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]]> http://www.mommygarten.com/parenting-skills/summertime-and-the-parentings-easy/feed/ 0 http://www.mommygarten.com/parenting-skills/the-art-work-of-creative-parenting-a-week-long-series/ http://www.mommygarten.com/parenting-skills/the-art-work-of-creative-parenting-a-week-long-series/#comments Mon, 26 Apr 2010 18:12:39 +0000 Carly Jennings http://www.mommygarten.com/?p=363 “After the people are gone, art is the only thing that’s left of a civilization.”

~Nia, 15 year-old World History student.

That comment by my daughter is a poignant insight to parenting. When our children leave our homes, what they leave behind for us to excavate is the most tangible summary of the days of development gone by.

A mere glimpse of the green handprint wreath painting instantly transports me back to the front row of the Peace Preschool holiday show. What looks like a stack of scribbled-up papers to others is obviously a sample of artwork pieces that show the progression of my daughter’s cognitive, creative, and motor development — and I-don’t-care how much room the boxes take up.

“I need some art!”

~Nia, when she was a 3 year-old preschooler, stuck at home for Christmas Break.

I guess the holidays had been a little hectic. Then again, perhaps the days had not been busy enough for  a preschool veteran who was used to the comforting regularity of Ms. Donna’s classroom schedule.

Whether busy or bored, what Nia really needed is what all children need: a way to capture and record the meanings, thoughts, and feelings of what is happening in their lives.

Art allows young children to:

• Create subjective, symbolic representations of their life events.
• Have a tool to help them remember events, feelings, sights they’ve seen.
• Initiate, direct, and complete their own work.
• Make decisions independently.
• Assess their own work product.
• Accomplish all of the above, before they can even read or write.

What parents can do to help:

• With safety for younger siblings in mind, allow preschoolers independent access to as many of the art supplies as possible.
• Organize the art materials for your child’s ease of use and ability to predict what to expect about the art experience.
• Display the finished art for the whole family to enjoy.
• Make sure older siblings mind their own business (you too, parents). It is demoralizing for children to hear criticisms of their creative choices.
• Sneak in extra learning. There are so many new words kids can learn while they paint, draw, or look for collage materials.
• Sneak in some chores. Children will actually be happy to clean up and care for their art supplies when they realize that is they only way that the materials will remain in good condition for future fun.

This week at MommyGarten.com, we’ll look at various ways for you to help your baby, toddler, or preschooler to create authentic, developmentally appropriate art. Check back for more on The Art and Work of Creative Parenting series.

Yesterday was Monday. Tomorrow is Wednesday… That means today is ToesDay.

Whenever I host parent-child storytimes, I always include an art activity.  One of the biggest hits is footprint art.

Though charming to us adults, some kids won’t like it. Won’t tolerate it. Having a wet, slippery foot that needs to be washed will send some children running. Which is okay — you can make graffiti art from the footprints they leave behind.

For those whose children will enjoy ToesDay, here are some ways to jam it full of learning:

Make it seasonal.

• Brown footprint + red dot, scribble, or button on the heel of the footprint = our favorite reindeer! Twisty pretzels, broken just right, make 3-dimensional antlers that you can help your child glue onto the paper, on top of the big toe, and the little toe.
• Black paper + white paint = a Halloween ghost. The heel of the footprint becomes the ghost’s head, and stick-on stars make the black night shimmer.

Make it about the process.

• Involve children with gathering the supplies. Talk about what the purpose of each item you plan to use. Discuss the field trip to the school supply store you might make to purchase the paint, or the stickers.
• Parents often put on a show for kids, without letting kids be aware of the “before, during, and after” work.  In other words, the planning stage, the part of the process that requires following instructions and rules, and the equally important time devoted to responsibility and clean-up.

To keep these activities easy, simple, and fun, remember:

• Use a heavy paper, like construction paper or cardstock. Cardboard is a good medium, too.
• Use a sponge to dab paint onto your child’s foot. A brush will tickle too much.
• Use only non-toxic fingerpaint.
• Keep choking hazards away from younger kids. Independent completion is great, when a kid is developmentally ready to remember to be safe. Buttons, pretzels, marker tops, stickers, and construction paper cut-outs are suitable for independent use by children who are past the mouth exploration stage — that usually means 3 years and older.
• Let each child particpate on his or her own terms.
• Kids who don’t like to be painted might enjoy passing out the wet wipes to those who are in need of a tidy-up. It has always been interesting to me to see which kids want to help clean others’ tootsies.  That’s another topic for another day, but developing empathy is a milestone, too.

Display the art immediately after having your child sign his or her name (initial, squiggle, or drop of drool) — that’s what great artists do, they sign their work. Send some of the creations to grandparents, and safeguard some for a memory book. But most of all, enjoy your job as a parenting maestro.

Check back tomorrow for more on The Art and Work of Creative Parenting series.

