What are everyone’s thoughts on using art and crafts to encourage learning?
Are there any particular art or craft projects that you have found really interesting or helpful?
Here is another thread that may help http://forum.brillkids.com/general-discussion-b5/craft/msg4228/#msg4228
I use lacing cards and beading to encourage fine motor skills. Also cutting with a small pair of children’s scissors starting at age 2.
I agree about lacing cards and beads, and I would also add cutting with scissors and using a hole-punch to develop the fine motor skills.
Also, I heard pottery is extremely good for the muscles in the hand, as is working with clay.
I give my son play dough and we both have nice time making diffrent shapes out of it,like making a flower,a ball.alphabets, i also make a small ring out of it n decorate it with diffrent color beads n give him to wear it in his finger…he gets so excited n happy…while playing with the dough i show him diff colors n talk to him abt the diff shapes…
Thank you for the link. It’s good to hear the lacing beads are helpful. I just bought some for dd for a Christmas gift. Yay! I haven’t heard of the lacing cards, so that will be something to look into. My dd is only 16 months right now, so we’ll hold off on the scissors for a bit, and the same goes for gluing… I’ll probably wait a couple of months or so. However, using finger paints and doing something with homemade play dough (and eventually clay) sounds like they’re worth a shot. I have been interested in trying out pottery myself, so I can’t wait until dd is old enough to share in that with me, if she so chooses.
Nice links .Thanx
Instead of using beads, you can also use dry pasta (the small tubes).
A great book I’ve read is Young at Art - http://www.amazon.com/Young-Art-Self-Expression-Problem-Solving-Appreciation/dp/0805066977. It really freed me in my thoughts of art and how to introduce it.
Another thing I want to set up with a friend, is to have art playdates. Where we go to each others houses and our toddlers do art. Especially since her boy is older and I find that my todd learns really quickly when he has someone else to follow.
Thanks,
Tracey
I forgot to mention, in ‘Young at Art’ the author is dead set against colouring in. In that in inhibits a child’s own natural creativity. She has a range of anti-colouring books.
She suggests to instead of using glue to teach pasting, start with round, square and/or triangle stickers. I have these blue round stickers that my 18mo loves to just paste and paste away.
Thanks,
Trace
Hi there Tracey,
I’m very interested to hear that colouring in inhibits a childs natural creativity. My son uses chalk to colour in his pictures this is mainly because it goes really fast - anything else takes too long and he looses interest! So where did you get your sticker dots? And would you mind to give a short summary of the principles behind this thought. I won’t be able to get the book 
So would love to hear more on this. Thanks 
TABS
Hi there Tabs,
The author Susan Striker believes in totally letting the child develop their own drawings and to let the child work through their scribbling stage naturally. Colourin inhibits this, as they then have other pictures that they colour in instead of actually drawing and developing that skill. Apparently there is a certain age where if a child has not developed the ability to draw, they won’t be able to do it naturally after that. Colourin in inhibits that. So she has a range of books she has developed called the ‘Anti-Colourin’ books - which you can only start from age 6
http://www.amazon.com/First-Anti-Coloring-Book-Creative-Activities/dp/0805068422/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229825543&sr=1-1.
Before then, she encourages initially to only give toddlers one crayon at a time, starting with black, blue, red, green, yellow (i think). As they enjoy and get used to this colour, then go onto the next one. Likewise with paint, one colour at a time. Too many colours confuses and detracks from drawing/scribbling.
She then shows the different stages of scribbling. Once we’ve shown a child how to hold a pen and draw, then not to try to get them to draw things, but to only describe what you’re seeing. Like, ‘golly, those are wonderful circles, big one, small one’, etc.
With enough encouragement in scribbling and just letting them express, children will learn to draw more meaningful drawings.
Our library had only one of her anti-colourin books and I was so impressed. It was of artworks and a piece of the artwork was removed. Below the drawing was an encouragement, like ‘the boy has a dog, how about you draw your favourite dog in this space’ - something like this. Or ‘on these tracks a train is coming. Can you draw the train’. So it just really encourages and give children the confidence to draw.
Even with playdough, she discourages using stencils / cutouts. Just let them play and discover naturally.
