Process Art is not about us. It's about them.
TIP #1: Set the expections up front
At the beginning on the year, send home a flyer about the types of activities you'll be doing in your room and WHY. If you need a template to get you started, I've got you. Click here to download a one-page document that you can personalize for your class.
TIP #2: Take pictures
Capturing the actual creation will help parents to visualize what exactly happened. Video is even better. See how focused they are? See how they are smiling?
TIP #3: Stop sending the art home
Stop worrying about HAVING something to send home. It's okay if they don't take something home. If the process is what really matters, the product created isn't needed as proof. Don't feel like you need to keep everything. Often times in our art centers, those small quarter sheets of paper get used and left there, with no name or way of knowing who it belongs to. We usually pile them all up and save them until the end of the day JUST IN CASE someone comes back for it. If not, it get's thrown away. If the kids don't care, why should you?
TIP #4: Make collaborative art instead
Giant collaborative art is wonderful for the classroom because it's easier to prepare, uses fewer resources, and encourages communication skills between students. Plus, when the art stays in the classroom, it can be revisited over and over (and none of the parents have to figure out what to do with the day's art.)
TIP #5: Document what the children say about their art
Write a note quoting the child's explanation of their art. Drawing for preschoolers is more about communication than it is about making something pretty. This way parents can continue the conversation at home.
I hope that those tips are helpful. What's your best tip for advocating for more PROCESS ART in the preschool classroom? I'd love to know!
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More Process Art for PreschoolersWe were blessed this past month to host a number of groups for private events and classes. Two northland elementary schools hosted summer workshops at the studio. We have all the audio-visual equipment, tables and chairs to accommodate groups as large as 45. They worked most of the day preparing for the upcoming school year, but we took a break to paint and be creative! It’s so valuable for teams to learn and grow together creatively! We also hosted a private class for the Epilepsy Foundation of Missouri and Kansas. They needed custom artwork for their 5K banners. We designed a special project to fit their needs. Orange Easel provided the space, supplies, and instruction. They provided the artists! The result was our Faces of Epilepsy self-portraits. Check out a few of them below: Let us be your group’s MakerspaceStudio rental rates, project prices, and supply costs vary greatly, but we'd love to chat with you about customizing an event just for you!
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To get the conversation started, [click here] Art-Making {Transition from School to Home}The first thing my kids want to do when they get home from school is get a snack and veg-out in front of the television. (Admittedly, some days, that exactly what happens.) But my favorite thing to do with them after school is paint. Paint is inviting. It's sensory. It's open-ended. Plus, they don't fight while they're doing it. AND, sometimes they actually tell me about their day while they paint!
I put together a collection of some of my favorite art invitations for after school. These are invitations that are require very little prep on your part. Some of these may seem "too young" for your big kids, but never underestimate the older kids' desire to finger paint. (And how GOOD it is for them!) Art InvitationsCheck some of these out. And, if you try one, or if you have your own favorites, tell me about it in the comments below!
This morning he's going to walk down the front steps, wave his hand, and start out on the great adventure . . . It is and adventure that might take him across continents, across oceans . . . It's an adventure that will probably include wars and tragedy and sorrow . . . To live his life in the world he will have to live in, will require faith and love and courage. So, World, I wish you would sort of look after him . . . Take him by the hand and teach him things he will have to know. But do it gently, if you can. He will have to learn, I know, that all men are not just, that all men are not true. But teach him also that for every scoundrel there is a hero . . . that for every crooked politician there is a great and dedicated leader . . . Teach him that for every enemy, there is a friend. Steer him away from envy, if you can . . . and teach him the secret of quiet laughter. In school, World, teach him it is far more honorable to fail that to cheat . . . Teach him to have faith in his own idea, even if everyone says they are wrong . . . Teach him to be gentle with gentle people and tough with tough people. Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd when everyone is getting on the bandwagon . . . Teach him to listen to all men--but teach him also to filter all he hears on a screen of truth and take just the good that siphons through. Teach him, if you can, how to laugh when he's sad . . . Teach him there is no shame in tears . . . Teach him there can be glory in failure and despair in success. Treat him gently, World, if you can, but don't coddle him . . . Because only the test of fire makes fine steel . . . Let him have the courage to be impatient . . . Let him have the patience to be brave. Let him be no other man's man . . . Teach him always to have sublime faith in himself. Because then he will always have sublime faith in mankind. This is quite and order, World, but see what you can do . . . He's such a nice little fellow, my son! By Dan Valentine To all new kindergartners: Go be awesome. ~ ORANGE EASEL
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Orange EaselContent inspired by the artists and art created in our studio. Orange Easel began as a small art studio in my basement and continues to grow and serve our community. Read more about our story here.
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