An art area of his own

 

My goal for the weekend was to finally set Little Guy up with an art studio.  Art has been such an important influence and joy in my life, and I've been looking forward to sharing it with my children for a long time now.  Since the boy is now moving and exporing, I thought it was time to offer him the opportunity to start drawing.  Last summer, I read Susan Striker's book Young At Art, and am going to try her very gradual method of introducing art experinces to children, alongside other fast and fun activities.  She advises introducing colors and materials slowly, so right now he only has a black crayon and white paper.  Once he's fully explored the black on white, we'll move to white on black, then slowly add the primary colors.  Its a fascinating book and talks about the important part that scribbling plays in a child's development.  I found the part about the connections between scribbling/drawing and reading readiness fascinating, and am looking forward to observing Little Guy through his next few years of art explorations.

We found this little old child's desk at an antique mall for a nice price, and it is perfect.  The cast iron legs can be adjusted to different heights, so it suits his diminuitve frame now, and can be adjusted as he grows and starts our homeschooling in a few years.  There is no chair presently, because I want him to stand so he can more easily manipulate the crayon on the paper.  This corner of our kitchen is perfect, and the window frame provides the perfect place to stick these on a rotating basis.  I want him to appreciate art, not just make it.  And the little postcards in the basket are just objects to play with now, but eventually I hope to engage him in talking about the subject matter.  He's still at the age where there's a fair amount of trying to eat the materials, but I can't wait to introduce him to new mediums over time:)

And the last picture there, well, that is his first scribble.  I am very proud. 

Comments

[Jane]

what a wonderful start for your little boy, my children went to a Steiner kindergarten and their approach to drawing was similar in some ways. have you ever heard the song "Roses are Red" by Harry Chapin? If not I think you would love it.

[Carol]

This is a lovely idea for the Little Guy and you will enjoy it so much as he explores making pictures. My living room is the art area for my grand children, which means chaos rules most of the time. The differences in approach of the 2 year old and the 4 year old are fascinating and I just love to watch as they learn to manipulate materials. The 2 year old is just coming to grips with her own glue stick and kindergarten scissors, and takes it very seriously indeed.

[Bibliosophy]

It is a beautiful thing to see children be creative with materials.  One of the things I miss most about teaching art.

[Bibliosophy]

I will have to look for that song.  I suspect it teaches them about their colors?