Montessori Art Method Archives

October 14, 2024November 10, 2024

Best Drawing & Painting Papers Size For Kids

Today day I want to share Best Drawing & Painting Papers Size For Kids, and why I Use Small Papers instead. My signature hack which you can learn by reading my books and curriculum, is to use always start with small quarter-size papers instead of large paper size. It might seem too small, but there are many amazing reasons why I have been doing this for years. So let me share all my reason why you want to choose the best drawing & painting papers sizes for kids.

Best Drawing & Painting Papers Size For Kids, boy watercolor painting

Best Small Paper Sizes

First, after teaching thousands of children how to draw and paint, I realized a large piece of paper is really hard to fill up. The second thing is young children are not planning just quite yet, and they go through paper fast. Older kids plan more ideas out, but beginner artists are just exploring. So I like to slow them down by giving them small paper sizes to work with. This is why the Best Drawing & Painting Papers Size For Kids is to use smaller choices.

Use Quality Paper

Another important thing is that I only use quality types paper for drawing and painting. Choose thick uncoated card stock or watercolor paper. This way you can give more quality paper to kids by taking one large size and getting four parts out of it! For drawing, you can use simple copy paper, the kind you use in your printer. 24# bond uncoated. I quarter these from an 8.5 x 11 sheet and get 4.25 x 5.5. You can also quarter doodling scrap paper to this size. Kids love rummaging through baskets of small papers. This is my signature hack! I have been sharing this tip for years.

Best Drawing & Painting Papers Size For Kids, download

texture small paper size, boy dipping in blue watercolor paint with string

Small Paper For All Grades

I even give elementary-grade children the same sizes of small paper. If children need or ask for a larger piece of paper, you can give them the size they need. I just like to encourage them to plan and have intention before they use a larger drawing or painting paper. The important thing is to give children quality materials without wasting. So the smaller papers are best for kids to start with.

Art Resources

toddler using tempera sticks on small drawing paper size

You can learn more about my art teaching method by reading my books, curriculum, and viewing my art training videos. Many parents and teachers internationally have adopted this idea and given me positive feedback! You can stage these papers on a tray, in a basket, or a card stand. Check out my Best curriculums for drawing and painting grades 6 – 12 years blog here.

Be Eco Friendly,

Spramani

girl outdoor sketching on small drawing paper with pencil.

Best Paper Size Blog Summary

Using small papers for drawing and painting in art classes has many benefits. Spramani suggests using small, quarter-size sheets to save resources and boost creativity. These smaller papers make it easier for young artists to focus, as they don’t have to fill large sheets, which can be overwhelming. High-quality materials like thick card stock or watercolor paper ensure good results without wasting paper, since one big sheet can be cut into several smaller ones. This method is good for any grade level and is eco-friendly. Spramani encourages planning before using bigger sheets to help students create intentional art. Many teachers and parents have adopted this approach and found it helpful. For more tips, Spramani provides resources in her books and art videos.

Best Drawing & Painting Papers Size For Kids, materials list download

Best Drawing & Painting Papers Size For Kids, elementary pdf download

How To Teach Basic Line Drawing

Best Children’s Drawing Art Supplies | What to buy

Spramani’s Books

Teach children visual arts

Art Book Shop

Curriculum For Children

Get step-by-step art curriculum to teach visual arts. Check out our 4 art curriculums:
Painting
Drawing
Color Theory
Clay Modeling

Buy Art Curriculum

No part of this blog may be used or be reproduced in any manner whatsoever including reproducing, publishing, performing, and making any adaptions of the work – including translation into another foreign language without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Nature of Art® Publishing P.O. Box 443 Solana Beach, California 92075.

October 5, 2024November 4, 2024

Why You Should Schedule Drawing Lessons Weekly

Trying to fit drawing lessons into your jam-packed curriculum can seem a bit chaotic and not always prioritized over subjects like science, math, or history. But today, I want to share why you should schedule drawing lessons weekly. Incorporating drawing activities into your lesson plans can excite children and foster deeper learning, I’ll explain more in a bit. Plus, as a teacher, you can help your students record their findings as they study.

When children learn to draw they can record and draw important information, like a scientist. Scientific recording is different from freehand doodling or drawing. Freehand drawing is imaginative and freeform, while scientific recording by drawing captures exact details of specimens, such as parts of flowers or leaves. The importance of recording helps students study and remember details of their subject matter. I discuss in my book how teachers can use drawing as a tool for teaching important subject matter extensively in Chapter 6, “Managing Art Time,” and Chapter 7, “Art Routines,” in my new Montessori Elementary Art Guide book.

