When I think of "The Arts" my mind heads in the direction of paint, sculpture, dance, and music. Art is exciting, intense, personal, emotional, collaborative, creative, inspiring, and wonderful. It is regardless of medium not flat. Therefore, in my mind, it's critical not to limit my littles art exposure to paint, crayons, play-doh, simple tunes and rhymes. While all of those things can be wonderful. Exposing my littles to the Arts is about tapping into that awe inspiring raw emotional self that is who they are … in this moment. Pablo Picasso's quote above is one of my favorites and rings so true to this mama's ears.
Arts Vs. Crafts
I love doing both Arts and Crafts with my little ones. From this mom's perspective both have wonderful, but distinctly different value. I am frequently disappointed when test driving learning programs, materials and such that present them only as one thing, "Arts & Crafts". I find it equally disturbing when programs only focus on one or the other. I think it's important to find time for both. For us, Craft Time is a great time to reinforce learning objectives and practice following directions. Art Time is time to follow our bliss, create, and learn how to respect and appreciate our art materials. I absolutely love the book Young & Art by Susan Striker. It is full of great ideas for opening your littles up to creating and appreciating art. At our house we have an art center that is set up for independent art activities. The littles have open access to create art whenever the mood strikes. When it's craft time we typically work at our activity table.
How do you approach Arts & Crafts with your littles?
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