The Artful Parent

MaryLea Harris of Pink and Green Mama

MaryLea Harris, a former elementary art teacher, blogs as Pink and Green Mama and offers her two daughters a plethora of arts and crafts materials and encouragement. Join me in learning more about what inspires her and see her list of must-have art supplies!

***Note: Readers will have a chance to win three of her art lesson plans at the end of this interview.***

JEAN:  What is it about kids’ art that resonates so well with you?
 
MARYLEA:  I am a stay at home mom with two daughters, “E” is 8 years old and “C” is 4 years old. I was an Elementary art teacher in the public school system for 5 years before staying home to raise my girls. I love children’s art and the way kids are so fearless when they create. They don’t have that inner critic’s voice inside their heads (yet) telling them what they should or shouldn’t do. As an art teacher, it was so important for me to make art-making fun for my students. I know so many adults who had a grown-up during their own childhoods that ruined art for them; I even had a mean art teacher and an unpleasant piano teacher so I swore I would never be one of “those” grown ups!
 
I majored in studio art and art history with an emphasis on printmaking and painting in college. I interned for a summer as an art therapist’s assistant at a local hospital’s children’s oncology ward. My experiences as an art teacher and art therapy assistant have greatly influenced how I raise my girls and the kind of projects we always have going in our house. For example, we always have a few sensory boxes going in our playroom (a throw back to my art therapy sand box days!) and a fully stocked art studio with a variety of art materials available to the girls (a mini art classroom at home).

JEAN:  What inspires you to offer your children regular art and craft opportunities? What are your favorite materials and activities?
 
MARYLEA:  Art Making Opportunities? We have an art studio in our home in what is supposed to be the formal living room. I call it our “second play room”. We’ll never be one of those play-dough-free houses, I think kids are supposed to get messy and experiment, that’s what childhood is for!  “E” asked me if every kid is allowed to have art supplies in her bedroom and I said, “I certainly hope so!”
 
Safe Art Supplies: When “E” was 6 months old, I went back to school part time and earned my MFA with an emphasis on painting and computers and art. I was breastfeeding at the time and as a former printmaker, started creating my graduate art work with non-toxic art materials, which led me to a lot of mixed media work. As soon as “E” was big enough, I started bringing her into my art studio with me and handed her art materials. She was painting with watercolors and acrylics well before her first birthday. I try to use safe art materials with my kids as much as possible but I also allow them to use materials that a lot of parents wouldn’t, like permanent markers (yes, I know they’re not non-toxic and they’re stinky!) and glue guns. With supervision (and an open window) of course! I think that kids should be exposed to a wide variety of art materials and opportunities to experiment with them.
 
Favorite art materials? It’s hard to name just a few which is why I wrote three different blog posts about my favorite art supplies for different age groups broken down into toddlers, preschoolers, and school age children.  

Quick list of my must haves:

• Liquid Food Coloring (we make sidewalk paint with it, color water, color rice, etc)
• Play-dough (store bought or homemade)
• Sidewalk Chalk (for open air art!)
• Paper! (all kinds = copy paper, cardstock, constructions, scrapbook, vellum, waxed paper, contractor’s paper, aluminum foil, tissue paper, sand paper)
• Scissors (regular and the kind that cut with wavy lines)
• Hole Punches (circles, flowers, etc)
• Glue (Elmer’s White School Glue, Glue Stick, Glue Gun, Aleene’s Craft Glue, Mod Podge)
• Tape (clear and masking – love colored masking tape from Oriental Trading supply, duct tape, electrical tape)
• Cardboard  and Recycling (boxes, toilet paper tubes, cereal boxes)
• Drawing Materials (Colored pencils, Crayola Twistables, Crayola Markers, Soy Crayon Rocks, Stockmar Wax crayons, Sharpies)
• Watercolors and Watercolor Paper  (Crayola and Dixon for younger kids, Yarka for mommy and older kids)
• Do-A-Dot paints or Bingo Markers
• Stickers and Office Labels
• Washable Paint and Brushes (acrylic craft paint and tempera paint from the craft store)

JEAN:  Will you tell us a bit about your summer art camps? What led you to start them?
 
MARYLEA:  I taught a series of summer art and craft camps last year in response to several friends asking me to offer kid’s classes and as a way to keep my own kids entertained while having fun at home with their friends. I did a month of little mommy and me camps for my youngest daughter and her friends since their preschool ends a month and a half before the big kids finish up their school year. Then, I taught a series of theme camps for school-age kids with themes like “Ocean Fun Camp”, “Rainbow Fun Camp”, “Exploring Great Artists”, “Backyard Fun”, and “Mom Would Never Let Me Do This At Home! Camp.”
I wrote up all of the lesson plans and activities from these camps and offer them as PDF lesson plans on my blog. They’re popular with classroom teachers, home-schooling parents, moms looking for a way to entertain their kiddos, camp counselors, and vacation bible school coordinators. They were so popular that people want to do them again this year but I’m having a hard time scheduling around travel and our own summer plans.

