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

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.

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

The Basics: How-to Talk To Toddlers About Montessori Art

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 knowlege 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), 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 come in many art activities like: doodling, painting, color mixing, and clay modeling.

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

How-to Start talking To Toddlers About Montessori Art Images

OK, lets get started on how easy it is to talk to toddlers about art!

When you’re first introducing art talk to your toddler, keep things basic and simple. Start by describing what you see or what’s going on as you make art.

As your toddler starts exploring, art talk will become easier and easier.

More than 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 do this?”).

You don’t necessarily need to use these exact terms, but let me share how simple this talk can be with toddlers.

Describe basic aspects of art:

Color
Shape
Texture
Line

Keep these concepts in mind as you talk to your toddler about art:

Examples of how-to talk sounds:

Here are some examples of how to start talking and describing what you see in montessori art activties: While reading story books 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 confience
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 just simply led by their own curiosity and art play.

For them, the point of art is just to have fun, and their finished pieces of art won’t look like anything realsitic.

If you encourage them and answer their questions, they’ll grow bolder in their exploration and will ultimately have the self-confidence to continue learning— even beyond art.

Art talk will stimulate your child’s imagination.

Art talk can boosts brainpower!

There’s a lot of neural wiring happening in the brain when children make art. Other branches of scientists like neuroscientists, science researchers, and art therapists, have also made connections to how early childhood art contributes to brainpower. Over my twenty years in process, studio-based observations, I have observed these same connections to how children get to improve their brains by creating artwork!

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

If you have any questions or get stumped on answering one of their art questions, please don’t hesitate to email me at info@Spramani.com

And for more ideas and tips for bringing art into your toddler’s life, sign up for my Montessori Art newsletter.

With practice you will get good at taling to toddlers about Montessori art.

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Visual Arts Teaching Guidefor 13 Months – 6 Years Old

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My proprietary art teaching method

The proper and complete list of art materials

A guide for staging and setting up a successful art environment

Tips and art lesson ideas for early childhood

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April 11, 2019January 14, 2021

Ultimate Montessori Art Teaching Method Guide

I’ve worked with so many Montessori teachers who have never been taught art curriculum and have no idea how kids learn art. I’ve been in that boat before; it took me many years of working with children of all ages to really understand exactly how they learn art and what are skills they’re capable of at each age. I’m saving you from years of research and observation by creating and sharing the Ultimate Montessori Art Teaching Method Guide.

I designed this guide specifically for Montessori teachers. It covers the two Montessori planes, and each section in this guide is linked to a more detailed posts for each age.

This guide is the cumulation of more than three decades of experience working in the visual arts! I’m an artist turned mom, turned homeschool mom, turned art teacher and art manufacturer, and now I’m a Montessori art teacher trainer. My art teaching method has been taught to tens of thousands of children internationally, and now, I’m bringing the best of my knowledge and experience into the classroom of Montessori teachers.

My Art Teaching Method

I spent ten years observing children of all ages creating artworks so that I could understand recognizable cognitive patterns that revealed how children develop their skill sets. I’ve put this research on sensory art methods into studio-based practice and have seen success in many different environments.

This method is unlike any other way of teaching art. It’s designed to give children art skills that are aligned with their cognitive milestones—cognitive processing, visual perception, and fine-motor development. The goal is to wire implicit memory through all phases of development from early childhood through adolescence.

My art teaching method is extremely complementary to the Montessori way; it’s a natural progression for Montessori teachers and schools to enrich their programs and the enjoyment of the children they work with. This method connects visual art skill sets with creative thinking through sensorial experiences. Once you have an understanding of this Montessori art teaching method, you’ll be able to adapt your Montessori art curriculum to children’s three-part cognitive system (cognitive processing, visual perception, and fine-motor development), and help your students develop the necessary artistic high-order thinking needed to become artful.

How to Use This Guide

I invite you to read through this post to gain a high-level view of how this teaching method adapts to each Montessori plane. Then, click on each specific age range to find out how to effectively teach children based on their cognitive capabilities. As always, if you have questions, leave a comment, send me an email, or jump onto my exclusive Facebook page and let me know!

Early Childhood (Toddler)

Many people mistakenly think that toddlers cannot yet learn art, but that’s not the case. In early childhood, toddlers see art making as exploratory and a discovery-based experience. Young students in the Montessori art first plane do not yet understand the placement of visual arts, and are in a very curious state about mediums. At this age, children should explore art mediums without any expected outcome.

The best way to teach early childhood students is through process-based art. This means the focus on is on the experience and the process, not on the child’s final piece of artwork.

