Art as a Flexible Process
Planning to be Flexible
Teaching at Buddings means building flexibility into any plans. As teachers we never really know who is coming to our programs each day which means that sometimes our plans for the day just aren’t going to work for the group of kids we have. On Wednesdays at Buddings, we have started an arts program called “Arts, Liberally”. Some children absolutely love sitting down to do some painting, cutting, and crafting. But for some kids, they would rather move their bodies, build something, or engage in role-playing games.
The Dino Family
Today’s Emergent Curriculum: Dinosaurs in the “Mud”
Today’s program was a perfect example of how using emergent curriculum in our planning process works so beautifully to get kids engaged. This afternoon we were lucky to have three active, dinosaur-loving boys, and a girl who loves to play family. How can we use these different passions as the starting point to create an art-based activity that all the kids enjoy?
Mama Dinosaur the puppet came out and led the kids through the story of Thesaurus Rex, a dinosaur who loves to frolic in the mud. This was a perfect way to lead our dinosaurs to a dino-footprinting art activity.
We covered a table with paper, the kids were given paint (“mud”), and the story was set – all the dinos were Mama Dinosaur’s kids and they were all stomping around in the “mud” and then walking around her house tromping mud on the carpet. She promptly sends her dino-babies to the bath to get clean…..and the game was afoot!
All of the kids loved painting their dinosaur’s feet, stamping them on “the carpet” and then washing them with sponges in the bath. While completely engaged in the art activity, the kids were excitedly telling a story about their dinos and what the Mama Dinosaur would say.
 Mixing the mud |
 From mud to bath and back again |
As teachers and parents, it is sometimes hard to step back and allow our children’s play to unfold without intervening. The beauty of working with children at this age is that they are so naturally creative. By setting up a story that starts with their interests and then providing them with some interesting materials, the children’s own curiosity and imagination will lead to new discoveries that are meaningful to them. Art is a process, and there is so much beauty to create!
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