Kids and Art

One of the best children's activities in winter is art. Lots of parents regard art with suspicion simply because it makes such a mess. But art is one of the most "teaching" and "learning" experiences there are for kids.

Getting organized about art is not hard, but it does take a little thought and it is important to keep the art flowing. Art can begin with something as common and available as the back of old envelopes and a stray pencil or pen in the back of a car. The only problem with this is if the drawing is worth saving, you can't transfer it to another piece of paper. So establishing a time, a place and some minutes to do this gives the whole project a place in the life of a child.

Establishing a place for art is probably a good idea at home. The kitchen table makes a really great place to do art because most kitchen floors are washable. Paints, crayons, clay and glue seem to have difficulty in the hands of a three year old in the living room. Even an eight year old spills. The other disadvantage to rooms other than the kitchen is the TV. Art should never be done passively in front of TV. Art is not meant to be passive, and TV is. TV creates an immediate conflict of environments to the serious artist and to the child learning.

Keep art supplies close to the art place, and make art times frequent - like telephone time or dinner making time, or work homework for a parent make excellent art times for kids.

A place to put the equipment is another dilemma for many parents. I use a drawer in my kitchen. Outside a drawer, a big shoe box holds most things pretty well - at least for one child.

What to buy? Go slowly at first. Good crayons are the best starting point. Crayons bought at a dollar store are usually weak and don't have as good color as real Crayons. Buy eight crayons to start and let the child explore these colors first. The big boxes are great for older children who have experience. The many colored boxes of crayons only get in the way of the art. Keep it simple to start, and then add more as your child wears out his first set. Let children spill out the crayons into a bowl or a plate. They can't see them tucked into the box. Crayons don't need to be put into the box to keep. They can be rubberbanded together or even have their own disposible kitchen keeper.

When you feel it's time for water colors - good next step - always buy Prang Paints. These are the very best paints available. We've tried just about every kind of paint there is, and Prang Paints are deep colors and easy to use. Find a nice flat bottomed mug fill it half way and sit with your child teaching him, "Water, paint, paper." Sometimes it's good to take out the black paint. Let the child feel the sweep of the paint across the paper. Remember - we are not painting a barn!

Regular copy paper will do for most activities like drawing and painting, but when it's time to cut and paste, a multiple package of construction paper and a bottle of glue make a lot of fun for young children. Colored paper is my favorite medium. Buy a good pair of children's scissors and find a little tiny bowl for glue. Children should learn to glue with their fingers because that's how they learn to work with the paper. Gluing with the end of a nozzle or that dreadful stick glue doesn't teach the real thing. The point is, glue is supposed to work.

Clay is another excellent art experience for kids. There are several kinds of clay available. Play Dough is a commercial product that kids seem to like very much. You can make a home version of play dough by mixing two cups of flour, one cup of salt, two tablespoons of cooking oil and three quarters cup of hot water together either by hand or by machine. It lasts about a week. Keep it in a ziplock or another kitchen keeper.

There is also petroleum based clay available in dollar stores that costs about a dollar. This clay lasts forever. It's best not to mix the colors because the sum of the colors is a nasty gray. This clay keeps any old way, but keeping "stuff" from invading the clay means putting the clay away into a bag or another kitchen keeper.

There is also earth clay which is a treasure and lasts for years. Crayola puts out a product very near earth clay, and some of the art stores sell the real thing. I still have earth clay ornaments my kids made years ago. Earth clay dries hard in the sun, but it is fragile.

There are hundreds of other things that make wonderful art supplies, but this is a good place to start with very young children.

Never give a child materials without supervision. It's best not to mix media because of chaos. Chaos and art never mix well. Decide what you want to do and pull out the materials you will need and begin there. It's nice to have an adult prototype as a model if you are teaching children how to do a particular thing. Yesterday in class, I wanted to teach the children how to draw naked trees on a hill. It was a stick drawing with a few curves. I chose crayons to work with. It went very well because I did the prototype in front of the class. Some of the younger children had trouble starting, but once they had the starting point, each one was able to take off and draw an excellent free art scene on his own.

Art is supposed to be expression, but children will become frustrated if they don't know how to do something and there is no one there to teach them. Keep it simple. Keep the lines and the curves simple, and every child will respond positively. Our Principal, Mrs. St. Louis, teaches what she calls directed drawing to large groups, and the result is amazing. She calmly talks to the children about where the lines come from and why, and then each of them tries to do it, and every child goes away from his artwork thrilled with what he has accomplished.

Next week: teaching the creative child to explore!