“Mandy, this is red…. Red, meet Mandy, your biggest fan.”

I like to allow children to completely explore a concept before they begin to create within the confines of it. When applied to learning about color, that theory notifies parents to make simple introductions.

Offering your child a pre-packaged kit of watercolors will certainly supply her with the tools for hours of fun and creativity. But I think there is a better, more organic way to introduce your 30 to 36 month-old to color learning.

Color Math.

Let’s start with an equation that boosts brain development and pumps up motor skills development: Water + Color = Learning.

Think that’s exciting? How ’bout this formula: Water + Color + One more Color = ANOTHER color!

When you show young child how to mix colors, she’s not only conducting an experiment to see what new colors result (a science lesson in itself!), she learns the important discipline of following a sequence, gets a good cause and effect lesson, and she strengthens her planning skills for future art projects.  Once she finishes her investigation, she might want to create a work of art, or start all over again.

Gather :

• One clean eyedropper for each artist
• One clear or white ice cube tray for every two artists to share
• Food coloring in the primary colors: blue, red, and yellow
• White construction paper, or watercolor paper
• paint brushes, child-sized

Start by filling the ice cube trays with water (more than halfway, less than spillable). Add 3 or 4 drops of blue food coloring into one of the sections of of the tray.  Choose another section in which to add 3 or 4 red drops. Choose one more section in which to add 3 or 4 yellow drops.

Next you’ll develop your child’s motor skills by teaching her how to squeeze the eyedropper, and use that new skill to mix new colors. Start with a bowl of clear water. And plenty of paper towels! Grabbing up the water, then releasing it in the right place is a complicated symphony of fine motor skills, aiming, and timing. A lot like playing in a real symphony. As you show her how it’s done, describe each step so that she can see and hear what’s happening.

Point out that you are:

• Pinching the soft bulb of the dropper,
• Then placing the tip in the water.

After that you will:

• Open your fingers, and
• See the water come up into the tube,

Next, it’s time to:

• Take the eyedropper out of the water, and
• Pinch the bulb again to get the water back out.

When your child finishes practicing with the bowl of clear water, she will complete this process with colored water.  At that time, she’ll need to know to aim the dropper right before she squeezes the colored water out. And, it will actually be a little easier for your child to see the water enter the tube. But practicing with clear water one or two times can greatly reduce mistakes, therefore, frustration.

Now, it’s time to mix.

Ask your preschooler to:

1. Choose a color water (red, blue or yellow) section of the ice cube tray, then
2. Use the eyedropper to grab up some of the color water.
3. Squeeze the color water back out of the tube, into a section that has clear water.
4. Repeat, using one of the remaining colors, and aiming at the section the same section as in step 3.
5. Describe what she sees.

Help your artist continue experimenting until she has combined all of the secondary colors (purple, orange, and green) from the primary colors of red, blue, and yellow.

Extension and follow-up activities.

A child who is interested in doing more with these newly “created” colors might enjoy painting with a brush onto thick paper, or she might like to use the dropper to spread color water onto thick paper.

Check back tomorrow for more of The Art and Work of Creative Parenting series.

Outdoor chalk play is a nearly perfect activity:

• Chalk can be a tool for art or for hopscotch.
• Children of different ages can create together, or
• Younger ones can color independently.
• Kids can practice writing.
• Cleanup with a hose is just as much fun as the activity.
• But — cleanup is optional!

Specific developmental benefits of playing with sidewalk chalk.

Motor development – Kids practice using their small muscles (fine motor skills) to grasp and hang on to the chalk. They use their larger muscles (gross motor development) to bend down, scribble HARD, hop back up to admire their work, run over to your hammock and drag you out to come and see their work. Oh yeh, that hopping on one leg thing? Then the other leg? While thinking? Beautiful electrical storms are lighting up their brains!

Intellectual or cognitive development - When you show your young children how to play games like hopscotch or bean bag toss, don’t focus on accuracy the first time out. What really matters is that they understand that there are rules to remember, and that there is a sequence to follow. Practice will ensure accuracy. For today, their attempts to participate in a group activity (social development) is enough. The confidence and enjoyment (emotional development) they gain from simply trying to participate will motivate them to continue working until they get it “right.”

Language development – Chalk play can enhance your child’s communication skills by simply giving her an opportunity to write letters, draw a picture that has meaning, invent letters that she wants to practice writing. Remember to take seriously whatever she decides to communicate. The sun is shining, and she is trying. She can’t get it wrong.

More language boosts will happen when your child needs to be able to

• listen to rules of a game,
• listen to the other players,
• respond to the words, “It’s your turn, now” or
• blurt out, “Hey! My turn!”

Parenting tip: if she recognizes that brother just took two turns, her sequencing ability (intellectual skill) is coming along, don’t you think??