JEAN:  Where do your children’s interests lie and how do you encourage them and incorporate their current interests into current art activities? Are you ever surprised by what your kids come up with?
 
MARYLEA:  “E” is a miniature version of me and has always been “into” art. She is always drawing, painting, cutting, sewing, singing, and composing music on the piano. The music thing throws me for a loop because I can’t even read music but she’s a natural musician like her father, he’s teaching her how to play piano and guitar. She can sit down and play music by ear, she just figured out Fur Elise. Ummm…yeah, not from me! She also loves fashion design right now and is making beautiful fashion sketches so we put up some magnetic boards on her room wall for her to display her designs, I’m on the hunt for a small dress form for her to practice draping fabric on. She learned origami from some friends at school so I got her a book and some beautiful papers this Christmas. I try to say “yes” as much as possible when the girls come up with their own ideas, sometimes it would be easier to say no but I think experimenting, inventing, and creating are critical for their growth and development.
 
“C” also loves to create and is full of awesome ideas. One snowy morning at the bus stop this January, she came up with the idea to save pinecones to paint as “Easter Eggs” and she’s right, they are shaped like eggs. Throw on some pastel paint and they’re natural Easter eggs. I love the way kids can see something in a new way. She also likes to make artwork to hang in her Barbie house, collars for her stuffed kitty cats, and to make our own toys like a cardboard box puppet theater or a miniature bug house.

JEAN:  Anything else you’d like to add?
 
MARYLEA:  Thank you so much Jean for giving me the opportunity to talk to your Artful Parent readers today. I adore your blog and all of the fun projects you do with your girls! I so wish we lived closer to each other so the girls and I could come over for your art play dates. It makes me want to start my own art play group!

JEAN:  Thank you, MaryLea! We’d love it if you came over for art play dates!

***Giveaway***

Readers who leave a comment by Friday, April 29th at 12 midnight EST will be entered into a random drawing for MaryLea’s art lesson plans. The winner will receive three of your choice!

The random number generator picked #44 so Szkent wins the drawing for three of MaryLea's art lesson plans!

I appreciate that MaryLea has fully immersed her children into her art background. I love the idea of using a kiddy pool and paint covered balls to create works of art. What a great idea for a group project!

Christie Burnett of Childhood 101 on the value of art

Christie Burnett, Aussie mother of one, is a long-time early childhood educator and the founder of the popular blog, Childhood 101. Here she shares her thoughts on art, play spaces, and parenting.

***Note: Readers will have a chance to win a free copy of Christie’s new e-book, Art Not Craft: The Process of Learning Creatively, at the end of this interview.***

JEAN:  First, will you tell us a bit about becoming a parent after years in early childhood education?

CHRISTIE:  As an early childhood teacher I thought I knew a lot about young children - how they learnt, developed and formed relationships, etc, and I advised parents on all manner of things – children’s eating, sleeping and behaviour issues, to name a few of the more common ones. However, it wasn’t until I became a parent myself that I understood the strong influence of emotion and the attachment between parent and child that makes these areas of parenting so much more complicated. All my years of studying and teaching had definitely not prepared me for the overwhelming sense of love and protection which I felt for my child.

JEAN:  What made you start Childhood 101?

CHRISTIE:  As a new mum, I found that I missed having something for me as my work had always been such an important part of my life, and as a teacher I loved sharing my passion for quality play-based early education with families and other educators. My blog became what I did for me, an outlet for my thoughts and ideas and feelings and a new place for me to share my passion.  I love that whatever your parenting style or philosophy is, there are others around the world feeling, thinking, and sometimes even enjoying, a similar journey to you.

JEAN:  I love your daughter’s art space! Will you tell us a bit about setting it up and how it gets used?

CHRISTIE:  We are fortunate to have space in our home for a playroom and it is divided into areas - one corner is Immy’s art space, another her home corner/dramatic play area, a third is a reading space and finally there are two mat areas for various toys and activities. As an early childhood teacher, I believe that presenting aesthetically pleasing play spaces with simple organization helps children to feel secure in the knowledge of what happens in that place. This is especially important to creativity, as a child who feels safe and secure feels more freedom to take creative risks.

Within her art space, Immy has free access to different types of paper, drawing utensils, scissors, glue, collage materials and sculpting mediums, and has since she was a little over two years of age. I keep the paints and some glues in a different space, mainly because of storage restraints but Immy is always free to ask for them.

JEAN:  What are your favorite creative activities to do with your daughter?

CHRISTIE:  Immy would probably choose anything to do with paint and her hands :) Sculpting with clay, plasticine and dough is very popular at the moment and I enjoy watching the learning taking place through the additional challenge that working with 3 dimensional art materials provides - there is a whole heap of problem solving and perseverance hiding in a ball of clay or a stack of recyclables and a roll of tape.

 

JEAN:  I’m excited to hear about your new e-book, Art not Craft – The Process of Learning Creatively! What are you hoping parents will take away from it?

