Why Should Children Study Art?

When setting out to help children learn about art, I think it's important to spend some time thinking over the subject first - what is the purpose of art, and why should kids study it? To some, art is nice but sort of a fluffy distraction; possibly not even completely necessary to human existence. To others, art is essential and fulfills some specific human needs that can't be met any other way.

The Purpose of Art

The earliest art - cave drawings and the like - certainly fulfilled some important purposes. This type of art was a record of events, a means of sharing stories, and a way to pass on information. People created primitive art to show the world around them - pictures were usually of animals, birds, plants, and humans in scenes of daily life (especially hunting).

In recent centuries, the visual arts have become more sophisticated. The spoken and written word has become our primary means of communication, so art can be more than just a chronicle of historic events or a way to share stories, although it still can definitely be those things as well.

Through art, artists share their feelings in a way that evokes something from the viewer. The emotions one feels when viewing art may be pleasing or not; you may find a piece of art thought-provoking, challenging, or even distressing. The artist is trying to convey something; it's up to you to figure out what that is. Art is a conversation between you and the artist; they put themselves into their work, and you bring yourself to your interpretation of it.

Because of the feelings that art can evoke - feelings that usually cannot be brought on by other means - art is indispensible to human existence. Art meets our needs for self-expression, communication, and our desire for connection with other humans across centuries and cultures. It's important that children know art is important.

What Can Young Children Learn from Art?

Even at a very early age, children can appreciate works of art. They enjoy looking at pictures (photos and paintings) of fruit, flowers, animals, and other popular artistic subjects. Bright colors and sharp contrasts are stimulating visually and aid in brain development.

Older kids begin to notice that art has meaning beyond the images themselves. As they observe the feelings and emotions that works of art evoke, they will see how art can be a way of expression for themselves, too. Studies show that exposure to great art increases a child's verbal ability, expressiveness, reasoning and logical thinking, and leads to philosophical questioning as a child seeks interpretation and understanding.

Aside from strengthening their verbal and analytical skills, studying art can teach children about design, color, shading, perspective, shadows, lighting, composition, and various artistic techniques. In addition, I find that children begin to view the world around them from an artists' perspective; everything they see is a potential subject. They are more attuned to details and characteristics of objects, animals, and people.

Finding Art All Around Us

Every year, my son and I visit the Art Institute in Chicago for a day (we'll take my daughter too once she's old enough). This past spring, as we wandered the cavernous halls, we came across an exhibit of furniture from the past 50 years that exemplifies modern design principles. I watched my son's eyes grow wide as we walked through; afterwards, he looked at me and said, "Mom, I get it now. A couch can be a work of art! A chair can be a work of art!"

It was a really neat moment because he came to that realization completely on his own. So rather than confining our study of art appreciation to painters (which is easy to do), I encourage you to expose children to all kinds of art. They can appreciate a book of calligraphy; a lovely building; an artfully composed photograph; an intricately woven rug; a handpainted vase; or even a beautifully designed website. Once they start looking, they will find art everywhere.

Studying the Visual Arts

Paintings are definitely the largest category of visual art and I think it's appropriate to spend quite a bit of time on this particular type of art. Additionally, many painters were also skilled in other areas (sculpture, architecture) so studying their paintings leads to studies of other kinds of art as well.

Naturally, the very best way to study a painting is to see it in person. However, that's not always possible. I do highly recommend taking young children to local art museums and galleries (making sure beforehand that subject matter is age-appropriate). If you don't live near any, you can work them into your travel or vacation schedule.

One of the most popular ways to learn about art in recent years has been the Child-size Masterpieces Series by Aline Wolf (formerly known as Mommy, It's a Renoir!) These books consist of great works of art, postcard size, printed on thick paper. On the backs of the paintings you'll find the name of the artist, date and place of birth, and some information about them and about the specific painting.

The paintings are arranged in order of difficulty and by school of art (Impressionist, Cubist, etc.) Also, the fact that they all contain information about the artist and paintings is extremely helpful. In some cases, the child will want more info than the cards provide, but at least you will have some basic info on hand as a starting point. The first few sets contain two of each painting so that the child can use them as matching cards.

If you're unsure about making the investment in the entire Child-size Masterpieces series, I would suggest purchasing the first book and trying it out. If the children enjoy it, you can get another and slowly build your artwork library. This series also comes with an instruction book, but I don't think it's absolutely necessary. There's not much more to presenting the paintings than laying them out on a rug and talking about each, one at a time.

