“Messy Art”—There's More to Learning Than Meets the Eye
It’s colorful. It’s creative. It’s crazy.
So of course our pre-kindergarten kids love it!
And their teachers love it just as much—perhaps even more!—because such art sessions allow educators to creatively support so many different types of learning: figuring out movement and coordination, understanding spatial relations and distance, listening to and following instructions, and practicing patience and problem-solving.
“The whole idea of messy art is not about the end product or result,” remarks an enthusiastic Rissa Arens, co-lead teacher in the multi-age pre-kindergarten class in Principia’s Early Childhood program. “The real learning that’s going on is the thinking skills, the problem-solving skills, the figuring out of cause and effect—all the bits and pieces that the children put together for themselves!”
“This activity is process-oriented, not product-oriented,” agrees assistant teacher Patrice Saad. “We’re big believers in the importance of open-ended activities.”
That’s why they decided to have a whole week of messy art mostly outdoors during the last week of the school year. Fortunately, the weather cooperated wonderfully, so the children were also able to enjoy their lunches outside each day.
Providing this kind of playful yet purposeful curriculum takes a whole lot of prior preparation. The teachers had to carefully plan each day’s art activities, preparing the area and required tools (for example, nylon stockings filled with dried beans!) and making sure the necessary supplies were at hand. The challenge was to balance the adult-initiated activities with enough flexibility for the children to take their own initiative, thereby fostering independent thinking and the opportunity to make their own connections.
We’re sure you will enjoy the slideshow below, showing how the students made art with fly swatters, shaving cream, dish-soap bubbles, and skateboards, among other implements!