Why You Should Schedule Drawing Lessons Weekly — Natural observer concept, Notebook, pencil with leafs and twig

I’ve been teaching STEAM art lessons for years and researching how scientists in labs and universities draw and diagram regularly. Many scientist share they wish they had taken drawing lessons during their studies, as a result they struggle to draw and diagram well. They report they have a lot of research work that involves recording details and labeling. Undoubtedly teaching art literacy, particularly drawing can be beneficial for advanced research work in the classroom. Yes, more art in the classroom..PLEASE!

Where to fit in more drawing lessons

I want to share some specific tips on scheduling drawing lessons. Primarily if you’re working with only one child, running a big class of 30, or a visiting art teacher to hundreds of students in a single day. Scheduling weekly art lessons is essential for meeting national art standards. Specifically for teaching early childhood and upper elementary grade level students. Hundreds of teachers and parents reach out to me regularly with this big question – How often should children be doing art activities?

Why You Should Schedule Drawing Lessons Weekly, girl nature journaling.

Schedule Drawing Into Your Weekly Lesson Plans

The answer is at a bare minimum, once a week! Try to include one easy drawing lesson alongside something your students are already learning. Add drawing lessons with writing lessons. Depending on your specific art goals, you should build on a drawing skill weekly by adding a new twist. Like a new lesson, drawing medium, tool, or creative idea. If you need help with teaching children basic drawing, you can check out my Drawing Curriculum Here.

Schedule Drawing Lessons Weekly for children

Drawing Examples Lessons

Learning to Make Curved Lines: Practice drawing smooth, flowing lines by starting with simple arcs and gradually increasing complexity. This helps improve hand control and precision.
How to Draw with Color Pencils: Use light pressure to layer colors, building up intensity gradually. Experiment with blending techniques to create smooth transitions between hues.
Using a Template or Stencil to Trace Basic Shapes: Utilize stencils to trace geometric shapes, providing a foundation for learning proportions and creating structured compositions.
Trying Different Values with Green Color Pencils: Explore shading by varying the pressure applied to the pencil, producing different values from light to dark green. This technique adds depth and dimension to drawings.
Demonstrating How to Draw Curved Lines into the Shape of Leaves: Create leaves by sketching curved lines and using green color pencils to add shading. Experiment with different values to highlight veins and texture, enhancing realism.

Every week, students should create and learn a new skill that focuses on the Elements and Principles of Design (Artsy Terms). Learn these terms by downloading the list here. Finally, if you have questions, check out my book’s or curriculum for further art teaching guidance. Adding drawing lessons can be easy if you just add them to some of the other lessons your already teaching. Drawing lessons do not need to be over complicated for elementary grades students, and especially with 3-6 ages.

I hope that helps, love to hear your feedback!

Spramani Elaun – Art Instructor

Schedule Drawing Lessons, drawing curriculum for children.

Need more guidance? Order:

– Defining Visual Arts Book
– Done-For-You Drawing Curriculum
– Early Childhood Art Guide
– Montessori Early Childhood Art Guide
– Elementary Art Guide
– Infant & Toddler Art Guide – Coming Soon!

Best curriculums for drawing and painting grades 6 – 12 years

Spramani’s Books

Teach children visual arts

Art Book Shop

Curriculum For Children

Get step-by-step art curriculum to teach visual arts. Check out our 4 art curriculums:
Painting
Drawing
Color Theory
Clay Modeling

Buy Art Curriculum

September 30, 2023June 15, 2024

Benefits of Clay Play | Montessori Arts and Crafts

Montessori | Benefits of Clay Play, early childhood 3-6 years. Montessori Art and craft | Benefits of Clay Play

Montessori Clay Play has been found to have positive effects on emotional well-being. Playing with clay can help children regulate stress levels. Playing with clay provides a highly tactile and sensory experience. As children squeeze, press, and manipulate the clay, they are actively engaging their senses. Sending valuable sensory information to their brain.

However, the benefits of clay play extend far beyond the realm of sensory development. In fact, there are numerous cognitive advantages associated with this activity. Montessori education highlights the importance of hands-on learning. Clay play aligns perfectly with the Montessori philosophy. In my early childhood art guide, I discuss this topic and provide more insights into clay play for emotional health. You can learn more by reading about the benefits of clay play in my early childhood book.

Montessori arts and crafts| Benefits of Clay Play, student playing clay tools

The important thing to understand about clay play is that it should be a process-based activity, providing children with ample time to freely play and explore clay. There are various ways to engage children in exploring clay.

