This summer, the art experiences on the front playground have been mostly sensorial and kinesthetic in nature, and allowed for the children to explore the materials and mediums in a variety of ways with freedom and wild abandon. For the last Art experience on the front playground of the summer, the children were invited to explore what paint feels like with their feet. And they did so with gusto! Some children decided to make laps, moving through each pan of color to the soapy water and then back through the paint again. Other children used brushes to paint the ground or their bodies or they stomped in the paint and then danced around on the pavement. They began to notice how the paint was changing colors the more they interacted with it.
This work brought to mind the book, Mouse Paint, which we read multiple times on the playground. The story caused the children to think a bit differently about what they had noticed happening to the paint as they moved through it. “Look! It’s changing!”
This summer’s art experiences on the front playground have been very interesting, as both the teachers and the children had the opportunity to focus on very open-ended art experiences in a “free-flow” kind of way. We all have learned a lot observing the children work- how their explorations might change and deepen as they develop, how they approach materials, how through engaging with art they can gain a better sense of themselves in relation to others, and how beauty is found in these processes.
Reflection by Kelly Blondin, Art Specialist
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