I finally have the art program up and running at my school; teaching the 2nd and 3rd graders every Friday and the 4th, 5th and 6th graders every Wednesday. Though they know the schedule, they ask every day if they can have art and get extremely excited when the day finally comes that I say yes. For them, it's a break from the boring classes they are usually sitting in, something challenging but fun for them and a time to play with new, fun materials.
Last week, each student in my 4th, 5th and 6th grade class got a large sheet of paper with a circle drawn in a random spot on each piece (that I had put there), in which they needed to transform this in to something larger, incorporate it in to some realistic or abstract painting. I wanted to challenge their creativity, to get them to use their imagination. The only rule I had for them: no paintings of flowers or suns (because these are the only things they ever draw if they get their hands crayons or colored pencils). I went to class with two examples, an abstract drawing and a drawing of a frog in which i made the circle in to part of a design on the frogs back. I thought that this would give them a jumping off point to go in two different directions... but after explaining the exercise, I was given 25 blank stares. An art project that I thought may be a simple one, definitely wasn't. These 10-16 year were working hard, excited to be painting and so proud once they had finished... but their works of art looked like those of a 1st grader. Never before had I realized so much how these fine motor skills are something learned, something that takes practice in order to perfect, that creativity is something that develops with stimulation to that part of the brain.
I learned a lot about some of the children in terms of where their imagination went and how that transfered to their painting. I'm realizing, through doing this art program, that Art Therapy may be what I pursue...
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