Teaching art to early childhood toddler students helps tremendously in improving their fine motor skills, which are essential to everyday tasks. To learn more about art teaching methods for this age group, read this blog.

Early Childhood (3-6 Years)

Students in early childhood should continue to learn primarily through process-based art. Children who are 3-6 years of age are quick learners and curious about art, so give them room to explore and experiment.

You want to allow students to make art in creative mode, using their own own imaginations, thoughts, and ideas for inspiration. At this age you can begin to introduce copy-mode, but limit your instruction to movement rather than copying an image.

For more information on exactly how to balance creative mode and copy mode for early childhood students, check out this post.

Lower Elementary

Children at the lower L age are able to come up with their own imaginative creations, plan with intention, and think their ideas through to completion, going through the four steps of the artistic process.

At this age, lower elementary students approach art making with lots of curiosity and enthusiasm for trying different techniques and mediums. You can start introducing line, shape, form, texture, color, and symmetrical balance ideas.

Art can be taught to students through process-based art, a continuation of creative mode, and very simplistic copy mode.

If you want a more detailed explanation of how to art teaching methods for lower L students, read this post.

Upper Elementary

Students in upper L can go through the artistic process, conjure up their own ideas, and see them through to completion. They’re able to do reflective work, bringing meaning to their creations and making connections to artworks in their community.

You can teach students Montessori art lessons through a combination of process-based art, creative mode, and copy mode.

By the time students are in upper elementary, they’re extremely competent when it comes to their fine-motor skills. Allow them to experiment with different mediums, techniques, and perspectives.

For more information on upper elementary art teaching methods, read this post.

Montessori Art Teaching Methods Resources

If you would like to understand more about which types of art projects children can work on, register for my free video course, Phases of Arts Development, which discusses teaching methods for Montessori students.

Montessori art book for teaching students

You can learn about Art Literacy Standards and the benefits of visual arts by reading Defining Visual Arts Paperback (paperback book).

Sign-up to receive video course & Montessori art teaching e-newsletter.

The Phases of Art Development is a quick digital course that explains how art making can help students develop their creativity, fine-motor skills, and focus. More importantly, I share what types of projects students at every age are capable of completing safely, and without making a mess.

Best of all—it’s free! To sign up for the course, click here.

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.

December 6, 2018February 1, 2020

Setting Up Your Montessori Classroom Art Space

By Spramani Elaun

Inspiring children to be creative is my business! I’ve spent more than 20 years observing how they learn and teaching them visual art. In my experience, one of the most essential components of students exploring and learning art is their environment. Luckily, it’s actually so easy to set up your Montessori classroom art space!

If you’ve been following this blog, then you know I believe every Montessori classroom should have an inspiration gallery and an art shelf, so I bet you’re wondering what else you could possibly need. I can go on and on about all the things you can use to set up an art space, but to keep it simple, I’ll just share the five basic necessities with you. (Of course, you can dive deeper and learn about all the fun, unique, colorful, exciting things that you can add to your classroom by reading my books Introducing Visual Arts to The Montessori Classroom and Defining Visual Arts.)

The most important thing to understand is that making a space for art means making space to get creative and have fun. Now, when I say that, I know a lot of teachers think fun means mess. While that’s the case sometimes, if you set up a designated space for making art, it’ll contain the mess, while still giving students the freedom to create as they please.

Setting Up an Art Space

Kids need an art space to doodle, draw, write, paint, craft, sew, knit, cut, glue, build, construct, and play with clay. For kids to make these types of art projects successfully, they need the proper space. Here are the five basic necessities for creating a place for art in your classroom.

1. Rugs & Floor Coverings

Spills are inevitable, so it’s important to consider the flooring of your art space. If your classroom has wood, tile, or linoleum floors then spills will be an easy, worry-free clean up. However you may still want to a rug to lay out that will protect your floors—especially if your floor is carpet.

Rugs come in many sizes and can be inexpensive or pricey. If you don’t want to invest in a rug, then you can use a drop cloth or tarp while your students are working, and then fold it up and put it away when they’re done.

2. Table

Table size will not affect your students’ ability to be creative, but the sturdiness of it will. I’ve witnessed kids create beautiful works of art on a surface as large as their lap, so don’t feel like you need a huge, glorious art table in your classroom.

When I’m hosting events and teaching art classes I’m usually setting up on the fly and rely on a small (but sturdy!), cheap, portable fold-up tables. These are great—not just for my events but in the classroom as well—because you can set them up when you need to and not be limited to a full-time art table since they can be folded up and tucked out of the way when not in use.