CHRISTIE: I often feel that adults place less value on children’s art activities then they do on other types of learning activities. This is especially true of young children whose art making attempts are about enjoying the experience of creating rather than producing a recognizable image or object. I hope that Art Not Craft helps parents to better appreciate the value of art making to a child’s thinking, their learning across all developmental areas, and as an important vehicle for a child to express both their knowledge and feelings of the world. For example, I recently posted on the blog about the important role that art making played in helping Immy to work through the overwhelming emotions which she experienced during our first trip to the cinema. Drawing and painting materials have helped her to make sense of what she saw, heard and felt and now instead of feeling frightened, she is asking to go again!

Through Art Not Craft, I also want to reassure parents that helping children to express themselves through art materials is not difficult and the ebook provides suggestions for the practicalities of art making – simple ways of minimizing mess, of engaging and involving all children – even those who do not show interest in art making, advice for choosing art projects to suit your child and tips for creating an art area at home, and choosing and organizing art materials.

JEAN: Thank you, Christie! I love what you say about offering attractive and defined play spaces to help children feel confident about what happens in that space. I hadn’t considered it in quite that way, but really like that explanation.

 

***GIVEAWAY***

 Readers who leave a comment to this interview by 12 midnight EST on Thursday, April 21^st, will be entered into a random drawing for a free copy of Christie’s new e-book, Art Not Craft: The Process of Learning Creatively.

The random number generator picked #52 so Melissa wins the copy of  Christie's e-book. Congrats!

I love that little work space! We recently bought a new table for our kitchen so that our old table could be exclusively used as an art table. It's made a huge difference for us to have a dedicated space. The e-book sounds great, thanks for the chance! I'm off to check out your blog, Christie!

Peg Dunn-Snow on children's art therapy

Dr. Peg Dunn-Snow is a children’s art therapist in Florida. She is the owner of Children’s Corner: Art Therapy for Children, and is the past president of the American Art Therapy Association. Please join me in learning more about Peg and art therapy for children.

***Note: Readers will have a chance to win a selection of art materials that Peg offers to some of her child clients at the end of this interview.***

JEAN:  Will you tell us a bit about your background and why you were drawn to children’s art therapy?

PEG:  I first became interested in art therapy while working as a special education teacher, I incorporated a strong art program in my curriculum and regardless of their learning disabilities, my students could always compete with the school population, winning blue ribbons and certificates for their art projects. Art leveled the playing field for my students, allowing them to experience a sense of achievement and success.

I hold a Bachelor’ degree in Elementary Education, a Masters in Art Therapy and another in Special Education and a PhD in art education with a specialization in art therapy. I am also a licensed and board certified art therapist and mental health counselor. I maintain a private practice, Children’s Corner: Art Therapy for Children in Fort Lauderdale and teach the course Art Therapy Throughout the Life Span as an adjunct faculty member in the distance-learning graduate art therapy program at Saint Mary of the Woods College in Terre Haute, Indiana. I am the former director of the Barry University art therapy and clinical psychology graduate program and have a background in exceptional student education, school guidance and hospital/ homebound instruction in the public school system. I have served as conference chair, secretary, and president of the Florida Art Therapy Association, and as the national conference chair for the American Art Therapy Association. Currently I am the immediate past-president of the American Art Therapy Association.

JEAN: How does art therapy work with children? and why is art an appropriate way for children to communicate their thoughts and feelings?

PEG: Art is an appropriate way for children to communicate for many reasons that include the following:

Art is a language and promotes verbal language

Art is a critical- thinking activity that evaluates strengths and growth

Art can express visual memories

Art can hold a permanent record of thoughts and feelings

Art is not a linear language The past, present, & future can all be held in one image.

Art is universal and a normal activity of childhood

Art allows children to distance themselves from their thoughts and feelings

Art gives children the ability to place their thoughts and feelings outside of themselves

Art give children a way to “handle” their thoughts and feelings by containing them within the boundaries of a canvas or piece of drawing paper, miniaturizing them to a manageable size

Art allows children to set goals and plan for their future

Art allows children to relate to their environment and relationships while identifying their support system and safe places.

Through self-portraits art allows children to explore the issues of identity and roles and allows children to learn about their heritage and culture

Art-making provides practice in making choices

Art allows children to express their thoughts and feelings “when words are not enough”

JEAN: Thank you! Do you have any tips for parents who want to connect with their children through talking about their art?

PEG: When talking about their art:

1.      Have the children describe the art in their own way and words.

2.      Ask the children to tell more about specific parts of the art…describing actual forms, objects, and people.

3.      Ask the children to describe the picture in the “first person”.

4.      Ask the children about their use of colors … remember colors can be used realistically or idiosyncratically and can be used in different ways at different times. Many times young children do not use colors realistically.

5.      Help the children own what has been created or said about the art…gently ask how the art fits with any part of their lives.

6.      Have the children describe the process of doing the art… what were their feelings about doing the art before, during, and after the art-making lesson or playtime.

