Sensorial: Introducing Art
We want children to create—to use their imaginations and to love texture, colour, shapes, and to experiment with the materials at their disposal. Our hope is that they will love art and be inspired to draw and paint, stick and cut, sculpt and get messy…and then clean up afterwards, of course.
Montessori inspires freedom through organisation, and the first top tip to introducing art to your children is to have a dedicated art area, with specific materials and ideas neatly presented. Have a look at the below tutorial by My Montessori Works for an idea on how to store and present art (in its broadest definition) to your little ones:
You’ll note that the shelf contain contains three basic activities:
- Materials: coloured pencils, crayons, felt tips, paint and oil pastels.
- Introducing a specific artist (this could be done with pictures by various artists).
- Introducing concepts: portraits, landscape, still life (using examples of each to illustrate).
When creating new lessons for our art shelves, some questions to keep in mind are:
- What’s the basic concept or skill you want to focus on? How are you building on previously learned skills?
- Are the materials visually appealing? Will the children be compelled to take it off the shelf?
- Will the youngest children be able to complete the lesson with little to no assistance? Is the work too complicated or not complex enough?
Start simply, and develop complexity as children mature and grow in skill, confidence and independence, and perhaps most importantly, share what you know about your own favourite artists – they will be inspired by your enthusiasm!
If you’d like further information about this tutorial, feel free to contact us at info@saintandrewsmontessori.com. We’re happy to answer any questions.