Some people may want to make their own sets of art cards using museum postcards; this is certainly an option and kids will have fun collecting and choosing postcards of artwork to study. Actually, Aline Wolf suggests doing that even if you are using the Masterpieces series, to increase the amount of paintings and artists that you can study. You may also want to add more pictures of art from around the world; the masterpieces set does tend towards European and American artists (although not exclusively).

My son and I worked our way through the entire Child-size Series this past year (his second grade year). He was eager to work with the cards and seemed to be the right age to really understand and absorb the information about each artist. We concentrated specifically on artists and paintings that are found at the Art Institute; by preparing this way, he had a great idea of what to expect on our field trip.

In addition to the art cards, we read quite a few books from the Getting to Know the World's Great Artists series by Mike Venezia. Each of these delightful (and often hilarious) books tell the story of a great artist, and not only show reproductions of their own artwork but contain Mr. Venezia's entertaining cartoons illustrating the artist's life. This makes the books extremely fun to read; indeed, my son literally begged me to read them. There's also a similar series by the same author called Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers that I also highly recommend.

Early on in my teaching career, someone told me that a Montessori teacher should be a renaissance person; that is, skilled in many different areas. That's a tall order! As with any of the curricular areas, you might feel that you are not equipped to teach art if it's not something you studied in school. Don't be afraid! There are so many resources out there - books, websites - and you'll be learning right alongside the children. If they see that you appreciate art, they will too.

For a little bit of online fun, visit this website: Jackson Pollock. It's self-explanatory :)

Bringing Art to the Elementary Classroom

As I mentioned last week, I believe that every Montessori classroom should have a dedicated art area. This lets kids know that art is important, and also gives them a chance to explore different kinds of art and different art media. In elementary, projects can be more sophisticated, especially if kids have had a good foundation in the basic art skills.

Some possible elementary art activities:

Painting of every kind: watercolor, tempera, acrylics on canvas
Drawing and sketching: still life (flowers, fruit), portraits, landscapes
Varied art media: colored pencils, oil pastels, crayons, clay, and charcoal

Here's an example of an elementary art area; I set this up in my home but it's very similar to the one I had in the classroom:

I'm going to take this shelf by shelf, and talk about each material.

Shelf 1:

This shelf contains a color mixing work similar to the one you'd find in preschool, only now an additional component - the color chart - has been added. I was delighted to discover that a plastic paint tray (found at any craft or art store) has almost the same amount of circles as the color chart (I think it's got one less). Kids have a great time putting primary-colored water into three of the circles, and then using those colors to make all the other ones on the chart.

The picture is a postcard of a painting by Miro in the abstract style. It's long been a tradition to put out real paintings in the Montessori classroom for children to copy. Set one near an easel, with the appropriate colors of paint, and kids do a surprisingly good job of copying the paintings. This can be done in preschool, too, I just didn't have enough room on the preschool shelf to show one.

Some people feel that copying paintings stifles a child's own creativity. I haven't found that to be true; copying paintings is a great way to learn about technique, shading, color, and light. If the child has other opportunities to express their own creativity, they will in no way be stifled. Actually, copying paintings of the masters has long been a part of artistic studies for adults as well.

Shelf 2:

On the left, there's a tray with stamp pads and stamps. This is a fun activity that can be done by preschoolers too. I like to give preschoolers simpler stamps, and elementary kids more elaborate designs that can be colored in with colored pencils after stamping.

On the right is an assortment of rulers and stencils. These were all found (including the bendable ruler) at an office supply store. Kids can use them to experiment with shapes, and draw all sorts of creative pictures with overlapping shapes. You could actually put a tray like this in the geometry area for use with the geometry folders and wooden materials.

Shelf 3:

On the left, you'll find a still life drawing work. I like to put out simple objects - in this case, a vase and bowl of fruit - and let kids draw them. The drawings can be done in black and white or with colored pencils. You can show the child how to look at the object and follow its shape on the paper. I find that to be a very good way to get started with sketching.

On the right is a tray with different colors of non-hardening modeling clay, along with some clay tools. Not only is this a fun art activity, but there are many places to use the clay throughout the classroom. Animals can be molded after doing zoology nomenclature cards or animal research.

Land and water forms can be created after doing basic or advanced land and water forms cards. Biomes can be made with clay as well. If the child desires to preserve their clay sculptures, it's best to use a hardening clay like Sculpey, or other type of craft clay that can be baked.

