1. Visual Art How to Guide Art Experiences

2. Importance of Art Experiences
Promotes physical growth through movements involved in painting, coloring, drawing, and scribbling, etc.
Promotes social growth by helping children learn responsibility, such as putting on a smock before painting

3. Importance of Art Experiences, cont’d
Promotes emotional growth through allowing children to communicate feelings nonverbally
Promotes cognitive growth through exploring, experimenting, and problem-solving with many materials and tools

4. Techniques for Guiding Art Experiences
Incorporate open-ended art materials, which are supplies that can be used in many ways
Encourage children to try out supplies they have never used; helps foster independence
Let children decide when their work is finished

5. Techniques for Guiding Art Experiences
Offer feedback to children about their work
Ask questions carefully, as children may feel uneasy if they lack language skills
Always focus on process when commenting on their work
Ex. “Your work has interesting lines.”
Ex. “What a nice yellow star you’re making.”

6. Choosing Colors Color doesn’t play an important role in preschool art
Often no relationship between the colors chosen and objects in artwork
Children choose colors they like
Ex. Apple may be painted bright pink or an elephant red

7. Stages of Art Development Scribble Stage
months to 3-years-old
Children’s motor control and hand-eye coordination are not well developed yet
Make dots, lines, multiple lines, zigzags
May appear to draw with every part of their body

8. Stages of Art Development Scribble Stage
To help . . .
Make them aware of their movements
Comment on how hard they press
their pencils
How hard they move their pencils

9. Stages of Art Development Basic Forms Stage
3- to 4-years-old
Learn and recognize basic form of shapes
Can control size and shape of line because of increased hand-eye coordination
Begin to make connection between their movements and the marks they make

10. Stages of Art Development Pictorial Drawing Stage
4- to 5-years-old
Able to draw marks that are representational of pictures
Objects are randomly placed, colors unrealistic
Humans are first drawn with a circle for a head and lines for limbs

11. Stages of Art Development Pictorial Drawing Stage
Eventually human figures include a torso with lines for arms and limbs and pictures such as tress, cars, animals are added
Drawings of animals start to appear

12. Tempera Paint Has a slight odor and tastes chalky
Can be both liquid and powdered; liquid is more expensive
Should be a consistency of a thick cream
Can be made daily if not able to store
Bentonite, a thickening agent, can
be added to help reduce costs

13. Brushes Should range from ½” to 1” wide
Youngest children should use widest brushes until small muscle coordination improves
String, cotton swabs, sponges, feathers, can also be used to apply paint

14. Easels Brushes and paint should be placed in attached tray
Clamps/ hooks at top should be used to hold paper in place
Height of easel should be adjusted so children do not need to stretch or stoop

15. Crayons, Chalk, and Felt Tip Markers
Harder to use than paint because they need to be pushed hard with small muscles that are not well-developed
Consider buying kindergarten-size crayons
Buy washable markers
Remind kids to replace caps

16. Paper and Painting Surfaces
Many types of paper and painting surfaces can be used:
Sandpaper - Waxed paper
Foil - Shelf paper
Butcher Paper - Magazines
Egg cartons - Paper bags
Tissue - Crepe paper
Wall paper - Wrapping paper
Boxes and tubes

17. Coloring Books
Studies show that coloring books have a negative effect on children’s creativity by blocking their creative impulses
Avoid relying heavily on them for kids under 6
Can cause children to become doubtful and self-conscious about their talents

18. Glue Liquid white glue is the best and more permanent than paste
Difficult to clean-up so kids should wear smocks and newspaper should be put on tables

19. Clean-up Tools, Space and Storage
Small buckets, sponge mops, and various sizes of sponges are best
Store materials in individual containers – clear and plastic are best

20. Easel Painting
For young children, provide large sheets of newsprint, as it helps encourage large muscles
Teach children how to use the paintbrush
As kids gain skill, give them
smaller brushes and pieces of
paper to work with

21. Finger Painting Is a sensory experience
Promotes expression and release of feelings
Requires more supervision than most painting activities
Can be made with pudding, soap flakes whipped with water, partially-set flavored gelatin, shaving cream

22. Other Types of Painting
String painting
Slide yarn through the paint and across piece of paper
Mono painting
Finger paint on paper, place new piece of paper on top of it and then pull apart
Chalk painting
Dip chalk into water and draw on construction paper

23. Other Types of Painting
Texture painting
Add sand, sawdust, coffee grounds to tempera paint
Salt painting
Add tempera paint to salt and shake on top of paper that has been painted with glue
Spice painting
Add water to glue, paint on paper, and shake spices on top

24. Molding
Play dough, Plasticene, and clay are open-ended art materials that can be molded and formed
Help stimulate the imagination and allow children freedom to change their minds
Clay should be stored in plastic bag to prevent drying
Play dough is soft and pliable, and has softer texture than clay
Plasticene is an oil-based modeling compound and doesn’t dry out

25. Cutting At first children just snip in a straight line
Once hand-eye coordination improves they may begin to cut curves
Have children work with one type of paper so they get comfortable with the tools

26. Collages Means a selection of materials mounted on a flat surface
Two-dimensional arrangements of many materials
Gives kids a chance to make choices
Collages also introduce many materials of contrasting colors and textures

27. Process Art
These activities should be child-centered, open-ended, and explorative in nature
Try to institute a hands-off policy during process art activities; allow children to experiment with the process at hand
Examples: watercolors, play clay, finger paints, collage, cutting with scissors, gluing

28. Product Art
Include art activities that will have a specific finished result
These projects often look very similar from child to child and do not encourage creativity or artistic expression
Do not allow child to experiment with materials or make decisions for him/herself
Examples: coloring pages, a photocopied picture to be painted, or any “cookie cutter” project