For many years, I
would set out pre-cut materials for the children to put together and make into
something. This is typically what is known as product art. I feel
there is value in doing things this way, as long as there is a balance for children
to do art that is open-ended as well. There is not as much creativity in
product art, but it does support following directions, and for some children
who need more practice with how to put materials together, it can be a first
step into venturing into more creative art. For this project, we did a
combination. We were going to all be making snowmen, but the children
were going to trace and cut the pieces, and decide what they needed for
accessories. Their first task was to choose a small, medium, and large
container to trace. Then they traced and cut out their circles.
Finally, they decided what else their snowmen needed; hats, stick arms
and legs, scarves, carrot noses, etc.
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This child is using scissors which supports fine
motor development and is cutting out one of the circles he traced.
|
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| Here, we see some cutting,
gluing and assembling. |
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| This child wanted to add a
scarf to her snowman, so I asked her to choose a color and gave her a piece of paper
to draw and cut out a scarf. |
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| I love how unique they all turned out! |
