Get Started With 3-6 Art Curriculum
If you’re excited to start teaching 3-6 Montessori art curriculum, this blog will help you and provide you with all the resources you need to begin teaching art lessons or even create your 3-6 Montessori art curriculum.
First, let’s talk about the art lessons I recommend for building a 3-6 Montessori classroom. In early childhood, children should start learning the basic language of art. We call this the elements and principles of design. Giving children the language of art is the first and most important thing that should be taught. You can teach this basic language with Montessori art key lessons in are areas like drawing, painting, crafting.
I have created five areas of art domains that I highly recommend for children to experience throughout the 3-6 first plane school years. These five areas are balance to support sensory spatial awareness. If you want to learn more, you can pick up this primer Montessori Art Guide – Early Childhood First Plane here. So, if you are a Montessori guide or a Montessori homeschooling parent, this book is perfect for getting you familiar with the 5 domains.
But I will give you a general ideas below and where to start. If you are working with other age groups, check out these art teaching resources:
- 0-3 Montessori Art – Training Video, First Plane
- 6-12 Montessori Art Guide Book – Elementary Second Plane
Start With The Art Elements
The term “Elements of Art” is a simpler way to refer to “The Elements and Principles of Design.” To create your curriculum, I suggest starting with these fundamental lessons for your students. Begin by teaching them how to create lines and shapes in simple art activities. Then, help them understand colors like warm, cool, primary, and complementary colors. Progress to exploring texture and patterns using various materials.
It’s essential to note that a good Montessori art curriculum should emphasize these art elements. By teaching students these concepts, we enable them to discuss and showcase their artworks by introducing them to the vocabulary of art terms, which I like to call “artsy terms.” You can download these terms for free [here]. They are also detailed in my art guide books, providing deeper explanations and definitions of how they are taught in a Montessori art curriculum.
Choose An Art Topic or Technique
Once you have a good understanding of the art elements, it’s beneficial to focus on a specific art domain for studying these are elements. For instance, in painting, there is a wide range of mediums, tools, and techniques you can explore within this single art domain. Here are some examples:
Children’s Painting Mediums:
- Watercolor
- Tempera
- Acrylic
- Homemade finger paint
Painting Lesson Ideas:
- Color theory:
- Mixing primaries to create secondary colors
- Exploring values
- Understanding tones and shades
Painting Texture:
- Creating painting textures with sponges, brushes and objects
- Crayon wax resist
- Tape resist painting
- Wet-in-wet watercolor
- Painting elements such as lines, shapes, and textures
Montessori Art Topics for Painting:
- Painting flowers
- Depicting leaves and trees
- Painting biomes
Painting on Nature:
- Paper
- Cardboard
- Canvas
- Leaves
- Rocks
- Sea shells
- Mono prints
By delving into a specific area like painting, you can introduce children to a variety of techniques and mediums, allowing them to express their creativity and learn through art in a structured and engaging manner.
Visual Arts & Maria Montessori
Preparing a 3-6 Montessori art curriculum is important because it supports Dr. Maria Montessori’s pedagogical goals. Montessori education promotes self-directed independence, with visual art key lessons providing children the autonomy to be creatively independent. By preparing a well-rounded art curriculum, this will engage children, support creativity, and encourage self-direction.
Another focus in Montessori is providing freedom within limits. Art lessons can be prepared accordingly. There are various art teaching modalities that can be prepared to offer children these choices, including lessons, extensions, and a variety of art mediums.
Curriculum Isolation Of Difficulty
One key thing to remember when creating art lessons is that they should isolate one focus per lesson. In Montessori education, guides focus on teaching isolated movements and concepts for children to build upon. Your art curriculum can be arranged and designed to teach these ideas.
For example, teaching painting can begin by isolating a single concept or movement, such as how to set up for painting. Another isolated lesson could cover brush strokes, while another might focus on mixing primary yellow with primary red to create a secondary color like orange. By structuring your Montessori art curriculum in this manner, you can stay true and focused on how Montessori lessons are taught.
These key lessons start very simply with a few steps, and as students progress through your art curriculum, the steps become more complex, building upon foundational skill sets required to transition into self-directed independent creative work.
Preparing The Environment For Art Work
Another Montessori aspect of creating a proper art curriculum is to prepare the art environment as the source from which the creative process unfolds. One of the key concepts of the Montessori classroom is the care in preparing the environment for children’s cosmic education.
A prepared environment, as goes without saying, allows children their independence, access to the right materials to work with, and the flexibility to think and invent creatively. The Montessori art curriculum can also involve a well-staged art shelf for this purpose. Learn more about why a proper Montessori art stage shelf supports art literacy [here], and consider taking this training [here].
Montessori Art Curriculum Resources
Art Learning Blogs:
Over the last 20 years, I have compiled numerous art lesson and curriculum ideas in blog posts. Here is a list to kickstart your journey and inspire you with innovative ideas. I recommend joining my art newsletter where I share the latest art lesson ideas, free training, and resources for professional development in art teaching on a weekly basis.
The resources are listed in the following order:
- Art Blogs
- Art Books
- Done-for-You Art Curriculum
- Art Video Training
- Professional Development
- Montessori Art Certification
Learn more about the best art materials for a 3-6 Montessori Curriculum Here:
Get started creating your 3-6 Montessori Art Curriculum!
