At Crawford Childcare we take the words of Pablo Picasso “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up” to heart but what does that mean?

Children enjoy art because it is fun and provides the opportunity to be creative. This can be for one child using a paintbrush to mix paints together to make new colours on the page or for another child it may be the process of continually gluing on a page without ever sticking anything to this glue. In both instances the child is learning through their actions, developing a sense of creativity, exploring different ideas as well as developing fine motor skills.  The focus is on the process as opposed to the end product. This results in each child’s work being unique and individual as there are no directions or model.  This creativity comes from within the child.

 

Some of the children in the Montessori room created their own pictures of birds and nests recently. They enjoyed choosing materials from the provocation box which contained a wide range of different materials. These materials included wool, string, feathers, cotton wool, match sticks, lollipop sticks. Zach decided to use match sticks in a square shape for his nest while Molly included two cotton wool pads for her nests.  On completion of her picture, Robyn told us that her picture was of a doggie and that she liked doggies.

 

Through the use of our provocation boxes the child is presented with choices from a wide range of materials that differ in size, shape and texture. From these choices many of the children are inspired to create and explore. The provocation boxes plant a seed or provoke ideas for the child which develops their own unique creativity. It allows for the creative juices to flow.

 

During bubble wrap painting recently Harry created a new purple colour by mixing his paints together but while using the same  set of paints available Róisín created green.  Again the work was unique for each child. It is important to remember that process focused art does not have to be anything it can instead simply be exploration of a method.