7.      Look at and comment on the patterns and/or themes in the children’s art

I would also recommend the following books for parents:

• Creative art for the Developing Child by Clare Cherry (Simon & Schuster)
• Windows to Our Children by Violet Oaklander (The Center for Gestalt Development)
• The Creativity Handbook: A Visual Arts Guide for Parents and Teachers by Carolyn Boriss-Krimsky (Charles C. Thomas)

JEAN:  Anything else you’d like to add?

PEG:  Children’s artwork is an extension of who they are and is linked to their self-concept no matter what the art image represents. As an extension of the child, the artwork should be treated with the same concerns that you have for the child.  Also, remember, young children draw what they know and not necessarily what they see.

Encourage children to please themselves with their art-making

JEAN:  Thank you, Peg! I appreciate you sharing your expertise with us. I like what you say about children’s artwork being an extension of who they are and how it is linked to their concept of self.

***Giveaway***

Readers who leave a comment by Thursday, March 24th at 12 midnight EST will be entered into a random drawing for a selection of art materials that Peg offers to some of her child clients.

The random number generator picked #69, so congrats go to Karrie for winning the art materials.

I love practicing art myself and found it very therapeutic. It was helpful to see all the reasons to use it with my children as well.

Teacher Tom on child-led learning

Tom Hobson, AKA Teacher Tom, is a father and preschool teacher. He let's kids be kids, takes inspiration from Mister Rogers, and hands young children glue guns. His blog, Teacher Tom, was awarded Best Teacher Blog by the 2010 EduBlog Awards. Please join me in learning more about Tom and his teaching philosophy.

***Note: Readers will have a chance to win Tom's tool of choice, a glue gun, at the end of this interview!***

Teacher Tom, kids'-eye view

JEAN:  I love what I see on your blog about your preschool classroom. It seems that you really understand kids – that you just let kids be kids and learn in a way that comes naturally to them rather than trying to mold their learning experiences into more adult-sanctioned styles. Okay, first question. Will you tell us a bit about your background? How did you get into teaching and what or who has influenced your teaching style?

TOM:  I worked in public relations, then for 15 years as a freelance writer and baseball coach. My wife was always the one with the  “career” so being flexible was important as we moved around the US and the Europe, childless, for the first 10 years of our marriage. There wasn’t even a conversation about which of us would stay home when our daughter Josephine was born 14 years ago. When she was two, we found our way into a cooperative preschool. We all loved that I got to work in the classroom with the kids, teacher, and other parents  -- it created such a sense of connection and community.

As Josephine entered her third and final year of preschool, her teacher, Chris David asked me, “What are you going to do when she’s in kindergarten full time?” I’d sort of unthinkingly assumed that I’d go back to knocking on doors trying to sell writing services, but when I thought about her question the idea of sitting in front of a computer all day looked like a grim prospect. Chris then suggested I think about teaching preschool. I started taking classes, but even before I’d earned a degree, I was hired at Woodland Park, and that’s where I’ve been for the past 9 years.

Chris David is easily the greatest influence on me as a teacher. Our classroom styles couldn’t be more different, but my schedule, most of my songs, the core of my art projects, and my classroom set up comes directly from her. And there is no doubt that my background coaching baseball has greatly informed my teaching. From the time I was 14 until I was nearly 40, there was almost always a baseball team in my life, with players ranging in age from 4 to 30. It’s where I learned to lead large groups engaged in communal endeavors. You hear lots of sentences that begin with, “Come on, everybody, let’s . . .” around our classroom.

And, of course, Mister Rogers was a great, great man, from whom I continue to take inspiration. 

 

JEAN:  Your preschool has a very different look and feel from most preschools (that I’m familiar with anyway). Can you talk about this? 

TOM:  Well, since I only have experience in co-op classrooms, I have no first hand experience with any other kind! That said, from what I know, I don’t think I’d be capable of teaching in any other kind of school!

As for the “feel” of our school, that comes out of the cooperative model, which incorporates parents into the day-to-day classroom. In our 3-5’s class we’ll have 6-8 parents working with me on a typical day, and in the Pre-3 class we often have as many as 12 adults in the room with 20 kids. Obviously, this makes for an incredible child:adult ratio and means that I, as the teacher, need to make sure to not waste all that loving parent power by having meaningful things for them to do with the kids. Like many schools we run “stations” – art, drama, blocks, table toys, sensory, snack – but in a co-op we have the “man power” to put a parent-teacher in charge of keeping those stations running smoothly, while still having adults handy for the important roles of helping children through conflicts, recovering from owies, or just having a lap to sit on if that’s what they need.

I suppose the other thing that gives our school a special feel is our play-based curriculum, meaning that we start from the premise that play is the natural way for children to learn about their world. It’s a child-directed, child-centered way of learning, one that results in the adults scrambling to keep up, which, of course, is much different that a traditional school where the teacher is in charge of everything.

As for the physical aspects of our school, I always say that the more like a garage it is, the better. Several years ago the parents wanted to raise funds to install a new floor to replace our old, worn, permanently stained linoleum one. I asked them to raise money for something else because I didn’t want to be responsible for taking care of a nice new floor! I like a place where paint spatters, mud, bangs and dings aren’t something to worry about. I finally agreed to new rugs, but only with the stipulation that no one would complain if we got them messy.