Including the use of simple tools such as natural elements, beads, seeds, rolling pins, and cookie cutters. Emphasizing the play aspect of clay play is crucial. Allowing children to take the lead in their learning and discoveries. By letting the child guide the fun, experiments, and creations, you can enhance their clay experience.

Montessori Art and Craft | Benefits of Clay Play, little girl making clay sculptures, clay play session at school — Montessori Art and Craft | Benefits of Clay Play

When to start clay lessons

Once children have had ample opportunities for clay play and have reached the age of 4 or 5. You can begin introducing clay modeling skill sets. This includes teaching them forms, attaching pieces, cutting, and carving. If you would like to learn more about my clay curriculum you can view the Clay Modeling Curriculum HERE. Order Clay Play Tools HERE

Clay Play Classes in San Diego with Spramani Elaun – Nature of Art® School

Where To Start Clay Play

Unsure of where to begin with clay play? Perhaps you’ve struggled with determining the desired outcome of art activity? Allow me to shed some light on the importance of early childhood clay play sessions.

In fact, I refer to this approach as “Clay Play.” Engaging in type of play offers numerous benefits for a child’s overall development. When it comes to clay play, this process-based exploratory approach should always come first! Clay play should happen before getting into foundational clay modeling lessons.

Montessori Art and Craft | Benefits of Clay Play book — Montessori Art and Craft | Benefits of Clay Play

I recommend incorporating clay play for young children in early childhood education. Montessori schools and daycare centers can introduce clay modeling stations into their classrooms to provide children with the opportunity to explore.

Plus support creative and cognitive skills. To learn more about setting up clay modeling environments, please refer to this comprehensive guide Monessori Early Childhood Art Guide.

Montessori Clay Play

Clay comes in various forms, ranging from very messy to less messy options. Additionally, clays can be homemade. Earth clay, in particular, is a wonderful material to introduce to children, similar to making mud pies.

If you’re interested in setting up earth pottery clay play stations, I recommend checking out this book. It contains numerous photos and examples illustrating how to arrange clay play. How to choose suitable clay play materials for children aged 3-6 years old.

Preschool Arts & Crafts Curriculum

Montessori clay modeling curriculum for school art lessons, Montessori Art and Craft | Benefits of Clay Play

September 28, 2023May 7, 2024

Using Visual Arts to Support Critical Thinking

Montessori students using critical thinking skills to clay model

In today’s Montessori classrooms, students often miss out on opportunities to express their thoughts and emotions about artworks. However, your classroom can be an exceptional environment for empowering students to develop critical thinking skills and proficiency in the language of art. By encouraging students to engage in open discussions and reflective exercises, you can enhance their communication skills and foster a deeper understanding of art while also meeting art standards. Emphasizing the importance of self-expression and thoughtful analysis creates a nurturing space to support language development.

Critical thinking with art elements

When we look at art, we usually focus on what we see. But it’s also important to talk about art with friends, family, and teachers. As art teachers, we can help students understand how different elements of art fit together. This means they can learn words to describe their own artwork, like colors and textures. For example, they might say, “I used light blue in the background of my picture and made wavy lines to show clouds.” By using these special art words, students can explain their choices and practice language development.

Montessori - Using Visual Arts to Support Language Development, Art Lessons For Teachers

Art language includes specialized vocabulary for discussing art, such as elements like colors, shapes, lines, and the emotions evoked by artworks. Teaching art language in the classroom provides students with a valuable tool for expressing their thoughts and ideas more effectively. Engaging students in discussions about art not only enhances their ability to communicate but also fosters their overall language development. Through the exploration and use of art terminology, students can expand their expressive capabilities, broaden their understanding of artistic concepts, and develop a deeper appreciation for the power of language in the realm of art.

Visual Arts and Brain Development

Using the language of Visual Arts can also have a profound impact on brain development! When children create art, their brains are buzzing with neural activity. Not only have neuroscientists, science researchers, and art therapists recognized the correlation between early childhood art and brainpower, but my own two decades of studio-based observations have reaffirmed these findings. Through art, children have the opportunity to enhance their cognitive abilities and bolster their brain function. By encouraging and supporting their artistic endeavors, we can simultaneously nurture their intellectual growth and language development. Art truly has the power to shape young minds in remarkable ways!

art teaching books to support Using Visual Arts through Critical Thinking

How to Get Started Teaching Visual Art Language:

If you’re looking to enhance your art education skills, my book “Defining Visual Arts” is a must-have resource. This book is specifically designed to provide a solid foundation in art literacy. Inside its pages, you’ll discover valuable insights, including:

