When did we lose the idea that we were fabulous artists?
Do you remember how old you were?
Somewhere along the way, some well intentioned adult probably crushed your dream of being the next great Michelangelo, or at least kept you from trying. I have a little anecdote about such a thing… I was teaching a Mommy and Me preschool art class and we were making foam collages out of foam shape stickers. As I was observing I came over to a particular duo. A little girl about 3 yrs old was “stacking” her stickers on top of one another. The mother kept trying to redirect her child to follow the directions and dissuade her from this “stacking” thing she was doing. I could tell she was frustrated with her child, and I could tell that the child was frustrated, too. I walked over and actually offered some kind praise to this little girl and encouraged her to keep stacking! I gently let her mom know that this is what creative thinking is all about. After all, one of the Kelly Kits mottos is that you don’t have to follow the directions, just the rules!
We spend most of our lives trying to figure out which rules to follow and when, that creative thinking sometimes gets lost – or crushed! I believe that it is empowering to children and their creativity to provide a time and space where thinking and experimenting is safe and encouraged! Art play provides just that.
Once again, the process of creating is far more valuable than what is actually created! I was so impressed at the ingenuity of this smart little three year old thinker. She created an amazing little city of foam sculptures that I proudly praised in front of the class.
Her mom was proud, too.