We made a decision last year to transform our outdoor space into an “outdoor classroom.” This meant getting rid of our traditional “climbers" and slides, and replacing them with a giant sand pit, a cast iron water pump, a workbench complete with real tools and scrap lumber, a garden, a bunch of tree rounds to define spaces, and lots and lots of what we call “loose parts,” like sticks, rocks, corks, bottle caps, figurines, buckets, containers, boxes, florist marbles, parts of broken things, you name it. A few adults have complained it looks like a junkyard, but I guarantee that’s not how children see it – they see magic. 

 

JEAN:  How do you try to encourage your students’ creativity and creative thinking?

TOM:  I don’t know that I do anything special to encourage creativity other than to let them be responsible for their own learning. Creativity is the natural state of a child’s brain (I suspect that’s true of the human brain in general) and all you need to do is provide them with a variety of interesting materials and stimulating information.

Creativity, it seems to me, is something traditional schools spend a great deal of energy trying to iron out of kids in the effort to get them to “behave,” sit down, and conform. I like the children of Woodland Park to be all “wrinkly,” make their own rules (literally, all of our rules are made by the children), on their feet, and doing whatever stimulates their magnificent brains.

I suppose if I do any one thing to encourage creativity, it’s to role model imperfection, making mistakes. That’s where the learning takes place.

JEAN:  What are your favorite art activities to do with your students? What are your favorite art materials for the classroom?

TOM:  Hoo, that’s a hard one. I suppose that your basic tempera paint and construction paper are the two things we go through the fastest. We also nearly always have tape, scissors and a stapler handy.

 

I think what I love best of all is using glue guns with the kids. A lot of schools ban them because of the worry about burns – and the kids do burn themselves – but for most of the children, that’s a very small price to pay for the power of using that tool. Glue really limits them to horizontal creation, collage-like pieces. Maybe if they are very patient and work over many days, they can get into making 3-D art, but with a glue gun it’s instant. They envision a tower or a house or whatever and bam, bam, bam they can make it. Usually we use cardboard or wood scraps. I love watching the children create with glue guns, they concentrate so hard, and are so proud of what they've made.

And more often than not, even when a child burns him or herself, they’re right back at it the moment the pain has subsided. I’ll never forget the day my friend Lachlan burned himself. I heard a huge wail come up from the workbench where he was working with his mom. I asked, “Did you burn yourself?” Through his tears he answered, “I burned myself because I wasn’t paying attention.” Oh, to be so young and to already understand the importance of being responsible for yourself.

JEAN:  You’re also the author of A Parent’s Guide to Seattle. That must have been fun to write! Can you talk about the process of exploring the city with children in mind?

TOM:  That was quite awhile ago. I was hired to write the book because I was the former communications manager of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, a father, and a preschool teacher (just hired and hadn’t worked a day, but I didn't tell the publisher that).

I love Seattle. My wife and I have traveled all over the world and there is no place I’d rather live. The research part was fun and easy. But honestly, the writing process was miserable. I wore out the thesaurus finding new ways to saying something was “a blast,” “a hoot,” or “a grand old time.” I’m proud of the book, but the only thing I ever wrote that was more challenging was the time I was hired to write marketing biographies of 82 orthopedic surgeons.

JEAN:  What are your favorite books or resources about early childhood education?

TOM:  Blogs. There are so many blogs that inspire and inform me everyday. Yours, of course is brilliant. I’m also a big reader of Irresistible Ideas For Play Based Learning, Let The Children Play, Filth Wizardry, atelierista, Marla McLean, Teach Preschool, Get Your Mess On!, I’m A Teacher, Get Me OUTSIDE Here!, Pink And Green Mama, The Living Classroom, Leaves & Branches, Trunks & Roots . . . Oh, and so many more. I hate listing blogs because I know I’ll leave someone important out.

But Mister Rogers is my go-to-guy. I love his Parenting Resource Book. He keeps everything so simple, so straight forward, so practical. He never makes you feel like you need to be perfect, just loving; just loving, that really is enough.

I often spend an afternoon just watching episodes of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood on the internet. I recommend that to anyone who works with young children. I recommend it to anyone even if they don't.

JEAN: Thank you, Tom! I think we all need to remember that about not needing to be perfect -- that being loving is enough.

---

***Glue Gun Giveaway***

Readers who leave a comment to this post by Thursday, March 16th at 12 midnight EST will be entered into a random drawing for a dual-temperature hot glue gun. You know you want one!

The random number generator picked #48, so Sheryl wins the glue gun. Congrats, Sheryl!

I wish we had a co-op preschool in our area! And thanks for introducing us to Teacher Tom! Can't wait to read his blog!

Regina of Chalk in My Pocket on encouraging creativity

Regina Cherill, mama to a three year old girl, is the artful parent behind the blog, Chalk in My Pocket. We connected a year ago when she told me about letting her toddler paint her jeep with tempera paints before camping trips. I loved that idea! And her blog is full of the obvious encouragement to explore the world and children’s creative potential through art and other activities.