The true meaning of art literacy
How to align with art standards
The connection between artist language and teaching children
Suitable art projects for different age groups
Recommended art mediums for children
The intricacies of teaching artist techniques
The importance of spatial understanding in the visual arts
A comprehensive understanding of the artistic process

[Order the book online HERE]

September 26, 2023November 6, 2024

The Power of Anticipatory Sets: Energize Your Classroom with Art

I’m excited to share a little secret with you about having an engaging art lesson opener. However, at times, we tend to overlook its significance, and that’s something we need to change. As educators, it’s imperative that our lesson openers not only pique interest but also align with our students’ existing knowledge. If the opener fails to captivate or doesn’t resonate with the students, its impact dwindles. My art method is firmly grounded in this principle; I love connecting art lessons with what my students are already familiar with or studying in the classroom! In some educational approaches, anticipatory sets are used in a similar manner. So I’m excited to dive into the power of anticipatory sets and how they can energize your classroom.

What Exactly Are Anticipatory Sets?

In simple terms, anticipatory sets function like a warm-up or introduction to prepare you for something exciting. Just like stretching before exercising or watching a movie trailer before the main film, anticipatory sets serve to prime your mind, ignite curiosity, and generate excitement about what’s in store for your learning journey. In the realm of education, anticipatory sets are activities or prompts that teachers employ at the start of a lesson to activate your prior knowledge, stimulate curiosity, and get you enthusiastic about what you’re going to learn. It’s like setting the stage for a fantastic learning experience!

Sadly, in some lessons, anticipatory sets are absence, which can lead to boredom or disengagement among students. Anticipatory sets effectively convey what students will be learning that day, which can fuel their engagement. We need to infuse creativity and engagement into our openers. For instance, we can kick things off with a short video highlighting a artist, delve into an intriguing news article, or foster interactive discussions. Technology, such as an appealing slideshow, can peek interest!

Engaging Art In The Classroom

Now, let’s delve into the process of creating engaging art starters (Anticipatory Sets). Before crafting one, it’s a fantastic idea to gauge your students’ existing knowledge. You can accomplish this by asking them questions or conducting surveys. Simply inquire about their familiarity and interests related to the topic.

Furthermore, strive to establish a connection between the opener and your students’ lives. What’s currently capturing their interest or fascination? You can unearth ideas by exploring online resources or staying updated with the latest news.

Here’s where the fun begins – let your creativity soar! Think outside the box and devise unique ways to present your opener. When developing it, consider drawing comparisons between the new material you’re introducing and concepts your students are already acquainted with. This helps them forge connections and deepen their comprehension.

The Power of Anticipatory Sets: Energize Your Classroom with Art, samples to draw

Easy Anticipatory Ideas

Here are some fun easy to use an anticipatory set to introduce an art project:

Artifacts and Props: Begin by gathering intriguing artifacts or props relevant to the upcoming art project. For instance, if your project involves clay sculpting, display small clay sculptures or pottery pieces in the classroom.

Mystery Box

Mystery Box: Introduce a mystery box adorned with colorful wrapping paper, placing it at the center of the classroom. Share with the students that it holds a special surprise connected to their art project.

Sensory Exploration

Sensory Exploration: Launch the anticipatory set by allowing students to explore the displayed artifacts and props. Encourage them to touch, smell, observe, and interact with these objects. Pose open-ended questions like, “What do you notice about these sculptures? How do they feel? What do they remind you of?”

Predictions and Discussion

Predictions and Discussion: Following the sensory exploration, facilitate a class discussion where students can share their observations and make predictions regarding the art project based on the artifacts and props. Encourage them to employ their imaginations and make educated guesses about the upcoming activity.

Unveiling the Surprise

Unveiling the Surprise: This is my favorite!, unveil the mystery box to reveal the materials or tools required for the art project. Explain the connection between the artifacts and props and the project, detailing how students will have the opportunity to create their own artworks inspired by these items.

By using an anticipatory set, you’ve sparked curiosity, engaged their senses, and generated excitement for the forthcoming art project. In my art teaching method, I use inspiration to set up an art shelf, creating the same type of student curiosity. If you want to learn more about this topic, order my books and curriculum HERE.

I hope these suggestions and tips will inspire you to approach openers with creativity!

And remember, integrating art lessons with other academic subjects can create a comprehensive learning experience.

