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Monday, February 27, 2012

Freedom in creativity...

Children are artists...  Give them the opportunity and an environment or experience that invites them to create and they will!  Last summer I was able to create a little "atelier" by closing in my balcony and putting painting easels out there.  For most of the children this was their very first experience of painting BIG, and for a number of them it was their very first painting experience altogether.  Needless to say it became a favourite place for the children to be during the warm months, and during that time they really honed their skills.


But when the long cold winter days came it turned into a freezer.... literally, so painting out on the balcony was no longer an option!




















So we moved back inside, and they tried their hands at some drawing...


  

 

and collage.  Drawing is always popular, but the collage really drew great attention. The children choose their own materials and designs and are free to be as creative as they like... 





















 
I think what they enjoy more than anything else is the freedom to choose.  At home there is not a lot of opportunity to create, and if they have been to kindergarten (preschool) before they know that they are given a certain amount of materials to replicate the teacher's example.  But when faced with the option of doing ANYTHING they like, well it is very liberating, as you can imagine.  They pick out interesting materials, they share ideas about how to use them, they come up with creative new ways to place, cut, glue and design.  It's a wonderful time of exploring and creating.

Lately the children have been asking to paint again, and I am hopeful that we will be back out on the balcony soon (it warmed up to -7C outside today, and the ice is melting!), but in the meantime we tried something a little new and different...




















For some this was an exciting new experience...






For others it was fun, but they were not as keen on getting quite so messy...



All in all it was a great experience!
 
 And one that we will use again, and adapt as we come up with new interests and ideas... such as:

bathing the dinosaurs in the water meant for washing hands after painting!  This is an interest we should follow up on....    

2 comments:

  1. Loved the pictures and progression of creativity as you gave the kids different materials, colors and suggestions. They created some nice pieces of art and from what the last picture showed, they even brought creativity to the cleaning station!

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    1. Thanks- they certainly were well pleased with themselves and their creations! It was messy, and FUN! I talked with my language teacher about this learning experience (she used to be a kindergarten teacher) and she didn't quite understand the concept at first (spreading paint out across the table with your fingers and painting this way) but when she did she reflected how this would not happen at kindergartens here and that if children got paint all over their hands they would be scolded! I think there must be so many early childhood experiences that we take for granted... one of which being finger painting!!

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