question I asked of MaryAnn Kohl is below, and her answer is packed full of information that I think will be of interest to many of you (it sure was to me!).  Being a good parent and/or teacher means, in part, helping our children develop skills that will serve them well their whole lives long.  In early childhood, art is an easy and fun way to accomplish some of these goals.  I’m so excited to be able to share this!  

2. Is a child's development affected by allowing them to experience art and explore art materials at an early age? 

MARYANN:  Art may seem like fun and games -- and it is! -- but you may not realize that your child is actually learning a lot through art activities. Your children will gain useful life skills through art, so encourage them to get creative, and you will quickly see that your children are picking up these skills:

Communication Skills:

When a child draws a picture, paints a portrait, or hangs buttons from a wobbly mobile, that child is beginning to communicate visually. A child may draw to document an actual experience like playing in the park, release feelings of joy by painting swirling colors, or share an emotionally charged experience like the passing of a loved one through art. Art goes beyond verbal language to communicate feelings that might not otherwise be expressed.

Problem-Solving Skills:

When children explore art ideas, they are testing possibilities and working through challenges, much like a scientist who experiments and finds solutions. Should I use a shorter piece of yarn to balance my mobile? This tape isn't holding -- what should I try instead? How did I make brown -- I thought I made orange? Art allows children to make their own assessments, while also teaching them that a problem may have more than one answer. Instead of following specific rules or directions, the child's brain becomes engaged in the discovery of "how" and "why."  Even when experimenting or learning how to handle art materials effectively, children are solving challenges and coming up with new ways to handle unexpected outcomes.

Social & Emotional Skills:

Art helps children come to terms with themselves and the control they have over their efforts. Through art, they also practice sharing and taking turns, as well as appreciating one another's efforts. Art fosters positive mental health by allowing a child to show individual uniqueness as well as success and accomplishment, all part of a positive self-concept.


Fine Motor Skills:

Fine motor skills enable a child do things like delicately turn the page of a book or fill in a sheet of paper with written words. Holding a paintbrush so that it will make the desired marks, snipping paper with scissors into definite shapes, drawing with a crayon, or squeezing glue from a bottle in a controlled manner all help develop a child's fine motor skills and control of materials.

Isn’t it amazing how much goodness art can add to our lives?  I value “art time” in our home because of the joy that creating and experimenting give to M (and honestly, to me too, when I sit and do art with him); but I find that I value it even more and am purposeful in making it part of our day when I remember how beneficial art is to his overall development.  Thank you, MaryAnn! :)

Post three will focus on “Art” versus “Crafts”, and I’ll talk a bit more about Scribble Art, hopefully posting some photos of the actual projects we’ve done that were found in this treasure of a book. (I think this was the first book of MaryAnn’s that we bought, and it is most likely the one we’ve gone to most often in the past few years.  I’m very excited that one of my readers will win it!)

Have a beautiful day! :)