The stickers are those round circles one uses in offices for labelling things. So any office supplier will sell.
This book really gave me a good base understanding of the world of art for children and what to do to encourage. It gave me the confidence I was lacking. It was good hearing from an expert. She also had good ideas for birthday parties etc.
Also there are good tips on mess. Like, get finger paints and let them paint in the bath. Or paint in a nappy outside. She goes a bit overboard on saving every drawing etc - but I like the basis she has given me.
HOpe this helps,
Trace
Oh another thing, she encourages all mediums -
painting, drawing, play dough and then onto clay at around 18 months, pasting - and ideas and how to develop these mediums.
Anti-coloring! That’s very interesting… Thanks for sharing that, Trace! (karma!)
Yeah, that is interesting. It makes sense. We definitely want to encourage creativity, not so much structure.
Not a problem! I enjoyed having to think through everything I had read. It made me remember what I needed to focus on too. So I appreciated the encouragement to wrack my brains and get innovative again.
Some other good tidbits from the book:
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The biggest one for me was crayons in the mouth. My bub was given these special crayons and I was forever more focused on him not chewing on them that about him learning. I was finding it so frustrating. The book suggested getting large crayons (for little hands), non-toxic and just forget about them chewing the crayons and just let them do it. It really changed the whole mood of our drawing sessions. I just relaxed, he chewed, got bored and then scribbles away. He’s face gets full of paint from tasting, but hey, it’s non-toxic. I bought pure beeswax crayons, which Steiner schools use. They are brilliant and smooth, so gives my bub great satisfaction in actually making stripes. I steer away from cheap large crayons.
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She encourages the use of shapes to make other pictures, therefore encourages creativity. So if you want to use stencils for playdough or drawing, get shapes rather. As mentioned before, likewise for stickers, use shapes instead of pictures.
besos,
Tracey
Hi there Tracey,
I’ve tried replying to your post a couple of times, and our link keeps bombing out on me… 
It is soooo frustrating!!!
I wanted to thank you so much for your summary and it gave me an idea as to the thought behind it. I went back to the link that you gave for that book written by Susan Striker and noticed that they give you a peek preview! I got to read the introduction and a few other bits. What an interesting book!!
One thing I noticed was that she mentions that kids while scribbling actually do some of the writing strokes that they will later use in writing the alphabet. I wondered if you remember if she gave any suggestions for the age to start with handwriting. She mentions not to give things for them to copy as this curbs their creativity. In January I had planned to go full steam ahead with teaching my son who will be 3 and nine months then, to write. Now, I’m wondering if it isn’t a little early and may not be so good for his creativity…
I was also fascinated to see in the index that it gave two colours as the name of the chapter - like red and yellow - is this helping with them knowing which colours go well together?
Thank you once again and would love to hear more, and also about your progress with your little one as you implement the various steps.
TABS
Gluing idea - use a paint brush instead. Dental flossers and q-tips. I use small bathroom cups. Good for painting as well. Try taping down the paper - makes it a little easier.
Painting in the bathtub and shower walls is fun and easy to clean up. Add bonus of color blending when you rinse the walls.
Corn startch and water play is always a hit. Wait until the mixturers dry and just sweep them up for an easier clean up.
Paper mache - tearing paper
My older son hated coloring. He worked on his fine motor skills by peeling the paper off the crayons. Ended up melting the crayons and blending colors. I would let him stick toothpicks in the wax to make drawings.
A tray of flour, salt, sand is fun to draw in - adding water with eye droppers
In the winter time, spraying the snow with colored water bottles.
When kids are young it is more the sensory experience and process than creation. Using a sponge, hand broom, laundry are practical life skills that can be added to any art experience – hanging up laundry with clothes pins is a good fine motor activity.
Sorry - I posted the wrong like regarding Montessori and art. Here is the link with materials for age 1-3:
http://www.michaelolaf.com/08JC13art.pdf
One thing I never thought about with art and young children was perspective and the limitations in using a crib. I used a floor bed with my second son and he is a lot more perceptive of things in his environment and explores a lot more. http://www.michaelolaf.net/