Warm regards,

Spramani

HOW TO STAGE A MONTESSORI ART SHELF TRAINING

Spramani’s Books

Teach children visual arts

Art Book Shop

Curriculum For Children

Get step-by-step art curriculum to teach visual arts. Check out our 4 art curriculums:
Painting
Drawing
Color Theory
Clay Modeling

Buy Art Curriculum

February 25, 2023November 11, 2024

Routines & Using Art Language Stops Chaos

Last week I started a series on the topic of art routines Part 1. By having routines in place you can stop chaos during art sessions. Having these routines in place has helped me in art classroom management.

Art Smocks
Art Material Set-up
Art Language

Continuing on this topic I’m sharing my insights on art talk & the artist language we teach. If you are not familiar with what art language means, it’s how we describe artworks and our process. It’s art’s own language. You can learn more by reading these books Defining Visual Arts, or Early Childhood Art Guide.

Routines & Language

Art literacy is not only about making art, but also teaching students how to communicate. Keep in mind I’ve been teaching children for over 30 years. These routines and expectations came together over a long period of time. So it will take time for you to practice.

Over the years I’ve had my share of students disrupting my art classes. At some point I reflected on the times I spent in fine art studios working with other artists. I wanted my teaching sessions with kids to have that same feeling of expressive openness. So I came to the conclusion that my role was not just to show them how to make art, but also how to behave and talk like an artist. I created fine art studio behavior models (art expectations).

Only communicate in art language
No negative peer critiquing
Observe like an Artist
Reading Instead of Disturbing

As a now roaming art specials visiting classrooms across the county, I use these with all ages from 3 – 12 years.

Communicate in art language

This means you are talking about your art, your art process, or helping someone with their art. Not what you are eating for lunch, or what happened at recess. This is also how I can hear when my students are getting off track.

No negative peer critiquing

Unnecessary comments could affect a students confidence to express openly in the classroom. I make time to explain how acceptable critiquing is using art language. I explain that I will make time for open refection time. And any student can volunteer to share with the classroom their art. I describe what positive critiquing sounds like.

Example

Negative – “Why does that nose look like that, it looks weird!”

Vs.

Artful talk – “I noticed he used thick wavy green lines to create the nose. That’s not something I expected to see in his drawing.”

or ,

“I wonder why he put purple leaf shapes in his nature drawing, rather than making green shapes”.

You can model this type of art language with practice. If you would like to learn how to talk to children artfully, check out this mini art training course.

Observe like an artist

I explain that if they want to look at someone’s art, to walk quietly around them, and observe with eyes only. So not to interrupt a working artist. In fact I show my young students how to observe by putting their hand behind their back. The action is like they are viewing art in a museum, to not disturb the art. I explain it’s OK to be curious and look at everyone’s work, but observe like an artist.

Reading Instead of Disturbing

When a student is disturbing the classroom, I give them a choice. Join us in art, or dismiss yourself into reading quietly until we are done with art. This usually works because the student feels left out when everyone is enjoying art. Generally students usually ask to return back to art. I will ask if they agree to participate artfully, leaving it up to them.

Love to hear your feedback!

Spramani’s Books

Teach children visual arts

Art Book Shop

Curriculum For Children

Get step-by-step art curriculum to teach visual arts. Check out our 4 art curriculums:
Painting
Drawing
Color Theory
Clay Modeling

Buy Art Curriculum

September 25, 2022November 6, 2024

How To Bring Art Into The Classroom – Elementary

By Spramani Elaun

Every Montessori school should have an art environment. Whether an art shelf inside the classroom, dedicated classroom, or specials visiting. Elementary students should be engaging in some type of art lessons regularly. Allowing children to express creativity plus building basic skill sets. One of the reasons art programs exist is to expose children to different kinds of mediums. In this blog I want to share some ideas on How To Bring Art Into The Classroom

When children are exposed to different art activities they are likely to find the right art domain they enjoy. As children find the right art experiences they enjoy, they become independent as they practice these skill-sets. When elementary students work independently they can also self regulate their own stress with hand work in the classroom. Independent working students can also reach creative flow states! So where should you start with to bring art into the classroom?

6 Art Areas To Focus On

Schedule Art
Choose Art Subjects
Teach Art Elements
Choose Art Mediums
Choose An Artist Technique
Teach Skill Building Foundations
Focus On Art Direct Aims

Schedule Art Lessons

Start with scheduling regular interactions with art making in the classroom. Schedule daily, weekly or even bi weekly art lessons. Even bi monthly if your teaching schedule is super busy. I did this as a visiting Montessori art specials and I heard from Montessori guides how the children learned so much from just 4 visits! Once you have chosen the day, move to creating time segments. Be sure your timeline is specific to lower or upper elementary attention spans.

