Wonder-Based Art making is based on the fundamental truth of honoring children. Here’s a list of ways of being with children that we want to avoid. When you find yourself doing them, realize you are invalidating the child’s process. Forgive yourself. Stop. Take a deep breath. Step back. Observe the child. Look for something in their process you can learn from them. Watch for the wonder of their unique and personal process. And remember, it takes time to shift old ways of being. Don’t hurry or rush the child along. Don’t step in and do it for the child. Don’t assist the child’s thinking process. Wonder Art Workshop: Creative Child-Led Experiences for Nurturing Imagination, Curiosity, and a Love of Learning Honoring Children Teaching children for the last twenty years has been the highlight of my life. I realized early in my career a fundamental truth for working with young children. This truth literally shaped every choice and decision I made in the classroom and art studio. As a fledgling teacher, I realized I need to put honoring the child at the center of my teaching practice. What does that mean? For me it means four fundamental things: Honor the child’s desires. When we give a child choice in the matter of art making, it sends the message that we value their opinions. Honor the child’s feelings. My motto: Never say to a child what you would not tolerate being said to yourself. Honor exactly where the child is and is not. This is a profound gift we can offer children. Notice how much pressure society puts on young children. Honor the child’s interests, ideas, and theories. Let’s face it: Our educational system is built on the idea that children are an empty vessel waiting to be filled. Wonder Art Workshop: Creative Child-Led Experiences for Nurturing Imagination, Curiosity, and a Love of Learning Taking Stock for the Wonder Journey There is something mysterious about art and young children. As an early childhood educator and a practicing watercolor artist, I noticed something very interesting. The art processes that I brought to the children that involved some form of creating a new mixture or transformation (i.e., mixing, scooping, crushing, stirring, pinching, pulling, etc.) were the most engaging! The first time I set out a “make your own paints” invitation in my classroom, I was taken aback by how deeply the children were focused on the activity. At first, they explored by dumping the chalk powders into the paint containers and adding water. They could not get enough of this and continued adding more chalk powder and more water. They were not making paint, though. They were exploring the materials. It was messy. But wow! The children were mesmerized by the Wonder of mixing the chalk and water together. Preparing Your Wonder–Based Art Space Preparing your space for Wonder-Based Art making is an act of reflection and intention. Think of your space as a laboratory for children to explore and interact with materials as if they’re researchers. As you set up the Wonder-Based Art activities, think about how the activity can inspire creative, innovative thinking. Remember, the goal is not to produce an art object. Rather, we’re facilitating and providing materials for exploration. Watching for Wonder Inside of Wonder-Based Art making, we’re witnessing Wonder! At the most basic level, we’re listening and observing wonder. I want to share a warning about a hidden danger in watching children’s Wonder. You need to guard against your own hidden agenda. (Keyword: hidden) These are ideas and directions we feel compelled to tell children that undermine their capacities, abilities, and ideas. Often our own agendas rise out of our personal experience in art-making or what we think art-making should be like. We are all guilty of this at one time or another. I call it the “product hook.” It’s when you’re more interested in the outcome or results than the process. Wonder lives in the process, not the product. To truly honor the process for the child we have to check our expectations at the door. Let’s take a closer look at Wonder. I want to share the Wonder-Based Art making cycle as a guidance tool. Building Wonder Lands Storytelling is one of the most important tools parents and educators can use in art making, as it deeply engages children in the process. Using story as a background to art making can help motivate children who are not inclined to make art. There’s research that points to a child’s ability to tell their own narratives and stories as an indicator of later literacy performance. When we ask children to create their own narratives, we’re accommodating not only different learning styles but also honoring each child’s unique point of view. Noticing Wonder It’s important to think about whether the materials and projects we provide children ask them to think for themselves. Take a look at a child who’s painting a cutout of a butterfly. Is there any need for the child to think beyond the butterfly’s predetermined form? The cutout offers a child one idea of “butterfly.” It doesn’t give room for the child to alter or change the idea. It has a very specific form. The thinking has been done for the child. There’s no flexibility. The cutout has taken away the possibility for a child to build their own idea of what a butterfly is, or to expand the idea of a butterfly into something new and original. I like to call these kinds of materials and projects “closed materials.” There’s a predetermined function and purpose. These kinds of materials nurture “fixed” art making. There’s a predetermined route in how the child typically will think as they create. Stirring Up Wonder After twenty years of teaching young children, I’m convinced there’s an inner alchemist in every child. What child doesn’t love magical processes? From fizzing and bubbling to stirring and measuring . . . making magic potions satisfies the mad scientist in us all. In this chapter, I share four art experiences that capture some aspect of creating a concoction. These types of art experiences encourage children’s experimentation. It’s important not to “manage” or “direct” children during these experiences. It will get messy. ADVENTURE CAPES Capes aren’t just for superheroes! Give a child a cape and watch the adventures and stories they create! Capes are one of the most magical accessories for pretend play. LOOSE PARTS SCULPTURES This is a fun project where the clay becomes like a glue, holding together many different loose parts. I’ve found that providing sticks is an important component of young children’s success with fine motor skills. It’s easy to push the stick into the clay base and attach more clay at the top. FIZZING PAINT TRAY This is when your child discovers the secret powers of their special magic paint potions. My favorite way to do this activity is to let the children draw shapes, swirling lines, and other markings with oil pastels. I give each child two or three oil pastels on their tray. However, this step is optional. Children will test their knowledge in STEM through artistic and creative invitation and will explore shape, color, lines, and letters. SPRINKLING FLOWERS This nature-based, multilayered activity is a delightful and fun opportunity for young children to explore fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination as they grip their paintbrushes, squeeze the glue bottles, and focus on pinching and sprinkling the flower petals. The children love deconstructing the rainbow of flower petals as they transform them into works of art. I sometimes softly sing the “Rainbow Song” to myself as I put out the rainbows of colored petals (“Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple” three times, then “That’s the colors of the rainbow,” sung to the tune of “The Paw-Paw Patch”). ADVENTURE CAPES LOOSE PARTS SCULPTURES FIZZING PAINT TRAY SPRINKLING FLOWERS
✔ Author(s): Sally Haughey
✔ Title: Wonder Art Workshop: Creative Child-Led Experiences for Nurturing Imagination, Curiosity, and a Love of Learning
✔ Rating : 4.6 out of 5 base on (336 reviews)
✔ ISBN-10: 1631597736
✔ ISBN-13: 9781631597732
✔ Language: English
✔ Format ebook: PDF, EPUB, Kindle, Audio, HTML and MOBI
✔ Device compatibles: Android, iOS, PC and Amazon Kindle
Readers' opinions about Wonder Art Workshop by Sally Haughey
Jillian Neel
What a rollercoaster of emotions! I laughed, cried, and everything in between. The author's ability to evoke such raw feelings is truly commendable. It's a story that will stay with me forever.
Melody Blake
I'm already planning to reread this book. It's one of those stories that you can revisit again and again, discovering new layers of meaning each time.
Kara Snyder
The characters in this book felt like old friends, and I was sad to say goodbye to them at the end. It's a testament to the author's talent for creating memorable and relatable personas.