***Note: Readers will have a chance to win a set of 8 liquid watercolors at the end of this interview.***

JEAN:  Can you tell us a bit about yourself and what inspires you to hand your toddler a paint-loaded brush and point her toward your car? This is something that would probably make many of us cringe!

REGINA:  I’m pretty sure I’m an artist trapped in a techie’s body. I love messy, tactile things and parenting a toddler has been a boon to the fingerpaint loving artist within me. Working in an elementary school before my daughter was born was a reminder of the importance and joy of art in schools. Even though I was teaching technology, art played a huge role in that and every subject.

Painting that Jeep was art in the most unexpected of places  - an automotive shop's open house! The experience of painting such a large thing that is traditionally off limits to kids was so exciting, for all of us! Claire was a year and a half old when she painted this truck and it was a springboard for all kinds of interesting outdoor painting last summer. The backyard playhouse, snack tables, power wheels and bunches of rocks all received lots of painting love. We used crayola tempera paint and it washed right off everything during the first rain.

And yes, Claire will be painting Jeeps again! We’ve got an old white Cherokee that is crying out for some color. I’m hoping we can make some “art on the move” with it when we go camping this summer.

JEAN:  Why do you believe creativity is important to foster in our children?

REGINA:  Wow. This is a loaded question!

You’d think that as someone with a computer science degree I’d say, it’s not. We’re living in an information driven society, why do we need colored pencils, paint or music in our classrooms -- shouldn’t we just focus on building competent computer and information literacy skills?

I feel just the opposite. Even if you push aside the joy, pleasure the intrinsic “humanness” that results from creating something with your hands, above all art fosters creative thinking. Approaching a problem with an open mind and finding creative solutions is a required skill set for ANY job. Even a computer programmer could benefit from “outside the box” thinking skills.

So many academic programs today are focused on the end goal of standardized testing and the classroom experience reflects that. Worksheet after worksheet does not a happy child make! I was lucky to teach in a school where art was not only taught but celebrated throughout the curriculum.

Confidence is built when you share something all your own with your classmates. Having it respectfully received is a result of a great art appreciation curriculum which I think should go hand in hand with art class. You don’t have to like every genre of art (or dance, music, ect) but appreciating and respecting the creativity and technique that went into it is a must. Now THAT is a lesson that can carry over into every content area and character development goal.

JEAN:  What are some ways you encourage your daughter’s creativity?

REGINA:  More than anything, I provide access to materials and the time to explore them. Claire has an easel in her room and the tray is stocked with crayons, scissors and chalk. We have a little creation station on the kitchen table (a repurposed fruit stand) filled with crayons, paint, paper, ABC stamps and stencils. I rotate these materials a bit. During February it was filled with items to celebrate Valentine’s Day: spray bottles of pink liquid watercolors for spray painted cards, random bits of tissue paper, foil and paper heart cutouts and glue sticks.

My goal in setting up these “art stations” is to have items that Claire can use independently and clean up herself. As she’s gotten older, the materials have changed but our standby of crayons and paper squares in a bucket is still in on a living room shelf!

I don’t feel creativity is limited to art either. I’m happy to see my daughter play in creative ways with objects she’s scavenged from around the house. Recently she was lining up coins in a long snake shape and I asked her about the cool patterned creature she made. Well Claire looked at me like I was crazy and informed me that the young men (shiny coins) and old men (dull coins) were on a train together.

She’s always raiding our little nature table for rocks to line up on the tiles, tucking dolls into cupboards and “writing” notes to us on scraps of paper. Not a day goes by that I don’t trip over some elaborate sculpture she created with the magnetic sticks and balls.

Having simple toys and leaving the TV off are the best decisions my husband and I have made as parents. Learning to keep herself entertained using her own imagination, is probably the best way we foster independence and encourage creativity.

JEAN:  Do you have any favorite art activities you share with your daughter?

REGINA:  I love to paint and draw and doodle but often restrain myself from doing it alongside Claire for fear she’ll start to copying me rather than develop her own creative voice. Collage and photography have been a great way for us to “do art” together.

For Christmas Claire’s aunt gave her a kid size digital camera and we’ve had a blast taking pictures together. Going through her photos on my computer was a fascinating glimpse into the world of three year old. Some of it was abstract, all of it beautiful. I love how she photographed colorful bits of carpet and wood where she liked the pattern.

The beautiful illustrations in children’s books have started many conversations about the different materials and techniques artists use. I’m always thankful when illustrators list their materials and methods so I can share them with Claire.

A lot of our local art museums offer enrichment classes on a monthly basis. These tot classes usually include a craft and a museum tour for a nominal price. It’s a great bargain and lots of fun.

My favorite art material? The liquid watercolors by Colorations, the colors are so vibrant and they seem to last forever! We’ve used them as traditional paint on watercolor paper and coffee filters and have used them as dye for the bathtub puffy paint and dried pasta beads.