Art Subjects To Teach

Then move into deciding which visual art subjects you want to explore. I recommend choosing from my five art domains. Subjects like painting or color theory. Learn more about the 5 domains by buying: Defining Visual Arts Book HERE. Once you decide the area you want to focus on then you can decide on the lesson plans.

How To Bring Art In To The Classroom – Elementary, students crafting

Art Elements To Teach

To meet the national art standards it’s important to teach children the Art Elements. The Art Elements cover things like line, color, shape – etc. Each one of your art lessons should always focus on a key art element. I can’t stress enough how important this is to a solid art program. I meet many Montessori guides not even aware of art literacy standards. Even how to teach the artistic process, how-to scaffold art lessons, or what art sequences should come next. Learn more about the Art Elements by buying: Defining Visual Arts Book HERE

Art Mediums & Technique

Then the fun stuff starts by deciding on which mediums to experiment with first. This also includes what presentations and demonstrations to schedule. For example you could teach the subject of painting and focus on the watercolor medium. Then show children a crayon technique – wax resist marks. Or let’s say you decide to integrate a sensory craft with zoology. Like cutting sea life shapes from paper with a collage – technique.

Montessori Elementary Art | How To Bring Art In To The Classroom

Building Art Skill-Sets

The best advice I have for you is to teach how to set-up, clean-up, and prepare the environment for their next classmate, learning to complete the cycle in the Montessori way first is important. This supports independent work through the school year. Then foucs on building skill-sets and don’t waste time on the wrong type of art lessons. Like focusing on the Masters, copying images, or too much process- based art. Try not to focus lessons on copying the Masters artworks. These lessons can be lacking in developing independent art skill-sets or their own creativity. Montessori elementary students need the right order of skill-set lesson first.

Focus on Art Direct Aims

The other important thing I want to share is even if you can’t draw or paint you can still teach proper art lessons. Your own refined skill-sets are not the focus. What’s important is knowing your direct aims. Direct aims like preparing the environment, and presenting the right order of demonstrations. Scheduling and choosing age appropriate art lessons. Indirect Aims will happen like – your students brainstorming or conjuring up original ideas. Even exploration that leads to the most optimal state of creative flow!

Teaching art can be intimidating without any basic knowledge or experience. But I’m here to tell you I’ve taught thousands of parents and teachers. I have lots of preparatory teaching methods easy for you to follow. But here’s a secret… you will learn right beside your students, I promise!

Art Professional Development

I invite you…

No matter what capacity of training you desire, I’ve built art teaching resources you can have access to!

Choose:

Art Lesson plans

Sequential Art Curriculum

Professional Development

Montessori In-service Training (email info@Spramani.com)

Art Certification

Custom Art Programing (email info@Spramani.com)

Spramani’s Books

Teach children visual arts

Art Book Shop

Curriculum For Children

Get step-by-step art curriculum to teach visual arts. Check out our 4 art curriculums:
Painting
Drawing
Color Theory
Clay Modeling

Buy Art Curriculum

August 10, 2022October 11, 2024

How To Talk To Montessori Toddlers About Art

How To talk about Art To Montessori Toddlers

It can feel a little overwhelming—maybe even silly—to try and introduce your toddler to Montessori art concepts. Some toddlers might still be learning how to talk and hold a spoon, so how are you supposed to have a full on art conversation? Here’s the good news: How-to talk to toddlers about art making is not something you need to worry about. You don’t have to use “art language,” proper terminology, or fancy words in order for your toddler to start appreciating and experiencing art making.

Toddler Art Language

Art does have its own type of language, it’s called the ‘Elements and Principles of Design” but that’s way too advanced for toddlers to understand! If you start using this strange art terminology, you’re going to lose your child’s attention, and likely get frustrated yourself. When you talk to your toddler about Montessori art—”Art Talk”—it’s really just describing what you see in artworks, like color, shape, and form, etc. Before I get into how-to talk to Toddlers about montessori Art let me break that down an easy way your toddler will understand, I want you to have some basic knowledge.

How-to Talk to Toddlers About Montessori Art – By Spramani Elaun

Basic Art Words

For a young child, exploring through art play is something natural. Children gain a sense of their physical world by using each and all of their senses—seeing, smelling, tasting, touching, and hearing. This is how knowledge is first learned. The enthusiasm a child feels while dipping a paintbrush into a paint palette or creating brushstrokes across a blank paper is exciting! It’s a curious mix of senses.

