Two things I often encounter in homes and classrooms is a fear of messes and a need for adults to see a cute or pretty product. These two mistakes in parenting and teaching manifest most clearly in art and food prep. Today, let's tackle art.
Art is messy. Childhood is messy. Adults have to be able to allow this. Dr. Montessori knew that children need to have two main things in order to learn at maximum capacity: freedom and experience. When we take away either of these two things, it is difficult for true learning to occur. As adults, our job is to prepare the environment for successful exploration.
When setting up art we want to give them experience in many media (crayons, paint, etc) and many tools (brushes, sponges, nature, etc). Not all media and tools will be a hit with all children, but we cannot find those that our children like if we do not provide the experiences.
For my classroom, I use a very loose theme approach. I use colors and provocations that match what the children are seeing around them. So, in the fall I use oranges, yellows, browns, and reds primarily. These change approximately monthly, depending on student interest. I also use fall to explore the color orange, I generally have a work out that has red and yellow and the children can mix the colors to create orange. Sometimes it is a dough work and sometimes it is a paint work. This is the color mixing work I currently have by my easel. They use the paintbrush at the easel to stir and then then can use the paint at the easel. I have a pumpkin beside the easel as a possible still life inspiration.
Because Montessori is mixed age, I also make sure that the work can be explored at many different levels. So my youngest could fingerpaint, while the oldest could potentially use a still life provocation. Applying this criteria to the leaf work pictured above, the children could use the leaves to paint with, paint the leaves to create a print, put the leaves on paper and use the brush to paint the edges (shadow paint), or however else they may want to explore the material.
Apple Stamping
You can use a stamp pad or paint with this work. The apple can be also cut longways to see if the print turns out the same or differently. The apple can also be left whole and they can roll it on paper in the tray and leave "apple tracks". Older children tend to stamp with the apples to see the apple shape on the paper. Younger children like to use the apple as a tool to apply the paint, they rub the apple all over the paper.
Dough
One of the differences between art in a Montessori environment and art in a conventional preschool is that we place special emphasis on the mechanics of art. This is not done through instruction; however, it is done through the prepared environment. When we prepare the work, we do so in a way that they are able to hone in on a specific skill. So rather than a tub of dough cutting tools, we narrow this down. This work has 3 tools only: dough scissors, a rolling pin, and a leaf cutter. I put the dough into rolls for the benefit of my youngest children. The dough scissors are the best way that I have found to introduce scissor use. They learn the mechanics of the scissors and the scissors only cut the dough, so it is very safe. The dough is stiff on its own, so the problem that crops up when cutting paper (the limp paper that is difficult to control while cutting), is eliminated. Older children can work the dough, roll it flat, and use the leaf cutter.
Leaf Rubbings
In this work the children can use the crayons (I prefer triangle crayons because they encourage a better grip) to see the veins of the leaves. The leaf is under the paper and the child rubs with either the point or the side. The effect is better with the side, but that is difficult for the younger students as their grip strength is not quite there, yet. Alternatively, they can trace around the leaves, color the edges to create a shadow shape, or use the leaves as still life and draw the leaves.
Cork Stamps
I have a fabulous set of leaf stamps (from Kid Made Modern). They are about a child's full hand size, so they seem to really like them. You could also set this up with paint and a stiff paintbrush, so they would paint the paint onto the stamp and then stamp on the paper. I always try to make sure that I give the language of "maple" and "oak" when they are using these.
Preparing the Environment for Cleanup
This is a key part of the art lessons. The children should be able to mostly clean up after themselves, and we need to make it so that the cleanup is not overwhelming for them, and us! One key component of this is the amount of material provided in a work. Enough paint to do the work, but not so much that a spill would be a disaster. I never leave out all crayons, oil pastels, etc. I just put out a few colors to choose from. We also have a cleanup space in the classroom, so that the children can clean up their own brushes. We do not have a source of running water, so we have a bin with a pitcher. The brushes go in the bin, the child gets a pitcher of water from our water cooler, pours in in the bin, then uses their hands to get the paint out of the brushes. Then the brush is wiped dry with dedicated brush towels (these do become stained, so we have specific washcloths for just this purpose). Then return the brush to the work. Dump the bin water into the waste water bucket, which I empty after class. This does not 100% clean the brushes, so I do need to clean them at the sink with running water after class. But it does make them usable for another student. An apron or the option of removing clothes (honestly what my students prefer) allows for clothes to stay clean and dry.
Don't be afraid of art! In addition to the obvious creativity that comes from art, it also builds hand strength for writing. And, who knows, you could be the inspiration for the next great artist or a life long hobby and love of the arts!
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