Friday, October 29, 2010

art is not a thing it's a way

“If we removed all the art in the lives of our children,

there is no way that

adding more math,

increasing more reading,

requiring more science,

mandating more foreign language,

or scheduling more computer courses

could replace what they would have lost.”– Unknown

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

bringing back imagination!

"Look! I found a treasure chest!" was the drawing prompt I gave to Griffin yesterday. He drew a treasure chest on a beach with the sun in the sky. The chest was filled with orange triangles. When I asked him to tell me what was inside the chest he gleefully shouted "Pizza!"

Today's kindergarten is totally different from the one I remember. My kindergarten was filled with imagination. We had dress up clothes- my favorite was the gray "mink" stole and the pearl earrings. There was an area of the room with a kitchen, couch, chair and baby bassinet scaled down to our size for playing house. In the corner was the clay crock. I loved the smell of the clay crock. It was this large ceramic crock with a heavy lid that was filled with this awesome off white modeling clay. On the other side of the room was a huge assortment of wooden blocks in so many shapes and sizes. You could really build a castle with those blocks! It wasn't all play time but studies have proven that when a child is engaged in play they are learning.

Kindergarten isn't like that anymore.  Creativity and imagination are like muscles- you don't use them you lose them. Experts are acknowledging that the loss of creative play is having some negative consequences. Kids who are involved with plenty of self-directed creative play develop better abilities to regulate their own behaviors and emotions, compared to other children. Creative play gives kids a chance to practice policing themselves.

After floundering about the past 8 weeks with my class of 5-6 year olds I have decided to introduce these kids back into the world of imagination. Where they can create any world they wish with a pencil and paper, paint and glue. In this class it's not about the product- it is the process. I am purchasing some awesome off white modeling clay so we can create sculptures during free time. If I had a bigger room we'd have an area for dress up and we'd put on some plays. I think I need to do some of this with my 7-8 year olds too. I have too many who rush through their work and never really become engaged in their drawing.

We need more treasure chests filled with pizza!