Montessori Toddler Art Environment | Setting up, by Spramani Elaun

Montessori Toddler Art Environment | Setting up, by Spramani Elaun

Toddlers are curious explorers with short attention spans. It’s important to keep this in mind when setting up the art environment. Your child’s art environment can have a positive impact on how they appreciate art. A toddler’s art environment will function differently than a 3-6 years olds space. Art should be hands-on, which means it can get messy.

The goal is to set up an environment for exploring, as well as containing messes. Toddler paints spread on clothes and fabrics. So you want to set up this environment for splashing, smearing, and dripping. When you spend the time creating the perfect environment, you won’t have to worry about messes.

Toddlers Need Space for Fine-motor Movement

With setting up it’s important to remember that art making is perfect for fine-motor practice. (Learn more about how art can help fine motor skills and why it’s important, read this blog.)

Create enough space for movements. Like gliding hands in fingerpaint, making wide brushstrokes, and pounding clay.

Toddlers’ first interaction with art making is process-based, discovery-based, exploratory, and playful. It’s not until they get a little older that they will be able to sit and create with intention.  Create that space for fine-motor-movement exploring tasks. Toddlers can learn through tactile senses and their body movements. Seeing and feeling mediums with their fingers is good for them. So build those environments for lots of movement!

Montessori Toddler Art
Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography | aquarium.ucsd.edu

8 Toddler Art Environment Features

There are many features to consider when designing your Montessori toddler art space. Here are eight elements to include, and the practical reasons I recommend them as both a mom and art teacher.

1 Art Evironment Location

Montessori art making is messy. Set up in a space around your home where messes are OK, like the kitchen, outside patio, or dining table.

You can anytime “move” your child’s art space to areas that make the most sense for each project.  Your not so messy projects can be in your child’s play space. Messier art projects should be in an area that can clean up easily if spills happen like the kitchen or patio.

Over the years, the art environments I created for my two children moved all over our home! We liked making art in the kitchen; in fact, to this day, we still paint on the kitchen table!

2 Toddler Art Table

The table size will not affect your child’s ability to be creative, but the sturdiness of it will. I’ve seen children make beautiful artworks on a surface as large as their lap. So don’t feel like your child needs a glorious art table. You can start with something small first.

I don’t recommend art easels at this age, although kids do like to stand at one, but it’s not required, a flat table is fine.

3 Chair for Toddler

Montessori Toddler

Along with a sturdy table, kids need a sturdy chair. Toddlers are movers; they will not always want to sit while making art. Sometimes I do activities without a chair for freedom of movement. I do this so children can move around and reach their materials. But have a chair handy when they start spending more time doing art.

4 Art Supply Storage

You know toddlers love to open drawers, cabinets, boxes, anything they can get their hands on. That’s why it’s important to store art supplies where children can’t get into. Store materials and anything small your child can choke on. This might mean a high shelf or in a container with a closing mechanism latch so your toddler can’t open.

5 Montessori Art Shelf

An art shelf isn’t necessary, I recommend it as an option for art making inspiration and activities. This serves as a place where your child can have easy access to the materials. Place these items in baskets, jars, or trays so your toddler can make projects as they choose. The shelf can also be a springboard for inspiration. The shelf can stage books, nature elements or art samples.

Montessori Toddler Art Environment for clay

6 Floor Covering

Wherever you decide to place an art environment, you’ll need to consider the chance of regular spills. For this reason, make sure you set up your child’s art space off carpets; tile, wood, patio, or concrete are easier to clean. If you’re concerned about stains, you can use a floor covering (like a tarp or cheap rug) for your child to work on. 

7 Light Source

A good light source is important for children to create visual art. All art projects are colorful and need a light to identify the varying pigments and color hues. Natural sunlight is the best, but a bright desk lamp can work as well.

8 Art Smock (apron)

Not every art project will need an artist’s smock. Sometimes  drawing, building, and sewing are not messy projects.

Asking your child to wear a smock–can help them understand that some art projects can be messy. and help them build great artist habits.

POSTED ONEDIT”MONTESSORI TODDLER ART ACTIVITIES | STAGING ENVIRONMENT”

Montessori Toddler Art Activities | Staging Environment

Montessori Toddler Art Activities | Staging Environment

Montessori Toddler Art Activities

For the longest time, teachers of early childhood students have been told, “toddlers can’t learn art.” And based on that misinformation, as well as out-of-date art teaching practices, you might be thinking that’s true too. I’m here to tell you that’s not the case!  Toddlers CAN start to learn art!  It all comes down to how you teach them. After years of observing art, I’ve developed my very own teaching method that engages and excites young children; it introduces them to art in a way that makes sense to their little developing brains. I want to share some quick ideas on teaching art to toddlers.