Whew. Somebody’s gonna need a long afternoon nap, Mommy… yet another benefit of playing outside with chalk.

Firestations and petting zoos have their place, but when you want to take your child on a journey of discovery, a walk in your own neighborhood (with curiosity as his tour guide) is more than enough.

Your young child’s natural inclination to touch and gather is a good instinct for today’s art activity, making collages. Tomorrow and the next day, your preschooler will be able to enjoy his art, and remember the process that led to the finished artistic product. Many tomorrows later, you’ll be gazing at what remains of that day.

In the warm months, he’ll notice grasses, terrain, spent feathers, flowers, lizards, and winged insects. Allow him to gather a petal here, a pebble there. The cooler months will offer a bounty of acorn shells, pine needles, pine cones, fallen leaves, and browned grasses. As he gathers items, ask him questions about his choices (i.e., his thinking processes).

Collage artist Megan Coyle endorses the idea of using “found objects from outside like flowers and leaves, to create more organic works of art.”  The Washington, D.C. artist also advises using a non-toxic adhesive (like good ole’ Elmer’s School Glue) and thicker paper “like watercolor paper or perhaps even cardboard [to] make it easier to hang the collage once it’s complete.”

Young toddlers will enjoy gluing. Random gluing. Pointless gluing. Just making a glue dot on the background paper, then slapping something on it will be a sheer joy. Older toddlers and preschoolers will be capable of creating a more cohesive piece, especially with the morning’s field trip as inspiration. They might draw a picture of a bird to serve as new home for the feathers they found. A curvy line of pebbles looks like the nature trail you just walked, doesn’t it?

Ms. Coyle also offers a rainy-day back-up plan for MommyGarten.com readers: “You can use whatever you have in your craft box, such as tissue paper, wrapping paper, fabric, or magazines. The beauty to collage is that you can take common, ordinary objects and turn them into works of art.” See our blogroll for a link to the adventures of Megan Coyle’s collage canine, Bosty — your kids will love this dog!

Remember to have your artist sign his work — Megan Coyle always signs hers.  Whether your kid signs with a scribble, a paint-dipped fingerprint, a sticker, or a first initial, signing his creation is another way to be proud of his work.

Some say that play is the work of children.

I agree. Sort of….

The developmental tasks accomplished through playing are what truly matter.

Equally important: What kind of co-worker are you Mommy? The hovering, scampering, secretarial type?  The strict foreman who keeps the trains running on time?  Or are you more of an over-qualified, underpaid, personal assistant to a diva?

Here’s what your kid is working on, and how you can really help:

Birth to First Birthday:

Your super-curious baby spends a lot of her time figuring out her place in the world.

In the first few months of her life, she experiments with causes and effects — everything from what happens when she smiles or cries, to what happens when she kicks her foot at the new crib mobile. In the second half of her first year, she becomes able to direct her curiosity and see it through to a result.  Like that toy you think you hid, or the cup you think you put a lid on…. remember Mommy, it’s her job to discover. It’s your job to control her environment to make sure she learns that life is interesting, comforting, and safe. Besides, within months, she will love imitating you so much that she’ll even help clean up her own splashes. Discipline? Save it for next year.

First Birthday to 2 years old:

Your super-independent baby thinks she’s got it all figured out, doesn’t she?

She walks now (just like you).  She talks now (just like you, she thinks). What does she need you for?  Diaper changes, but she won’t always admit that. At this age, your toddler discovers multiple ways to reach her goals. If she wants her blankie from the laundry pile, she might pull down the whole pile to get it closer to her, or she might climb the furniture to get herself closer to it.  Either way, she’s convinced she doesn’t need your help — except for when she does, right?  It’s your job to be patient for now, and avoid power struggles. Discipline should be about setting and keeping boundaries, not punishment.

2 years old to 3 & 4 years old:

Your super-social kid spends a lot of time figuring out everyone else’s business — even if she has to make some of it up.

At first, your child starts with simple imitation of actions she has seen. By ages 3 and 4, she and her friends will use sociodramatic play (or make-believe) to try on different personalities, and try out different situations. The simple body-oriented play of the first 24 months is expanded to symbolic play, which means that kids this age can hold something in their minds although the object isn’t really there.  You know — they pretend. Mommy’s job: to be a good stage mother.

Unlike talking, testing boundaries, or taming her impulses, falling in love won’t wait.  It’s the first thing she needs to be able to do.

You help your baby learn about love’s prerequisite — trust — when you:

• Provide an emotionally stable environment. If your infant’s human relationships are a source of comfort rather than stress, she learns life’s first love lesson.
• Create predictable care routines. A baby who knows how and when she will be cared for can use her mental energy for curiosity, exploring, smiling — not wondering what will happen next.
• Learn to recognize, then respond to, her cues and cries. For attachment to develop, baby needs protection from the emotional stress of disappointment or neglect.