3. Chairs

Along with a sturdy table, kids need a sturdy chair or stool to sit on safely. A bench or folding chair can work just fine, as will pulling a chair from elsewhere in your classroom. Having a table and chairs available makes invites a child to create and lets them know art should be made in that specific place (containing any mess to that space as well).

4. Light Source

I’ve spent many years observing children making artworks, and the ways in which they visually perceive their work is key to developing their artistic skills. That’s why a good, bright light source is important—it helps them identify pigments and color hues. Natural sunlight is the best, but a lamp light source can work just as well.

5. Art Supply Storage

Every art space should have a place where art supplies are stored. I’ve found that children can be overly stimulated or even get bored if they’re given total access to every art supply in your classroom. The best way to keep them excited and engaged with art is to keep rotating the materials that are available to them. You can use jars, baskets, or closed plastic containers to separate different types of art supply and store them away from the art space when necessary.

Creating your Montessori classroom art space doesn’t need to be fancy or complicated; it’s really not that different from the areas you have set aside for other lessons.

If this has you inspired and eager to start teaching art in your classroom, you should definitely sign up for my online training, Art Teaching Blueprint. It’s a quick, seven-week course that takes everything I’ve learned about teaching art to students and breaks it down into 43 short, easily-digestible videos. It’ll help you build a foundation for teaching a quality visual arts program in your school or classroom. I’m so excited to offer this course to you and I really think it’ll empower you and give you invaluable teaching skills. You can click here to register.

November 8, 2018May 12, 2021

Defining Art Literacy & Standards in the Montessori Classroom

I’ve learned from experience that if you’re like most Montessori teachers, you’re probably not trained in art. It can seem daunting—or maybe even unimportant—to teach art in the Montessori classroom. But the truth is, teaching visual arts and art literacy to students can have a huge impact on their education.

I get deep into all of this in my new book, Defining Visual Arts. I go over the standards for visual arts, how to understand artistic technique and process, and the art projects and mediums that are best for children. It’s really a quick guide to teaching art in your classroom.

Defining Art Literacy & Standards in the Montessori Classroom

Why Teach Visual Arts?

In my book, I also explain why it’s so beneficial for students to have art lessons as part of their Montessori education. Here are just a few of those reasons you should be teaching it.

Art offers a unique form of communication

Student learn diverse ways to communicate their emotions, ideas, and even other subjects they’ve learned in the classroom.

Art encourages critical and creative thinking

How do you express an idea like peace through watercolors? Through art, students get the chance to think creatively as they express themselves through different mediums and projects.

Art offers a tool for societal, historical, and cultural understanding

Art can be connected back to many different Montessori subjects, from science to literature to history. Experiencing art from other time periods or cultures can give students a different perspective on the other subjects they’re learning.

Art cultivates enjoyment and wellbeing

Being able to express themselves in a way that is neither “right” nor “wrong” allows students to find self-confidence and enhances their overall wellbeing. Plus, playing with paints, clay, and crafting materials is enjoyable and exciting for most students.

Art in the classroom leads to greater art literacy

Art literacy provides a standard for students to discover the artistic process. While art is usually considered to be subjective, having art literacy sort of evens the playing field for how students learn the subject.

What is Art Literacy?

To put it simply, art literacy is the knowledge and understanding required to participate authentically in the arts. It provides students with the opportunity to work through the artistic process, as a part of their education and using visual arts standards.

What are the Visual Arts Standards?

The standards we use to teach visual arts were created after extensive studies and surveys of professional artists—from musicians to sculptors. Researchers observed and analyzed the way art is created, from visualization and ideation to a finished form. All these findings were evaluated and placed into a matrix called The Artistic Process, which consists of four actions: investigate, imagine, construct, reflect.

These visual art standards can be used by teachers all over the country to develop curriculum and evaluate artistic progression in their students. The National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS) is one of the prominent organizations leading the efforts to unify art standards across the U.S.

As helpful as these standards are, they do not provide guidelines or instruction for how learning in the arts should be delivered. They give teachers the four basic art process actions children should experience while creating artwork. Deciding on the medium (such as crayons or clay), areas of focus (drawing or painting), and technique are all up to you. This is where it gets a little daunting, right?

Don’t freak out!

I’ve done years of research on the development of art understanding and abilities in children, and I’ve tailored my experience and learning to be useful and applicable in the Montessori classroom.

I don’t want you to feel overwhelmed. Even if you don’t have an arts background, you can still teach visual arts! In Defining Visual Arts, I break down the subject into five simple domains, and walk you through the mediums and techniques to use in each one. You can purchase a copy of the book online for the ultimate guide on giving your students art literacy and bring art into your classroom!