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Repost Reminder: The Spectrum of Preschool Arts and Crafts

October 13, 2010 by notjustcute Filed Under: Child Development & DAP, Create 15 Comments

Little Artist ginam

There’s a fascinating article from Newsweek entitled, The Creativity Crisis.  It was actually published in the summer, but I just stumbled upon it recently.  It’s left me with all kinds of writing prompts swimming around in my head, but I thought I’d actually start with something I’ve already written.  Here’s a look at what the term “arts and crafts” means to me, originally published August 12, 2009.

I recently got a great compliment from a parent. At least I think it was a compliment. She said, “I love that you have these random art projects!”  Now, as I said, I do believe she sincerely meant it as a compliment, but it got me wondering.  Certainly I can see how creating collages with seeds, fingerpainting with  colored shaving cream , and dropping colored water on coffee filters may seem a little random, but random as compared to what?  I think when most people envision preschool arts, they see the paper plate snowmen, the construction paper alphabet train, and woven paper place mats.  These aren’t actually arts, they’re closer to crafts.  Now I’m not saying crafts aren’t appropriate for preschoolers, I quite enjoy making  paper plate snowmen and I think the children do to.  I just hate to see crafts used at the exclusion of art.  Let me explain how I see them as different.

A Crafty Plan.  Crafts are more teacher directed.  Whether for supervision, help with a technique, or providing step-by-step instructions, an adult’s help is usually needed for crafts. Though it is important to provide some kind of opportunity for variation and choice, crafts generally need to be done a certain way to create a certain “object”.  There is a bit more emphasis on the outcome being something (a tree, a frame, an ornament).  Often, we do crafts when we’re creating a parent gift with the children.  We want it to be something so that it has a purpose as a gift.  This has some benefits.  It is certainly not a bad thing for children to learn how to follow directions, and they usually have a great sense of self-satisfaction when they complete their product.  They also learn techniques that are often implemented in independent art projects later.  But to do only crafts and call it art gives our children the short end of the stick.  In fact, constant focus on crafts can muzzle creativity and leave children feeling discouraged.

Express Yourself.  I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t read Bev Bos’s book, Don’t Move the Muffin Tins, until recently, but I’m convinced that I was taught her philosophy for art by my own mentors during my undergrad. I think Bev distinguishes between arts and crafts best when she says, “I make my own distinction between “art” and” craft” by asking how much participation by an adult is needed once I have presented materials.  When the activity is truly art and genuinely creative, all I have to do is to put a name on the paper or perhaps stand by to add to the supplies.” (page 2) 

That’s how I judge my art activities.  If I really want to foster creativity  I simply need to focus on providing tools and media and watch how the children put them together.  They don’t need me to tell them how the end result should look any more than Monet would!  As a matter of fact, I have always taught and been taught that providing models for the children stifles their creativity and causes frustration, but I love Bev’s example of setting out something like a Van Gogh for teachers and asking them to copy it.  That’s what it’s like for children looking at our own versions of their projects.  It’s demeaning and intimidating.  True art activities honor the artist.

Often times, the satisfaction and expression comes in the process of doing the art.  It is not uncommon for children to spend tens of minutes on a project, and then show no interest in taking it home.  They have mixed colors and tried every utensil and now that their paper is caked and finally dried, they tell you they don’t need it. 

For them, it was about the experimentation, the sensory input, and the experience.  They weren’t looking for something to hang on the fridge.  They were looking for something to unload their feelings and energy on.  They wanted something to explore.  They wanted something to control.  The “product” is often something only we adults see.

So take another look at your art activities.  Do you see product or process?  Mentally create a spectrum with “true art” on one end (child-driven, teacher simply provides and monitors supplies) and “complete craft” on the other (teacher directed, step-by-step with identical outcomes expected).  As you plan, take time to evaluate where your art activities fall on that spectrum.  For the benefit of your children, make sure you’re providing enough “random art projects”.

Photo provided by ginam.

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Comments

  1. 1

    Jacqui Gauthier says

    October 13, 2010 at 6:22 am

    Your blog has been a constant encouragement to me. Thanks for your continuous work raising the bar for early educators and parents alike!

    Reply
    • 2

      notjustcute says

      October 13, 2010 at 9:49 am

      Thank you so much, Jacqui! It’s comments like this that keep me writing!

      Reply
  2. 3

    Carol C says

    October 13, 2010 at 7:56 am

    I am very happy that I found your site. It’s funny but I have had the same feelings towards crafts, and thought that that letting children make their own creations and use their own imaginations was real art. My daughters love it when we do arts & crafts, and they really seem to love it more when they take control and create something that came from them, rather than instructed on how to create it.Thank you for putting in a very good perspective.

    Reply
    • 4

      notjustcute says

      October 13, 2010 at 9:48 am

      Thanks for reading, Carol! Your girls are lucky to have a mom who really values imagination!

      Reply
  3. 5

    Alicia says

    October 13, 2010 at 7:58 am

    Great post. When I taught pre-k I would give the children access to all of our art supplies. I rarely ever did “crafts”. I found children took more pride and time creating something they wanted than something teacher directed.

    Reply
    • 6

      notjustcute says

      October 13, 2010 at 9:48 am

      So true! In addition to using more problem solving and constructive thinking skills, the children will feel good about what THEY did, not what YOU did for them.

      Reply
  4. 7

    Tina says

    December 14, 2010 at 2:08 pm

    Great post!! This puts into words the difference I’ve seen between my daughter’s projects at her new preschool this year versus one she attended last year. Now if I can just figure out a tactful way to bring this up with her teacher…

    Reply
  5. 8

    Lizelle says

    May 21, 2014 at 10:39 am

    This was inspiring after my 6yr old son’s teacher explained that other people will not see autistic attributes (he does not have autism), if my child could just learn to be neater with art and not mess all over his page. For me our art projects are fun and what ever happens for each of my 2 boys aged 6 and 8 are worth every second and effort. Thank you for encouraging us with your articles and reminding us what it is really about.

    Reply

Trackbacks

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    January 14, 2011 at 1:24 am

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  3. Art Not Craft | Not Just Cute says:
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  4. Do Holidays Have a Place in the Classroom? | Not Just Cute says:
    October 18, 2011 at 1:03 am

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  6. Link Love, Volume 10 | says:
    June 22, 2014 at 3:42 pm

    […] This is an older post by Amanda over at Not Just Cute, but I don’t think it will ever stop being relevant! A great perspective of the value of both arts and crafts in preschool; in Montessori, we can be too easily dismissive of crafts, but the opposite is generally true in many preschool programs, even those claiming to follow the Emergent (Reggio-inspired) curriculum, which focus too heavily on end-result crafts rather than process-driven arts. I’m sure I’ll be writing more on this soon! […]

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I’m Amanda Morgan. Here’s what I’m about…

In early education, there is too much distance between what we know and what we do. I bridge the gaps that exist between academia, decision-makers, educators, and parents so that together, we can improve the quality of early education while also respecting and protecting the childhood experience.

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