Shelf 4:

This shelf contains oil pastels with art paper on the left. Oil pastels (sometimes called cray-pas) are a fantastic art medium. Colors can be blended with a fingertip or brush; water can be added to blend and soften. Colors are easy to layer, especially for that time-honored favorite: first, color all over a piece of paper with different colors, then color over that layer with black. Unbend a paper clip and use the point to trace colorful pictures through the black layer.

On the right are some textured plates for rubbing. I found these in the scrapbook aisle at Target. They have a variety of textures (one on each side), and work well with Stockmar Beeswax crayons, which are flat and rectangular and perfect for rubbings. All manner of things work well for rubbings, including leaves, coins, and paper clips.

My philosophy was to treat the art shelf like any other area of the classroom - children were free to choose the work throughout the day, working alone or in pairs. If you put out something really exciting, be prepared to limit them to using it one time a day so everyone gets a turn.

As far as instructional books for elementary, I would still recommend the two books I mentioned at the end of the preschool art post, especially the second one. Again, most craft stores have a variety of arts and crafts books that can easily be adapted to Montessori.

Sometimes art instruction can be intimidating for adults, especially if they've never thought of themselves as particularly artistic. I've found that the best approach is to dive right in and learn alongside the students. When I wanted to do acrylic painting on canvas with my son, for instance, I bought a book about it and bought two canvases - one for him and one for me. We learned together - and had a great time.

Setting Up Your Preschool Art Area

Art. What does that little word mean? It can encompass a huge variety of pursuits, from drawing to dance, from sculpture to movie making. The one thing all artistic pursuits have in common is that they involve some sort of creation - making something that didn't already exist.

As you may remember from our study of the Tendencies of Humans, one thing that sets humans apart is our ability to envision something that doesn't yet exist. Bringing it into existence makes you feel powerful and in control. It's no wonder that little kids love art!

How can we best help kids to create art? I think it's like any other skill: begin with the basics. Once basic skills art established, kids can move on to more complicated activities. But if you start with the complicated activities, frustration can ensue. Keeping it simple at first is best.

In many preschool classrooms, art has its own separate area. Often, it's near Practical Life - since Practical Life is often by a sink, this makes sense as far as clean up goes. If there isn't a separate art area (although I think there should be), there are usually some art activities integrated into Practical Life.

What can go in your preschool art area?

Here are some suggestions:

• A tray with clay or play-doh and wooden clay tools
• An easel with tempera paints, brushes, and large paper
• A cutting activity with strips of paper and beginner scissors
• A gluing activity with glue in an easy-to-use bottle, or in a cup with a toothpick or paintbrush
• A punching activity with a hole punch or other fun shaped punch
• A color mixing activity with the three primary colors (water and food coloring), droppers, and a mixing tray

All of the above activities can be shown to children just like any other presentation would be. You can sit with the child (or a few children) at a table and go through the work, step by step. Some kids will need more help or instruction than others.

As you can see, most of these activities are meant to teach basic art skills like how to hold a paintbrush, gluing, and cutting. I think it's important that these are available throughout the year, but you'll want to provide the kids with more challenging activities as the year progresses.

Here's an example of a possible preschool art area at the beginning of the year; this is my daughter's art shelf and she works here almost every day: :

Besides the art activities that should be integrated in the classroom, time should be taken to provide the kids with art materials for doing specific projects. I enjoy using Friday afternoons as a designated "art time". It's a nice time to do projects like tissue paper art, papier mache, crayon resists, clay projects, and more.

Some Montessorians frown on the idea of giving kids a specific art project (like making a paper plate ladybug, for instance). They only want to provide kids with the raw materials and not tell them what to make. I like to do both; kids learn the valuable skill of following directions when they do pre-planned crafts. Also, pre-planned crafts can be more complex and tie in with seasons or other themes.

I know of two art instruction books specifically for use in Montessori environments. I'm acquainted with both of the authors and would recommend either book; the second one is a little more in-depth than the first (please visit each site to compare):

Let Out the Sunshine A handbook featuring a Montessori approach to creative activities, this book contains simple projects that highlight the five basic skills of cutting, gluing, modeling, crayoning, and painting.

Art for the Montessori Classroom A guide from New Child Montessori, this more complex book has 240 pages of information for setting up the art area and integrating art into the classroom or homeschool curriculum.

In addition, there are many books available at teacher stores and even traditional bookstores that are filled with arts and crafts ideas. I think most of these can be worked into Montessori with no trouble at all. In this earlier post on art and children, I include lots of links for art websites, instructional books, and other resources.

