I can't tell you how many times I've had moms tell me that they wish they were artistic so that they could teach their young children how to do art. Perhaps somewhere along the line you felt not good enough, or not knowledgeable enough, and this has you thinking that you can't do it either. I'm here to tell you that it's a lot easier than you think! There are just two things you need to do to get started: give your child the tools and space to create art, their creative minds will do the rest. This is called process art.
Process based art is about the process of making art, not about creating a finished product that looks like every other child's finished project. Let me repeat that, your child's artwork should never look like any other child's artwork! What typically happens with these sorts of copy craft projects is the teacher holds up a finished project, let's say a ladybug, and then every child immediately goes to work trying to make their ladybug look just like the teacher's, or just like their friend Suzie's. When they can't cut a straight line, or glue something in the wrong place they get frustrated, they think they can't do it and they shut down or go into full blown "help me, help me, do this for me" mode. Process based art is nothing like this. Process based art will allow your child to explore and experiment, it's a child led activity, not an adult led activity!
Process based art can be as simple as finger painting. Think back to when you were a kid, who didn't like finger painting? I have two vivid memories of preschool, one is the huge swing, and the other is running as fast as I could to the outdoor finger painting easel during breaks. I loved the feeling of freedom and cold paint on my fingers. You can take it a step further by giving your children brushes to work with. Heck, you can even give them sticks or a paint roller, the options are as endless as your imagination!
Remember, you do not need to be an artist to raise a creative child! I will write more about materials, spaces, and process based art activities that my own kids love in future blogs. I hope they might inspire you to bring art into your own home.
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