I’m not sure if this counts as an art material per se, but we have pattern blocks on our fridge that see a ton of use. Claire is always making clever little creations - triangular people with pointy eyebrows and semi-circle smiles make frequent appearances on our fridge door.

Our Buddha Board is another item I’d have to mention. It’s a fantastic, no mess art experience. If you haven’t seen one before it’s a rice paper board on an easel that you “paint” on with water. The high contrast result is really cool, albeit temporary art.

My biggest challenge with encouraging art in the home has been organization. It’s not my strength by any stretch of the imagination and organizing our materials during creation and stowing them neatly away afterwards is something I’m working hard to improve upon. I’ve found plastic egg cartons are great for sorting everything from paint to pasta to googly eyes and I horde these on top of my fridge. These are the most valuable recyclable in my arsenal.

JEAN:  Anything else you’d like to add?

REGINA:  A big thank you for all the inspiration here on the Artful Parent blog! I can’t tell you how honored I am to be interviewed here – so many of the memories I’ve created with Claire have been the direct result of an activity found here!

JEAN: Thank you, Regina!

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Giveaway

Readers who leave a comment to this interview by Thursday, March 10^th at 12 midnight EST will be entered into a random drawing for a set of eight Colorations liquid watercolors in a rainbow of colors: blue, green, magenta, orange, purple, red, turquoise, and yellow. Please note, while comments are welcome from readers all over the world, only US readers will be entered into this particular giveaway because of the weight of the watercolors.

The random number generator picked #13, so Carrie wins the set of eight liquid watercolors. Congrats, Carrie!

Fabulous interview! Thanks again for the creative inspiration.

Mike Norris on museum education at the Met

Mike Norris, Museum Educator, oversees programs for families at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Here he shares his experience, gleaned from 20 years at the Met, on visiting art museums with children.

JEAN:  Why do you think it’s important for children to see and learn about great works of art?

MIKE:  Human beings are visual animals, built to observe from the earliest age, and great art gives a person visions that cannot be generated just from oneself, or that may not be found in nature. In a way, works of art are like dreams, with meaning that may or may not be totally understood, but they stay with you. 

As one of my teachers used to say, a great work of art is never exhausted, because the visual experience consists both of a work of art and the viewer's potential, and the latter changes over time.  It means that when an adult and a child look at a work of art together, each perceives it differently, according to each one's development. But it also means that the common sight might bring about a discussion, with each person learning about the other. 

JEAN:  What do you want children to take away from a museum visit experience? And how do you try to make that happen?

MIKE:  Coming to the Met is more of a trip than a visit, since it sometimes feels, in its grandeur (which necessitates a lot of walking), that one has traveled to a foreign country. But, as with traveling, enjoying the road and each other's company is one of the best parts of the experience.  Having children excited by amazing visions in a beautiful environment in the beloved company of their family is what I wish for them.

JEAN:  What do you think is the most important part of a museum visit for young children – a fun museum experience, art appreciation, learning about artists or art styles, learning about the potential of art materials, or simply exposure to art?

MIKE:  Of course, I would have to say all of the above!  But I would like to say something about "exposure to art." 

When I was a child my father, a naval officer, got stationed near Paris, France, for three years.  There, I visited museums with my school mates, walked to a medieval church for the Sunday service, passed medieval buildings on my way home.  For much of my time, I pined for the television programs I had left behind and ate as much French food as I could.  But years later, when I got into college here in the U.S., I eventually gravitated to studying medieval art history and that's what my doctorate is in. 

JEAN:  What kinds of art do the children who visit The Met seem to understand or appreciate the best?

MIKE:  For the youngest visitor, sculpture is often popular, since one can be active in moving around to look at it; sometimes, one can even strike poses from it!  But children are not alike!  Sometimes when I bring a large group of them into a gallery each one looks at a different work of art. 

Let me also just say that the Met, as large as it is, usually just barely satisfies a child's insatiable curiosity. 

JEAN:  Will you share your favorite tips for making a museum visit successful with their children?

MIKE:  Before a visit, it's a good idea for parents to go to the Museum's Web site and, with their children, gather a list of works of art to see, making sure that at least part of the list is what the parents like.  In this mini pre-tour, as well as expressing their own interests, the children can learn something about their parents and, if the family then comes to the Museum, the trip can turn into a treasure hunt to find what's on their list, heightened by an exciting sense of "déjà vu."

A word of advice: After forty-five minutes or so in the galleries, it is usually a good idea to take a break, perhaps having lunch.  Then, rested up, you can probably spend another forty-five minutes in the Museum.

JEAN:  Thanks so much for sharing, Mike!

I absolutely love what your teacher used to say, about a great work of art never being exhausted "because the visual experience consists both of a work of art and the viewer's potential." What an eye-opening statement! I guess I never thought about art that way. I love the idea that the experience of the artwork is changing all the time as the viewer changes and grows!

Jennifer Hallissy, author of The Write Start

 

You probably know Jennifer Hallissy as the mother of two who blogs at The Write Start. She is now also the author of a great new book, The Write Start: A Guide to Nurturing Writing at Every Stage, from Scribbling to Forming Letters and Writing Stories! Join me in learning more about Jennifer and her ideas for sharing a love of writing with our children.