Learning Montessori art is about discovery and exploration. By allowing toddlers to explore art (without any expectations), it is a natural way for you to introduce toddlers to art concepts. Playing and experimenting can help them build confidence to start expressing art terms. This type of art exploration can manifest in various activities like doodling, painting, color mixing, and clay modeling.

(For more detailed information on how to teach toddlers art, read this post.)

Describe Basic Art Elements

Okay, let’s get started on how easy it is to talk to toddlers about art! When you first introduce art talk to your toddler, keep things basic and simple. Start by describing what you see or what’s happening as you create art. As your toddler begins to explore, art talk will become easier and easier.

Most likely, their inquisitive little brains will start making cognitive connections (like, “if I use this purple paint with this paintbrush, it’ll come out like this”), and they’ll probably start asking questions (such as, “what color is this?” or “why did this happen?”). You don’t necessarily need to use these exact terms, but let me show you how simple this conversation can be with toddlers. Describe basic aspects of art:

Color
Shape
Texture
Line

How-to toddler art talk sounds:

Here are some examples of how to start talking and describing what you see in Montessori art activities: While reading storybooks, you can point out colors like this:

“The bear is all brown. Do you want to color something brown today?”
“Let’s cut out some shapes, like circles and squares, with scissors.”
“Hey, what about making some fun textures in our clay? Watch me!”
“Let’s make squiggly and straight lines with crayons.”
“How many different colored lines can we draw together?”
“Let’s mix yellow and blue. What color did you make?”

Why Is It Important Toddlers Do Art Activities?

Toddler art talk supports confidence.
Toddler art talk supports experimental curiosity.
Toddler art talk can boost brainpower.

Art talk—especially when it’s positive and encouraging—can be the foundation for building up your toddler’s creative confidence. Remember that most artworks made by toddlers are simply led by their curiosity and art play. For them, the purpose of art is to have fun, and their finished pieces won’t necessarily resemble anything realistic.

By encouraging them and addressing their questions, they will become more adventurous in their exploration and ultimately develop the self-confidence to continue learning—even beyond art. Art talk stimulates your child’s imagination.

Art talk can boosts brainpower!

There is significant neural activity occurring in the brain when children engage in art. Studies by neuroscientists, science researchers, and art therapists have shown how early childhood art contributes to brain development. Over my twenty years of studio-based observations, I have seen these connections firsthand, illustrating how creating artwork helps children enhance their brains.

(For more detailed information on how art boost brain power, read this post.)

If you have any questions or need help answering their art-related inquiries, please feel free to email me at info@Spramani.com. For more ideas and tips on integrating art into your toddler’s life, sign up for my Montessori Art newsletter. With practice, you will become good at talking to toddlers about art.

Spramani’s Books

Teach children visual arts

Art Book Shop

Curriculum For Children

Get step-by-step art curriculum to teach visual arts. Check out our 4 art curriculums:
Painting
Drawing
Color Theory
Clay Modeling

Buy Art Curriculum

June 9, 2022November 6, 2024

How-to teach children age appropriate art activities

I get questions every day on how to teach age appropriate art activities.

I’m going to share some tips to get you on the right track.

I’ll also be sharing lots of resources.

There’s only four important things you should consider when teaching age appropriate art activities:

Use only safe non-toxic children’s art supplies
Focus on discovery exploratory type of activities
Keep steps very minimal
Focus on introducing the basic 7 elements

Early Childhood Art Activities

Very young children from toddler to six years can not plan art ideas out yet. So their art activities should be very exploration and discovery in style. They should only do process based style art activities. These lessons should generally introduce art mediums and art tools. You should only be introducing the very basic elements of art like line and colors etc. If you want to understand what art programs should consist of you can order:

Defining Visual Arts. This book explains what art literacy is for children and what you should be focusing on teaching. If you want to learn all about early childhood art programming you can order: Early Childhood Art Guide, this book shows you how to design an age appropriate art program.

Elementary Art Activities

Elementary age students can plan and create with intention. They are able to imagine an idea and plan it out. They can also follow one to six step instructions. These ages should also work in an exploratory discovery fashion. Allow children full freedom to express their own ideas. This means you should allow them to change the final outcome of their creation and not insist they follow an exact example.

Safe Non-Toxic Art Supplies

I recommend children under the age of 12 years old not use adult grade fine art supplies. Many artist grade supplies may contain hazards pigments like cadmium, lead, formaldehyde, solvents. Some paints may add additives, mildew resistance or other chemicals. Or also have special instructions for handling. These chemicals could be harmful to children not aware of special handling instructions. Pick non-toxic kids products that bare the ASTM D 4236 on them. This is a U.S. labeling law to protect children from dangerous chemicals.

