Awesome art! Note all the wonderful details: construction paper grass, sequin butterflies, magazine cut out sunglasses, watch and belt! I usually tell people that in Georgia Pre-K, we don't do a lot of art projects or "canned art". I realized recently that most of the "art" pictures I have featured in my posts are of precisely these types of projects. We don't feature these on our bulletin boards and our program guidelines don't allow us to use them in our portfolios. (I am currently working on a post about all the guidelines and requirements that are part of our program. Stay tuned.)
A teacher selected subject with teacher selected materials is not "real art", but they do have some purpose. Projects are great practice for following directions. And let's face it, honestly, they can be a lot of fun! Parents usually love them, and schools usually want some sort of class display regularly. We do a few seasonal projects, usually displayed on our classroom door or a picture window in our school lobby. I save them and plan to make a little scrapbook for the parents of just the "projects" we've done seasonally.
I have 5 bulletin boards in my classroom. A small section of one is a parent information board, and one large one is for circle time, calendar, math, literacy, etc. All of the rest of our bulletin boards, along with the doors, windows and cabinet faces feature student art. Materials and mediums are all child selected. Our program guidelines require an abundance of art materials be "open and accessible" so children may freely create. I wanted to show off some of the wonderful ART in my room, since I have shared some of the "cute projects".
Coffee filters are a staple in our art center and very early in the year, I introduced coloring them with markers, then lightly spraying with water to achieve a bleeding effect. This is a popular activity in our art center. Recently I read a wonderful post about putting the coffee filters outside when it is drizzling to achieve the same effect. We did these earlier in the week and they turned out beautifully! I wish I could remember who posted it so I could properly give them credit! (Please leave me a link if it was yours--I'd love to give you credit!) What an awesome twist on an old favorite!
The friends love to explore with different materials making collages.
Glitter is always popular in our art center, and we have worked hard helping the children learn to use it properly without a lot of waste.
The cotton balls we keep in our art center took on new life with our weather unit.
Our family and friends are some of the favored subjects.
I found some extra large sequins at the dollar store. They are adorning everything they can put glue on!
Sometimes, the art is a favorite book character!
We love to make letters, our names, and friends' names!
Some art is still life and some is abstract!
I am truly blessed to be surrounded daily with walls covered in masterpieces by some of the greatest artists in the world. Their creativity is exhilarating and moves me in the same way the wonderful art at MoMA did when I visited, except I have the unique opportunity to share in watching these masterpieces as they unfold daily. No museum can compare to that!
What an inspiring post Ayn. It really got me thinking about the day-to-day art supplies we have out for the kids!
ReplyDeleteI've never tried putting the coffee filters out in the rain, but we love to draw pictures with markers, run them outside in the rain, then stand in the window watching them wash away.
Ayn,
ReplyDeleteI am so glad to have found your blog. I am a kindergarten teacher in NC. I love all of your ideas and illustrations!
Ayn,
ReplyDeleteYou can tell that your students spend a great deal of time in creative expression. Your displays are outstanding and beautiful. I did an entire workshop recently on bulletin boards in the classroom - I wish I could have borrowed your photos to show in my workshop. They are a wonderful example of presenting children's art and creating a warm, fun, inviting, and child-focused environment!
Thanks for sharing the kids art with us :) I'd never thought of coffee filters: what a great cheap addition to the craft table. Loving the idea of leaving them out in the rain. I will have to try that one!
ReplyDeleteOnce again, Ayn you amaze me! :) It seems like the free art area in our class is one of the most popular as well. I, too, like the idea with the coffee filters. I'm adding them today! :)
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post and your ideas. You have such wonderful ideas and I really like what you wrote at the very end "No museum can compare to that". It is absolutely true.
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