It’s too HOT to takes these kids out:
Let’s ART!
MaryAnn Kohl, childhood specialist, fosters creative
confidence with The J’s Early Childhood Education
Faculty
By Eva Romero, Grants Writer
1. Present children with art opportunities.
Ms. Kohl has written over 15 books describing an amazing array
of art projects you can do with your littles, but just to provide
one example, make block sculptures. You’ll need: a few pieces
of insulation Styrofoam cut into blocks, pipe cleaners, buttons,
beads, feathers, stickers and whatever else you have laying around
that might be fun to throw in the mix. Children can bend the pipe
cleaners into different shapes, decorating them with beads and
buttons and “planting them” in the insulation base, which they
can also decorate with stickers and feathers. These are just a few
options; the important thing is to adapt to children’s ideas about
what they want to create.
Thanks in part to a Lifelong Arts Engagement Grant from
Arizona Commission on the Arts, (who receive and administer
funds from the State of Arizona and the National Endowment for
the Arts), The J was able to host renowned childhood educator
MaryAnn Kohl during teacher training on May 25th. Ms. Kohl has
published many award-winning books on the subject of art for
children. She has also worked as a consultant for companies such
as Fisher-Price and the Jim Henson Company, and received the
Bellingham Mayor’s Arts Award in her home state of Washington.
So what does it mean to foster creative confidence in the
youngest members of our family? Everyone is born with a creative
mind and we laud creativity in the form of innovation in this start-
up era, but over time we often lose trust in our creativity when it’s
undermined, belittled or ways of thinking that involve only one
correct answer are consistently privileged and re-enforced (think
most school situations!) I know that sounds pretty sad, but the
good news is that there are simple steps we can follow to keep
that creative flame burning in our kiddos:
4 July 2017 | J Life Magazine