Expert: MaryAnn F. Kohl Date: 8/19/2004 Subject: art for children
Question My chidlren are very active. And they love TV and computer. Can you help me with getting them interested in quiet activities, especially art?
Answer Children need active experiences and quiet experiences. If you children are playing outside and running or biking hard, then they will get the physical activity they need. For quiet activity, TV or computer are two choices. Art is another choice. However, you must step forward and turn off or regulate your childrens' time with "machines". it's difficult, but you are the parent, and YOU must say "time to play outside", or "time to read", or "time to choose between reading and art".
You might want to entice your children to love art activity by giving them some really unusual experiences where the process or exploration outweighs the importance of the finished product or result. I like to say, "Process, not Product." Of course kids like things to turn out 'cool', but they really need to relax and explore and discover how art materials behave and what is possible. To entice kids to enjoy art, think of "surprise" as an element that brings them in:
Try this:
1. Put a drop of food coloring inside a ball of playdough, but don't tell the kids. Then as they are exploring the dough, theyw ill get a big surprise!
2. Put shapes and letters cut from tagboard on the table. cover the entire table with craft or butcher paper. Don't let the kids see what is under the paper. Then give them peeled crayons to rub over the paper (crayons on their sides), and make rubbings...and what a surprise for them to see the hidden things emerge!
3. Children are always surprised by how magical it is to paint on wet paper. Use any old watercolor paints, and paint right on heavy paper that is moistened with a sponge, or held under the faucet and then placed on the table. SURPRISE!
Please visit my website and look over all the free art ideas from my books I have for you. Go to: www.brightring.com and then choose "art activities" and then just click on whichever ones seem fun.
Enjoy!
Kids aren't really so difficult...they just need a little structure so they can be free.
