Process Oriented Art

In America we are very much “end product” oriented people but this is not appropriate for young children. For young children the process is the important part not the end product. It is not easy to follow this methodology when there is sometimes tremendous pressure from parents or directors to have the children make something “cute” to take home. Usually this results in the teacher coming up with some holiday or seasonal “art” project which more than likely is not developmentally appropriate.

If the teacher is the one who is doing most of the work of creating, and all the kids creations look the same, I fail to see how this is considered art. The child should be the one deciding what to make and how. The role of the teacher is to put out interesting materials that will attract the child’s interest and give support if needed.

In the picture above you can see one such invitation. I placed on the discovery table: two ice trays, one empty and one with colored and clear water; eye droppers, paper, and a book about color mixing. Each child was free to explore the center in their own way. One child mixed colors in the trays first and then dropped colored spots onto the paper. He needed little assistance. Another, younger child found the eye dropper frustrating to use. For this child I modeled how to squeeze the top to draw in the water. After a few demonstrations he was able to do this himself.

After he was satisfied with the amount of color he had on his paper he proceeded to poke holes in the paper. I did not attempt to stop him. After all, who am I to tell him this is not art? Imagine Salvador Dali as a young child in preschool. If day after day he came to the art table to find: precut shapes and pieces, a teacher made model, and explicit instructions on how to make the expected product, do you think that he would have gone on to create such strange and wonderful paintings? I highly doubt it. Let children explore whenever possible and you’ll be amazed at the results.