Next time, I'd like to take a look at how to study famous artists and great artwork - it really deserves its own post. And if you work with elementary-age kids, I'll be doing a post soon about art activities in the elementary classroom.

How I Found Montessori (Or, How Montessori Found Me)

The year was 1994. Newly married, I had nothing to offer the job world but a degree in History and a winning smile. By that point, I had figured out that I liked working with kids and was pretty good at it. As I scanned the local job ads, I saw that a Montessori school in Niles, IL was advertising for an assistant.

"Hmm, Montessori," I thought. "Isn't that just for gifted kids?" Other than that, I knew nothing about Montessori. But I needed a job, so I called and set up an interview. When I went to the school, the director was friendly and seemed to like me.

But what really got my attention was the classrooms - I had never seen anything like it. Open shelves, rugs on the floor, kids working quietly and independently. So this was Montessori! And, the director assured me with a laugh, it was for any child, not just gifted ones.

I started work immediately in the new preschool (3-6) classroom that was just opening up. I watched the directress present the math materials, show children how to scrub a tire, and carry pink cubes to a rug one at a time. When she gave one child an eggbeater to make bubbles in a bowl, I couldn't believe it. How was she able to think of all these creative activities? It wasn't until later that I realized that Montessori teachers had "albums" full of "presentations"; they weren't coming up with ideas all on their own.

In her office, the director had several shelves full of Montessori books and magazines. She told me to feel free to read anything I found interesting, so every day at my lunch hour, I went and grabbed some reading material. The first things I read were back issues of the North American Montessori Association's Teacher Journal. It was scholarly, but I devoured every word.

Worlds opened up to me as I read - ideas I had never heard before, about respecting a child's mind, following the child's lead, and the teacher's primary role as a guide, not an autocrat. It was so different from my own schooling experience, which was frequently miserable; it called out to me because I knew, just knew, that this was how children were supposed to be educated.

After working as a 3-6 assistant for several years (and soaking up every piece of knowledge I could about Montessori), I decided to take the 3-6 training. I applied to Midwest Montessori Teacher Training Center in Evanston, IL and was accepted. Just a month or two after acceptance, I found out I was pregnant. Reluctantly, I called and dropped out of the program. While I could have finished the training before having the baby, I wouldn't have been able to complete the internship because I planned on staying home the first few years.

Then, the unthinkable happened. Our daughter, Sarah, was stillborn when I was 6 and a half months pregnant. As we dealt with our grief, I began another school year as a 3-6 assistant. The directress I worked with was very understanding and kind during that year, which was especially hard for me because she gave birth to a baby girl a few months after I had been due. Sweetly, she gave her daughter the middle name "Sarah" in honor of my daughter and of our strong friendship.

That spring, I decided to apply for the Montessori training again, but this time for elementary. During that year, I had learned about the 6-9 program and instinctively knew that age group was a better fit for me. I began the training in the summer of 1997, and everything clicked. Needing a job (my current school didn't have an elementary program), I asked our trainer, Sister Mary, if she knew of any job openings. She said, yes, that she herself needed an intern for the coming school year.

So in the fall of 1997 I started teaching at the Midwest Montessori Training Center School under Sister Mary . We were a "model school", a place where interns and teachers could come to see the perfect classroom setup and correct presentations. This added an extra layer of difficulty to the already challenging situation of mastering the 6-9 curriculum and presentations, but I learned an enormous amount during that year. (Photo: Sister Mary & me. I think we're wearing corsages because it was Teacher Appreciation Day).

Think of how easily I could have missed out on a life devoted to Montessori. Think of all the "ifs": if that school hadn't been offering a job at that time, if they hadn't hired me, if I had never seen that job ad - I would have never found Montessori.

Now that I can look back on my early Montessori years, I can see just how much those chance circumstances affected my life. But it really wasn't chance at all - God was leading me, even though I had no idea what awaited when I applied for that first job - and now, my life is forever changed because of Maria Montessori and her educational method.

But enough about me - how did you find Montessori? Or, did Montessori find you?

Hands-on Projects Bring Nature Indoors

Kids love nature. The endless varieties of trees, bugs, rocks, and flowers provide unlimited opportunities for learning and exploration. Naturally, they love nature-themed projects, too. Here are a few of my favorite ways to bring the outside in:

1. Construct a Miniature Biome

These are one of my favorite projects. I start with an inexpensive glass bowl (less than $1 at craft or hobby stores) and provide the kids with materials to make a biome. Here are a few ideas:

Desert Biome: a layer of dirt, then a layer of sand. Add some real miniature cacti and small plastic desert animals (spiders, scorpions, lizards). Water occasionally. Here's our version:

Ocean Biome: Start with a layer of sand, then add colorful shells, dried sand dollars, and dried starfish. Add some plastic ocean animals, or have the children make some out of clay and then paint when dry.

