When you purchase this 6-video set, you will also be invited to a special Q&A session with me to help you get all your questions answered and to demonstrate the right art materials to bring into your classroom.
This live session will be held in the middle of August (date TBA), giving you enough time to consume the videos.
BUY 6 VIDEO BUNDLE NOW for instant access! These summer 6-video trainings are on sale for only 72 hours!
What Visual Arts Looks Like For Children & Why It’s Important
In this pre-recorded 20-minute training, Spramani explains the areas young children should learn in visual arts and why it is important to teach in the 21st century.
The Art You Should Teach First! In this pre-recorded 1-hour training, Spramani explains what Montessori art guides should focus on teaching first. She describes the areas to focus on and gives examples of art lessons. She also explains what you should present and demonstrate to children who are just beginning to learn art. She shares a wealth of professional art teaching advice.
How to Theme Art & The Natural World In this 3-part video series, 2 hr. Spramani shares: -How to take your child outside and encourage them to observe like a scientist & artist.How to use art and Montessori subjects to inspire exploration of the natural world and expand their knowledge. Learn how art lessons can represent various aspects of Montessori topics in nature, such as seasons, soil layers, energy, rocks and minerals, fossils, landforms, water, flora, fauna, and the atmosphere.
How to Stage A Montessori Art Shelf In this 1-hour pre-recorded video, Spramani shares her: – Proprietary staging system for Montessori classrooms – How to stage to meet the arts standards – What types of materials to stage – How to support group and independent work, and much more!
Positive Artful Ways To Talk To Your Students Spramani shares her 30 years of experience in talking to students in a positive, supportive way, encouraging creative expression as an art facilitator. Spell and grammar check: She shares examples of how these conversations sound.
Watercolor Joy In this 1-hour video, Spramani shows you which watercolor paints to use for teaching children. She provides you with all the tips on what to buy, how to set up, and how to prepare for watercolor process-based activities. Great if you are curious.
Get instant access to watch the videos you’ve been waiting for! With a generous 3-year viewing window, you’ll have plenty of time to dive into the pre-recorded live sessions hosted by renowned art teacher Spramani Elaun. Whether you prefer watching on your phone, tablet, or desktop, you can enjoy these videos anytime, anywhere. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to enhance your artistic skills and knowledge. Start your creative journey today!
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, readthis 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.
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.
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 foreignlanguage 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.
25 of the Most Basic Art Supplies Every Montessori Classroom Needs
By Spramani Elaun
I’m going to start off with a disclosure, by no means do you only need 25 items to fill your Montessori art shelf. However, because I break down visual arts into five domains—drawing, painting, crafting, clay modeling, and color theory—you just need to make sure you’re giving your students art supplies that fall into each category. There are so many more options and wonderful things to work with, I’d encourage you to explore and purchase anything that inspires you.
This is just going to be a sort of cheat sheet for what you need in your classroom. If you really want a detailed list of everything to include in your art shelf, make sure you register for my online course, Art Teaching Blueprint. I have specific lessons for each domain where I list out all the exact materials I use to teach each domain, where to find those supplies, and how to use them. It’s a ton of valuable information that makes teaching art and setting up your shelf so much easier.
For now though, I want to give you a brief understanding of the different learning areas of visual arts and help you figure out the basic item(s) you need to be able to teach each domain. Grab your shopping list, let’s get into it!
Drawing
The drawing domain includes doodling, drawing, sketching, and tracing. Many of these materials (like pencils and erasers) can be found elsewhere in the classroom, so I recommend making the items on your art shelf unique. Either buy completely different styles so they stand out or color code them so they stay specifically within your art shelf.
There are several types of paints that kids can use, and each one has a different purpose and experience. Whichever you choose, just make sure it’s non-toxic and safe for kids.
Color theory is all about learning how colors behave. It can take years to develop a strong understanding of color theory, so it’s important to start teaching the subject when students are young. With color theory, I recommend you begin with primary colors (red, yellow, blue), then teach kids to mix those colors to create secondary colors, and so on. When you’re teaching color theory, the materials are the same as you’d use for the painting domain.
Clay can be a great way to relate art projects to other lessons you’re teaching. For instance, students can use stamps or natural objects (like leaves) to create imprints; they can also use the clay to create figures and animals to go along with what they’re learning.
There are so many possibilities when it comes to crafting and constructing. I tend to divide this domain into four categories: sewing, paper crafts, nature crafting, and wood/building.
Basic:
Sewing:
String (yarn, threads)
Fabric
Sewing needle
Scissors
Paper crafts
Colored paper
Scissors
Glue
Nature crafting
Glue
Hot glue gun
Natural found objects (rocks, sticks, leaves, etc.)
I know this is a lot to digest and a lot more than just 25 items, but these are the tools that will help your students explore, experiment, and really experience art.
If you want more information, specifically on how each one of these supplies work and some ideas on how to use them, make sure you register for my course! I break it all down for you so this list makes sense in the framework of your classroom. And if you have any questions—about these supplies or my course—please feel free to contact me directly by emailing me at Info@Spramani. om.
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.
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 foreignlanguage 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.