Process-Based

Montessori toddler art activities should be process-based only. Discovery and experimentation are key to process art activities for toddlers. Their learning and development of problem solving skills come from spending time making process art. Want to learn more about what Montessori toddler process-based art means? Visit Teaching Process-Based Art in the Montessori Classroom

Montessori Toddler Art Activities | Staging Environment

Montessori toddler art is tactile 

Art for toddlers is a very sensorial experience. Visual art learning can happen from direct sensory touching by hands. Tactile art making stimulates learning in different ways than visual or audio learning. For a developing child, tactile exploring can also lead to better fine-motor function and control. 

Art Develops Early Motor Movement

In recent years science researchers have established that early motor movement develops better cognitive academic performance in the later grades. Children that practice motor movement early even starting in infancy can directly effect cognitive development and their readiness for learning. 

montessori art curriculum
Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography | aquarium.ucsd.edu

Toddler Safe Art Mediums

Start with safe non-toxic paints, homemade play dough, and safe doodling supplies like crayons and tempera paint sticks. Use only safe non-toxic art supplies for toddlers.

Create spill proof environments children can play and spill if needed. I recommend outdoors or rooms with no carpets.

Start with 15 minute art activities toddlers can explore, move to 20 minute segments. Be sure tables are short and children can move around easily. Only introduce 1-to-2 movements, like making a brushstroke, or rolling out clay. 

Use colorful story books to make connections to art elements. Start with teaching very basic art elements like colors, shape and line.

Learn more by ordering:

Montessori Toddler Art Activities | Staging Environment

ORDER NOW – Montessori Early Childhood Art Guide

Visual Arts Teaching Guide for 13 Months – 6 Years Old

  • Proper and Complete List of Art Materials
  •  Staging and Environment Set-up Guide
  •  Tips and Art Lesson Ideas
  •  Paperback & Digital
Montessori Toddler Art Activities | Staging Environment

All rights reserved © 2024, Nature of Art®

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.

How to Stage an Art Environment with Art Materials for Montessori Toddler Environment

Montessori Toddler Art Activities | Staging Environment

Montessori Toddler Art Activities

For the longest time, teachers of early childhood students have been told, “toddlers can’t learn art.” And based on that misinformation, as well as out-of-date art teaching practices, you might be thinking that’s true too. I’m here to tell you that’s not the case!  Toddlers CAN start to learn art!  It all comes down to how you teach them. After years of observing art, I’ve developed my very own teaching method that engages and excites young children; it introduces them to art in a way that makes sense to their little developing brains. I want to share some quick ideas on teaching art to toddlers.

Montessori Toddler Art Activities | Staging Environment

Process-Based

Montessori toddler art activities should be process-based only. Discovery and experimentation are key to process art activities for toddlers. Their learning and development of problem solving skills come from spending time making process art. Want to learn more about what Montessori toddler process-based art means? Visit Teaching Process-Based Art in the Montessori Classroom

Montessori Toddler Art Activities | Staging Environment

Montessori toddler art is tactile 

Art for toddlers is a very sensorial experience. Visual art learning can happen from direct sensory touching by hands. Tactile art making stimulates learning in different ways than visual or audio learning. For a developing child, tactile exploring can also lead to better fine-motor function and control. 

Art Develops Early Motor Movement

In recent years science researchers have established that early motor movement develops better cognitive academic performance in the later grades. Children that practice motor movement early even starting in infancy can directly effect cognitive development and their readiness for learning. 

montessori art curriculum
Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography | aquarium.ucsd.edu

Toddler Safe Art Mediums

Start with safe non-toxic paints, homemade play dough, and safe doodling supplies like crayons and tempera paint sticks. Use only safe non-toxic art supplies for toddlers. Create spill proof environments children can play and spill if needed. I recommend outdoors or rooms with no carpets.

Start with 15 minute art activities toddlers can explore, move to 20 minute segments. Be sure tables are short and children can move around easily. Only introduce 1-to-2 movements, like making a brushstroke, or rolling out clay.  Use colorful story books to make connections to art elements. Start with teaching very basic art elements like colors, shape and line.

arts and craft book by Spramani Elaun

Spramani’s Books

Teach children visual arts

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

All rights reserved © 2024, Nature of Art®

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.

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.

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.)

How-to Talk to Toddlers About Montessori Art – By Spramani Elaun
Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography | aquarium.ucsd.edu

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
toddler

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.


arts and craft book by Spramani Elaun

Spramani’s Books

Teach children visual arts

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

All rights reserved © 2024, Nature of Art®

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.