Forest Biome: When I comb through the local garden center, I can usually find some plants that look like miniature trees and shrubs. After putting in a layer of gravel (for drainage) and then a layer of dirt, plant the mini-trees and add some animal figurines: deer, squirrels, chipmunks, bears, etc.

You can make mini biomes for just about every climate, including the rain forest, tundra, and savanna. They're a nice project to do with Biome Research Guides 1 & Biome Research Guides 2.

2. Hatch Some Butterflies or Ladybugs

Every year, we buy ladybug and butterfly larvae and have a great time watching them metamorphose and then hatch. I get all my supplies from Insect Lore; they have a ton of bug- and nature-related items, from books and videos to gardening supplies and habitats.

3. Make Some Nature Trays

Nature trays are a great way for kids to get their hands on a variety of nature objects. You can put the trays together yourself and set them in the classroom for kids to explore (don't forget the magnifying glass!) or you can have kids gather their own items and add them to the nature trays over time. Here's one we made with a tree/forest theme:

4. Carve Out Some Animal Tracks

You might remember the free Animal Tracks file I made awhile back. My son and I decided to get some white Sculpey (clay) and make all the tracks. We divided the clay into even amounts, then flattened it into oval discs.

Using a variety of clay tools and kitchen implements, we did our best to make all the tracks. We also "wrote" the name of the animal on the clay. After baking, we had a beautiful set of animal track imprints. Besides the six animals in the Animal Tracks work, my son added a human footprint using the side of his fist and fingertips for toes:

Have any other great ideas for bringing the outdoors inside? Please share!

The Optimization of Classification

In Montessori, we pay particular attention to the skill of classification. At its simplest, classifying means organizing objects by their similar or dissimilar characteristics. The process of classifying helps children obtain information about the world around them, as well as developing their thinking and reasoning abilities.

Being able to manipulate objects is essential to internalizing the concepts of classification. That's just one reason that Montessori materials are so perfect for strengthening skills like abstract and logical reasoning.

It Starts Early

Classifying can start as early as toddlerhood, when a child might put all the blue blocks, red blocks, and yellow blocks in their respective piles. They might not even know the word for each color yet, but they can observe the differences between them.

"One of these things is not like the other", goes the famous Sesame Street song, and children are extremely adept at picking out things that just don't fit. Think about what they have to do to figure out these kinds of puzzles: first, they must decide what universal attribute the majority of the items share, and then they must decide which item doesn't fit the pattern. It's a two-step process.

Classification becomes more sophisticated when children begin to notice that items can share some attributes but differ in others. For instance, buttons could be sorted by color or shape. Regrouping a collection of objects can strengthen a child's ability to closely observe and organize according to specific characteristics.

Younger children are usually focused on very obvious characteristics, like color, size, and shape. Examples of these activities include button or bead sorting; small, medium, and large; and shape sorters where only the correct shape will fit through each hole. More advanced classification work includes living/non-living, land/air/water, and fruit/vegetable.

An older child will begin to look at objects with more discrimination: they may notice that while oranges, lemons, and limes are different in color, they are all citrus fruits. Or they may realize that insects, while varying widely in appearance, all have three body parts and six legs.

The Science of Classification

A few weeks ago, my family and I went to the Chicago Botanic Gardens. Right in the middle of the gardens is a huge statue of Carl Linnaeus, known as the father of modern botanical classification. My husband took this lovely picture of the statue; Carl is holding out his hand, signifying the eternal quest for knowledge:

Carl Linnaeus was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist born in 1707. He devised the first cohesive system for classifying specific species. Before his time, plants and animals were often classified by things like geography (forest plants, ocean animals). He looked deeper, at the shared characteristics of species.

His system classified nature within a hierarchy, starting with kingdoms and moving on down through phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species. At each level, the classification becomes more and more specific. Take a step backward, though, and you'll see that at its most basic level, it's still the process of looking for universal similarities.

That means that this:

Is actually just a more highly sophisticated version of this:

As you work with young children on simple classification activities, you are laying the groundwork for them to understand the complicated way we organize the entire living world!

For easy reference, here's a list of classification/sorting work in Montessori, listed by curricular area: Classification_Work_in_Montessori.pdf