This year, I am spending a lot of time with the smallest people in the school building - Pre-K. A very long time ago, the thought of teaching art to Pre-K was mind-boggling, but now that I've had the opportunity to work with them, I've learned that they are *magical*. They are so fun and I love them! I work with a Pre-K class every day of the week, so I have many chances to work out kinks and create what I think is best for them - which includes a lot of exploration and play with art tools. I am not an expert, but I do know that Pre-K's benefit so much from playing and experimenting with art tools. It gets kind of trance-like in the art room while they are busy making and playing and it's an incredible thing to observe :) I have been learning a lot from the blog by Meri Cherry and I highly recommend her e-book too, Art Secrets Every Teacher Should Know.
Here are some results from our first project of the year - each kid created a large 12x18 multi-media artwork that we added to over the span of three, 40 minute art sessions together. We always start class with a fun book, then I introduce the tools one at a time so that I can really dissect them and how to use/care for them. So. much. fun!!!
Day #1 - pencils, shape stencils, then crayons
Day #2 - pre-cut paper shapes & glue sticks, dot stickers, then markers
Day #3 - watercolor paints! and water soluble oil pastels
Love them all! I love all the layers because you can "see" their thinking process as they go :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, Hope! I agree, it is awesome to see how these grow thru experimentation!
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