I can not begin to tell you the number of times in my many many years of teaching, that I've heard another child say, "That's not grass, because the grass is supposed to be green!" I always chime in at this point and explain that Art is created from the imagination. I usually get that eye of skepticism as the busy work that's going on in the Art Area continues. A few things I'd like to share with you about my classroom. I am not the kind of teacher that believes "areas" are little prisons for the toys that belong in them. I am completely okay with a child taking the counting bears over to the kitchen area to make a tasty stew or the markers and scrap paper to the construction area to create a treasure map. I believe that play is the work of the child and that looks different on each child. This includes the color of his or her grass. Many times children will make an unidentified creation and when asked to explain the imagination, what follows makes perfect sense. The children take such pride in their work and its as important for me to facilitate this journey of discovery.
Each year to help children explore the Arts we have an Art Show. The children work on various pieces all year. During the last week of school, I put out their portfolio and allow them to select the art pieces they would like to share in the show. Each piece is carefully labeled and displayed. Our classroom is small, we like to think of it as quaint, so we have to think outside of the box. We hang artwork from hula hoops and the children create display areas using boxes. It is truly a labor of love.
We invite students, teachers, and parents to join us in our celebration. The Art is displayed with some information or documentation of the piece. We make our own refreshments. I like to explain to the children that cooking is also an art and we spend some time exploring the culinary arts. We do our best to allow the children to explore as many mediums of art as possible during the school year. This gives us so many choices and allows a great opportunity to do some reflecting on what we discovered when experiencing the process. One of the favorites this year was "scrap box art".
We allow the children to create using whatever we placed in the scrap box. It's a great time to discuss recycling and how we can reuse many materials to support another idea.
Today as the children are rifling through their works, I hear a child say,
"Why is your picture like that?"
"It's a rainbow but the colors are from my imagination" the other child replies.
"I like it" the curious child states with a smile.
I liked it as well, it is how I hope they continue to see the world. Both asking why and finding a different way to see things. Celebrating the point of view of another, even if it is not matching one's own. I know at times finding the balance of bringing the real world into the classroom and leaving the imaginative magic can be daunting. I find it easiest to follow the children, When asked, "Why is the grass green?" we explore and discover what makes grass green. When asked,
"What if the grass was rainbow?" We celebrate the idea and explore the areas of make-believe.
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