On some of the days that I come to school to observe and document, I have the pleasure of setting up some provocations for the k/1 class. These are always some type of creative/artistic offering. After thinking about the challenges they faced when I asked them to draw the rocks and minerals a few weeks ago, I thought I would challenge them with an observational painting activity. Inspired by the season, I collected various gourds and asked the students to look at them closely and paint what they saw. I had prepared paint for them that matched the colors on the gourds as well.
Before they began, I asked them to look closely and talk about what they noticed. “It has patterns – orange and yellow!” “Mine looks like a watermelon!” Then they began to paint. Lily asked me right away if she could trace her gourd. I told her that I wanted her to try painting what she saw instead. Without hesitation, she moved forward and began painting stripes of various colors on her paper. Though she didn’t paint any particular shape, it was great to watch her think about color and pattern! Ian was particularly proud of the likeness he was able to make. “Look! Mine looks exactly the same!” Emma worked slowly and carefully on her work declaring, “I’m doing a little bit of shading on this.” As always happens with any kind of painting, the color of the water was of particular interest for the kiddos. “Look at this! Green! It’s as light as a popsicle.” “Mine is orange like orange juice.” Many people question the role of art in early childhood. Is process more important than product? How involved should adults be in children’s artistic work? Should we simply step back and observe their inner creativity? These are delicate balances to be engaged in. The children were happy with the challenge of observational painting, but I wonder if I had not offered that challenge how long they would have continued with the act of tracing. This is not to pit tracing vs. observational drawing, but the outcome is quite different. As important as the process is for children, they are connected to their final products often as well. I wonder what they think about each…
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