You’ll know your are getting results from all your consistent, warm, nurturing interactions when you see the following mental and emotional responses:

• Your child begins to show a preference for you, and other familiar faces.
• She seeks out companionship — even before she can use words, she has other strategies for getting your attention.
• You feel connected to your baby when you talk, or play, and also during routine tasks like bathing and diapering.
• You and your baby focus attention together.  If you are engaging her in an activity, she is able to overcome a distraction and refocus on your shared activity.
• You and your baby focus attention on each other.  You make eye contact when you have a “conversation,” you giggle at the same things.

The process of loving and being loved begins with parents and other important people. Offer plenty of attention, and pay plenty of attention to baby’s responses.  Some children take longer to formulate a response, some children need less stimulation than others.

Falling in love truly is for the long-term. Someday you’ll know you have prepared your child well when you see her ability to make and keep friends; maintain a loyalty to herself when inevitable conflicts arise — yet continue to value her relationships; and find comfort in having companionship.

Blocks are so important to building a child’s skills through play, that I’ve used them to assess whether or not a child was developing on track. Yes, that important.

From the small wooden cubes that babies instinctively like to stack to the brick-sized cardboard ones that are perfect for team projects, blocks are… well… um, a building block of your child’s development across multiple domains.

You should expect your money’s worth out of blocks. That means all blocks, large and small, should be versatile, durable, non-toxic, a pleasure to touch and manipulate, well-made (splinter-free!), and able to hold up under a toddler’s weight (yes, they will stand on them). The best blocks sets will have many assortments that you can purchase in future years to enlarge your child’s collection and imagination.

Unit blocks

These blocks come in sizes that reflect the mathematical (or proportional) relationship between the blocks. There are several of a basic size, then several blocks that are twice the basic size, then even more that are twice the middle size. I love the way these blocks will either reinforce math concepts if your child is ready to “get” them, or the blocks are content to wait patiently until your child is ready. They are fun to handle regardless of where your child is in his learning process.

Brick-like blocks

These blocks tend to be rectangular, and varied in size within the same set.  Some are decorated like bricks, and they are usually made of cardboard. Many come unconstructed, or able to be deconstructed. In my opinion, having your child help you put the blocks together in preparation for playing with them someday is a valuable lesson in stewardship.

Tips and suggestions for block play (not that your kid will need any!)

Small blocks

• See how many wooden cubes your 6-month old can stack.  You’ll be surprised — it’s not a skill that babies spend a lot of time on, but it is one they can quickly master.
• Talk to your older baby or toddler about the shapes of the blocks.
• Talk to your toddler about the sizes of the blocks. “Smaller,” and “bigger” are important concepts.
• Ask your toddler to match the blocks by size.

Larger blocks:

• Build a wall.
• Make a yellow brick road, or a colorful brick road. Your child will love trying to walk on it without falling off.
• Count the sides of the blocks for your child.
• Ask your preschooler to match the blocks by shape, regardless of size.

The best toys grow up with your kids.

The best toys are multi-purpose, versatile, and friendly. By “friendly” I mean that a good toy plays nicely with differing ability levels, developmental stages, and age groups.

For “Most Valuable Toy of All Time”  – a toy that stands up to being kicked around, a toy that is at its best when it is shared, an heirloom that can be passed down from sibling to sibling, I nominate:  The Ball.

Toddlers who develop at a typical rate will learn to throw and kick with a surprising amount of force for their size. A ball is perfect for the outdoor play that kids need to improve those skills.

Youngsters whose development is not typical (or is delayed) will be helped by having a variety of textures and sizes to choose from. In those situations, it is important to be attentive to your child’s preferences, because one’s own preferences usually align more closely with one’s own abilities. The small spongy ball that can be squeezed will strengthen the hand muscles and coordination, in preparation for learning to aim, throw, and hit the target at a later time.

Although learning to catch is an age-appropriate milestone for older 2’s and 3’s who are developing typically, a larger ball that can be pushed or rolled even with imprecise movements provides children with developmental delays an opportunity to be effective, too.

When your toddler’s kicking skills become more accurate, set up 10 plastic water bottles, half-filled (use food-coloring in the water if you want to make it really interesting) for an afternoon of bowling. Kicking, rolling, or tossing the ball will do. It’s always interesting to see children adjust their strategies to find their own way to succeed and knocking down the water bottles. And yes, there will always be one who prefers to walk over to the bottles and kick them directly. He’s the future chiropractor.

That big ole box from yesterday? If you followed my suggestions, it’s pretty worn out and raggedy by now. And it’s also pretty — you painted it, didn’t you? Don’t haul it out to your neighbor’s recycling bin just yet, Mommy. Use it to set up a goal box outside, soccer-like. Toddlers will love kicking, aiming, cheering — this activity is so much fun, they’ll even enjoy taking turns.