On Friday, January 19th, I organized and planned my first craft on my own for the children in my practicum centre. I chose to do string paintings because the supplies needed are easily accessible and there are many affordable options. Another aspect that spoke to me was that each painting should, in theory, turn out quite unique when compared to the others.
Post craft reflection
I am happy that I chose to do this craft with the children. I thought it went great, the kids seemed to be enjoying themselves, and everyone had fun trying to guess what their paintings best resembled. Looking back, I probably could have hung back a little more and assisted the children a little less. But overall, I am very happy with how this played out.
Karolyn’s Notes Mar 21, 2024
Thinking back to your question/intention around disrupting consumerism and noticing how children engage with everyday materials this is an interesting art experience. You mentioned the string, paper and paint as something readily available in most childcare settings. A simple invitation with room to explore, use senses (texture of the string, what does it feel like when it’s covered in paint, designs etc.). There is no “product” expectations, but children and adults are interested in the shapes and designs they come up with using the materials.
I wasn’t there to see this experience. I wonder how you introduced it and invited the children to participate. Did all the children do it together (Teacher-led) or could children choose to participate? what other things were going on in the room at the time? What kinds of conversations were happening as children engaged with these materials? How long did children spend with these materials? What other indications were as to how they were experiencing this activity (Body language, made multiple designs, talked about it to others who hadn’t done it yet etc.)
How can you reflect on this experience by thinking with the BC ELF (2019)? For example on p. 77 under the pathway Engaging with Others Materials and the World educators are asked “Consider how materials are presented. How does this limit or invite experimentation and investigation?…How could I creatively consider materials and/or their presentation.” As we discussed in class materials have agency, they communicate, they interact. Think about us getting to know paint in the lab space or what you are exploring with Cory and paper. How did you/could you introduce Paint, Paper and String and invite the children to get to know them?
Also, on p. 77 we are asked “What might emerge to consider children artists? Think about the many ways artists approach and engage with materials. How might I investigate this further” (BC ELF, 2019)? These questions help us think outside and deeper than our surface understandings of what childcare, childcare environments and childcare “activities” “should” look like. They help us consider our role as more than “entertainers” or adults who are “teaching” children what they need to know. What is the role of the educator if we accept the principle “educators are researchers and collaborators” (BC ELF, 2019, p. 43)?
We also talked about the word “craft” and how it is not interchangeable with the word “art”
Art: the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination (oxford dictionary)
Craft: an activity involving skill in making things by hand (oxford dictionary)
We talked about the ways these two things live in a childcare program and what educators could explore. One realization I have had as we work and learn more with Indigenous Elders/Knowledge Keepers is that often children are alongside adults being exposed to the crafts of their culture i.e., beading, dancing, painting, carving etc. and they are invited to do simple to complex activities that build the skills in these crafts and pass on cultural knowledge, skills etc. Looking back in my life, I realize that my uncle who was a painter and a sculptor passed on his skill. He would come to the summer camp I worked at and spend time with children carving blocks of soap. The soap was softer than the soapstone he worked with but they were able to practice, build skills and discover if they were interested in continuing to learn that craft/skill. In this context I think craft has a place in childcare but it is quite specific and would be really interesting to explore.
Art is expression, it is creative, it comes from inside us. The art of the carving is the artist deciding, and from an Indigenous perspective I have learned, communicating with the stone, wood etc. to decide with the material what will be created. This complicates the exploration because there can be craft (skills) to creating art and their is art (expression from within) in crafts. The question for us perhaps is how are we being intentional with our offering and invitations to explore art/craft, respectful of materials knowing they are not an inexhaustible resource (waste, cost etc.) and collaborative with children as artists being open to what they might want to express, create etc.
I see “art” or “craft” time in a childcare setting as a complex deeply meaningful process, that needs careful and intentional attention and I invite you to reflect on these things too so you can bring these processes to light and dive in to exploring all their complexities. If we are going to disrupt consumerism, we need to as you put it so well, find deeper meaning in the “mundane” everyday items and see them as more that something to throw away.
There is so much to explore here beyond this initial exploration too so we should keep talking about this. For example what are we nourishing when the conscious/unconscious intention of the art/craft is that each child can “take their art home and put on the fridge?” The question is not simple i.e., Is it wrong or right to have product crafts each child gets to take home? The question is complex i.e., Teresa’s question “What kind of human are we building?” What does it mean, promote, and teach children as they are becoming? What happens when the majority of things children experience in childcare are “mine” “put my name on it” “put it in my cubby” etc. What does this do in your reflection and research about consumerism and how ECEs can think about disrupting it?
Turtles!!!
On Friday, March 1st I did a turtle activity with the children. I decided on Turtles because I noticed on previous days that the children seemed intrigued by them. I initially planned to cut out all the pieces and glue the turtles together for the children so that they could use bingo stampers to decorate the turtle shells (next week). After some reflection, I realized that the children were capable of gluing and it was an opportunity to turn a one-day activity into a two-day activity.
Post craft reflection
I am happy that I made the change to have the children glue their own turtles. I gave each child the ‘correct’ amount of legs, heads, and tails and I was pleasantly surprised to see a turtle with six legs and another with only two. These variations wouldn’t have been possible if I had glued for them. Next week we will be decorating their shells.
Turtles part 2
