1. Guiding Art, Blockbuilding, and Sensory Experiences
Chapter 19
Guiding Art, Blockbuilding, and Sensory Experiences

2. The Importance of Art Experiences
Art promotes:
Physical- through the movements involved in painting, coloring, drawing, scribbling, and playing with clay
Social- art experiences help children learn responsibility for example they must put on smocks before they paint
Emotional- children can express their emotions through art. For example they can pound out clay, or scribble if they are feeling angry.
Cognitive growth- is promoted by exploring, experimenting, and problem solving with many materials and tools.

3. Helping children during the art process is important however you must be careful to not become an “intruder”
Children take their art very seriously so you must not take over their project.
To foster independence start each session by telling the children what supplies are available
It is best not to ask a student what they are making because sometimes they are just experimenting and they will not have an answer to that question.
Your goal is to make the students feel successful and confident

4. Techniques for guiding art
You must be CREATIVE in you approach to art
A good art program allows children to express their ideas
These experiences should involve the 5 senses: sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing.

5. Commenting on children’s artwork
You are using a purple crayon
What a nice yellow start you are making
I love the lines you made
These colors look happy
Your work is so interesting

6. Stages of art skill development
Scribble Stage
Basic Forms Stage
Pictorial Drawing Stage

7. Scribble stage 18 months – 3 years
Motor control and hand eye coordination are not well developed yet
They can make dots, lines and zigzags
They often hold drawing tools with with their fist
Hey appear to be drawing with every moving part of their body
Their scribbles are by-products of the experience

8. Basic forms stage Between 3 and 4 years
Children learn and recognize basic forms such as circles, rectangles and squares
They have more control over their movements and better hand eye coordination
They CAN control the size and shape of a line
Children may begin to name their drawings

9. Pictorial drawing stage
Between 4 and 5 years
Children are able to draw marks that are representational of pictures
They attempt to mimic their view of the world
They begin to combine shapes to represent objects or people
Drawings are often large and randomly placed
Color is often unrealistic

10. Art Supplies and Tools Tempera paint Brushes Easels Crayons Chalk
Felt tip markers
Coloring books
Paste
Paper and painting surfaces
Glue
Cleanup tools
Space and storage

11. Painting Activities Easel painting Finger painting String painting
Mono painting
Chalk painting
Texture painting
Salt painting
Spice painting
To learn what painting means to a child you must listen and watch.
Children’s paintings change from simple dots and strokes to crude figures as they move through development
Some children will enjoy using the tools and others will enjoy using their hands

12. Other types of art
Molding – children enjoy the tactile appeal of play dough, plasticine and clay. They will poke, roll, stretch, pound, squeeze and tear the material. Cutting- children must get the opportunity to cut. This is an activity they really enjoy but often are not given the chance.
Collages- means a selection of materials mounted on a flat surface Blockbuilding- blocks are an important learning tool for young children. Blockbuilding promotes all 4 of the Domains (Cognitive, Social, Emotional and Physical)

13. Stages of blockbuilding
Stage one- 1-2 years -children will carry the blocks around
Stage two yrs. -building begins
Stage 3 – Bridging begins
Stage 4 – square enclosures and naming can begin
Stage 5 – 3-4 years- more intricate building occurs
Stage 6 – Naming and adding in dramatic play (ex. Building a garage for toy cars)
Stage 7 – By 5 years old children are engaged in representational play, they decide what they want to build before they start. Structures are symbolic and are used in dramatic play.

14. Displaying children’s work
Children need to know that their artwork is valued
Displaying their work shows that you value them and their development
Bulletin boards are a great way to display the children’s work
Bulletin boards are also an important way to convey information to parents

15. Sensory experiences
Sand and water play are also called sensory experiences
These activities can take place inside or outside
This type of play fosters the children’s imaginations, creativity and experimentation
Floating, pouring, fantasy, squirting and dribbling are all types of sensory play

16. woodworking Children enjoy woodworking activities
Hammering is usually their first interest
Promotes hand-eye coordination, fine and gross motor development and creative expression
It provides children with an emotional release and encourages them to experiment and develop problem solving skills

17. summary Art activities are important open ended learning experiences
A good art program fosters independence
Let the children decide when they are finished with a project
Praise and display the children’s work
There are three distinct stages or art that children move through
It is the teachers job to guide all types of art experiences
A variety of materials and opportunities must be given to children for them to benefit from art