By Sandy Johnson
Swoosh, Dab, Splat, Smear… These are the familiar actions in creating “Process Art”. These are also the early skill building fundamentals of budding young artists, explorers, investigators and creative minds. A young child’s early art experiences are often more like a science experiment with art materials. What happens if….? Oh my, that loaded paintbrush glides across the paper differently? WOW, when the red paint slips into the blue… I see purple! And, just how much glue is too much?
Encouraging these rich sensory experiences is an incredible gift to the developing child. In addition to creating a work of art, they are also developing their eye – hand coordination, strengthening finger muscles, improving their dexterity, increasing their attention span by focusing on a fun and meaningful task and many other important early developmental skills! Often these messy works of art are difficult to see as valuable to the ordinary eye but in the eyes of a child and an Early Childhood Professional, they are true master pieces! Early Childhood Professionals know that time spend with creative art experiences – where children are free to explore, dabble, and try new materials – offers powerful benefits to young children. These exploration sessions with paint, glue, clay or sculpting dough, pom poms and buttons are often one of the early joys of childhood. There is nothing like the sense of pride that emerges from a child who has just created their latest masterpiece.
This stage of exploration or “Process Art” is gift we give young children-allowing them the time, space and materials to simply create. Far too often we can jump from the create stage to the mak-it stage or “Product Art”, where they are limited by the thoughts ideas and parameters of someone else or a pattern. Allowing young children to experience the magic and wonder of colors mixing on a page and seeing their work as valuable is a powerful gift we give the next generation of creative minds.