If you start with these four suggestions you will be starting out on the right foot. If you need more guidance I have many training videos, books and professional development.

Warmly,

SpramaniE laun

READ BLOG:

Montessori Early Childhood Materials List

Montessori Upper Elementary Materials List

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November 18, 2021May 14, 2024

Teaching Art Activities by Using Children’s Storybooks

Why Use Storybooks

As an art teacher, I love using teaching art activities by using children’s storybooks! Storybooks can bridge connections to the elements and principles of design within illustrations, pictures, or descriptive words. Storybooks can help you communicate, especially in art language.

In addition, book illustrations give visual clues to what color or shape looks like in the context of artworks. Storybooks don’t just have to be related to art topics or artists; you can use basic, classic children’s literature, such as The Giving Tree, The Ugly Duckling, Green Eggs and Ham, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Though, remember that almost all children’s storybooks are illustrated by an artist.

However, there are many other great reasons you should integrate books into art-making lessons. Using children’s storybooks can not only inspire creative ideas, but it can also bring characters and plots to life by following up with art activities.

Combining Storybooks and Art

Combining children’s storybooks and art supports:

Developing early literacy
Bringing characters and plots to life
Engaging in open-ended questions
Fostering multi-sensory learning
Enriching reading and writing techniques

Developing Early Literacy

Children can learn art language by reading stories and following up with art activities. This can be a great way for you to enrich your teaching techniques by getting children to read more. Educational research confirms that when children read regularly, they expand their vocabularies, which leads to more reading and doing better academically in the upper grades.

I regularly use this method when introducing new techniques to my students. I love theming art activities with stories!

Bringing Characters and Plots to Life

Books bring characters and plots to life, but following up by creating your own character from a book is an immersive experience! You can appeal to young readers’ imagination by transforming a flat 2D character into physical pieces of art. Also, you can read a wonderful story like The Velveteen Rabbit and have them create their own rabbit character they can play with. And in addition, you can ask children to create art with an unexpected twist to the story or their own version of how the story ends. Allow them to paint a different image and draw their own scenes. Children love imagining themselves within stories.

Engaging in Open-Ended Questions

I usually read-aloud stories and point out art elements like colors and shapes. It’s a natural way I teach art language. I can prompt students with questions like “What colors do you see in this picture?” “Can you see lines used in the artwork?” “Can you describe what you see on this page?” “Look how interesting these shapes are.” “What shapes do you see?” “What are your favorite colors used in this art?” “Do you see the small dots?” “Would you like to go to the art shelf and experiment making some of these wavy lines with crayons?”

Fostering Multi-Sensory Learning

Reading to children is positive, but making the experience tactile is even better for cognitive processing. You can give children a different dimension to learning than just audio or visual senses by adding tactile sensory learning to deepen their understanding. Making art is a tactile, multi-sensory experience. For example, let’s say you read to a child a story about a duck; you can give the child an opportunity to create a three-dimensional duck out of clay by sparking lots of questions about the duck’s features, such as its size, color, and shape, further deepening their understanding about the characters or topics in the story. Another example could be looking at rainbows in illustrations. The conversations can go deeper by painting and mixing colors leading to scientific inquiries. Connecting storybooks and art activities is a multi-sensory experience for better comprehension.

Enriches Reading and Writing Techniques

Integrating art with reading and writing work can be exciting for students. Over the past ten years, I have visited many elementary grades as a special guest art teacher. As a result, I’ve had amazing opportunities to team up with other teachers to teach the Great Lessons.

Most of the lessons usually started with me coming into the classroom to teach an art technique, followed by the classroom’s teacher reading about the topic, and finally ending with the students following up with writing exercises related to the artwork they created in my session.

These teachers all reported back to me how their students were super engaged with reading and writing follow-up work because of their art lesson connection to the stories. They also reported to me that writing improved with some of their struggling students. In addition, they felt that the children were more invested in the outcome of how their artwork was reflected and open to writing critiques.

My favorite Children’s Art Storybooks

Below are three videos where I read stories that can inspire and engage young children in both literacy and their interest in creating art through the Montessori art methods.

The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds, illustrator of the Judy Moody, Narrated by Art Teacher Spramani Elaun

Henri’s Scissors, by Jeanette Winter, Narrated by Art Teacher Spramani Elaun

Lines that Wiggle by Candace Whitman (Author), Steve Wilson (Illustrator), Narrated by Art Teacher Spramani Elaun

How-to teach children age appropriate art activities