***Note: Readers will have a chance to win one of two copies of Jennifer’s new book at the end of this interview.***

JEAN:  Jennifer, I loved reading your book! You have so many ideas for encouraging our children to enjoy (and be proficient at) writing. What a wonderful resource! Okay, first question – Why do you feel it so important to raise our children to be writers?

JENNIFER: Thank you so much, Jean. And you know I'm such a fan of your blog!

I think writing is essential in the lives of young children for so many reasons. Writing goes hand and hand with learning. The best way for children to process and own information that they’ve learned is to write it down. Writing is a wonderful tool for self-expression, too. It is an amazing way to document thoughts, feelings, and ideas to share with others, or to get to know yourself better. Writing is also a great way to make connections between people – to say “thank you,” “I’m sorry,” “I love you,” and “I miss you” in a meaningful way. Writing is also what I call a “cool tool for school.” When writing comes naturally for children, they tend to enjoy it more, and likewise find their schoolwork and homework to be more of a pleasure than a burden. 

Writing also helps children, and all of us, think. We use writing to help us remember, organize, plan, or figure something out. When children get into the habit of thinking on paper, they will always have a smart strategy for thinking something through -- right at their fingertips.

JEAN:  If you could tell parents to do one thing to encourage their children as writers, what would it be?

JENNIFER:  I think parents can make a huge impact in the lives of their little writers simply by being good writing role models. We can do this just by calling attention to some of our own daily writing habits. Make a point to say, “Wow that’s cool – I have to write that down!” Your jotting a note makes an impression on children. It’s a great example of what I call the writing reflex: Think it. Write it. Remember it.

So tell your kids when you’re making a list (“If you want anything from the grocery store, let me know… I’m making the shopping list!); recording something on the schedule (“Soccer practice is at 4:30? Let me write that on the calendar!”); or writing a note to someone (“What a thoughtful gift! I have to write her a note to say ‘Thanks!’”) Letting your kids know when and how you write is a little gesture that can really encourage them to write themselves, for all sorts of practical and productive reasons.

JEAN:  Can you tell us a bit about your background as an occupational therapist and how you came to value and promote children’s writing?

JENNIFER:  As an occupational therapist, it’s my job to help kids master the skills they need to be successful at all of their daily tasks. Children are referred to occupational therapy for a variety of different reasons; however, one thing that I found that almost all the children that I worked with had in common: they were reluctant writers.  Unfortunately, they struggled in school because they resisted anything having to do with writing. The good news is that when I helped my reluctant writers backtrack and work on some foundational skills, the skills that support writing (like how to hold a pencil, how to maintain a strong posture, how to use one hand as a stabilizer while the other hand works) their writing skills and their interest in writing took off! This made me very excited to spread the word about supporting children’s writing early on, before the struggle could set in, giving parents some simple know-how so they could set their kids up for writing success right from the start.

JEAN:  The Write Start contains 52 “playful” writing activities – will you share one or two of your favorites?

JENNIFER:  One of my all-time favorite activities for all ages and stages is playing “Letter Store.” We set up a storefront, using a puppet theater or cardboard boxes, and stock the store with alphabet blocks, wood letter pieces, alphabet puzzle pieces, or alphabet magnets. We also accessorize our store with a couple of empty shopping bags, a toy cash register, play money, and maybe a little bell to summon the shopkeeper. I play the customer first, and, depending on the child’s stage of development, I might ask to buy a certain letter of the alphabet, or, for older kids, the letters to make a word, or even a simple sentence. We play out the whole transaction, exchanging money, packaging it up, checking the purchase, returning any unneeded items… it’s learning disguised as fun, and I’ve never met a kid who didn’t love this game!

Another activity I absolutely love is starting kids early with a little journaling ritual. I introduced my kids to a small scribble journal as pre-writers. Now my son draws a picture in a big sketchbook every day, labeling it with a word or two. With journaling, it’s great to start super-simple, wherever your child is at, and make it a regular ritual. This way, kids get used to tucking their ideas in between the covers of a book, a habit that can be a constant companion to them throughout their whole lives.

JEAN:  What are your preferred writing tools for little kids?

JENNIFER:  Some of my favorite writing tools, in no particular order:

Easels: Easels are great for kids to use for writing and artwork. Working at a vertical surface strengthens the shoulder muscles that promote stability when children write, and promote the wrist position that supports a mature writing grasp. We have a very inexpensive IKEA easel at home that has survived use by dozens of kids at my old office as well as my two prolific painters at home, and we drag it out to the backyard every chance we get.

Play Dough: Manipulating play dough is a fun way to strengthen the muscles involved in writing. We make our own, and you can find play dough recipes everywhere (I loved your holiday one, Jean!). You can even turn play dough into a writing activity by shaping letters out of play dough “snakes” or using alphabet cookie cutters.

Scissors: Cutting with scissors helps develop the small muscles that are so important for establishing an efficient writing grasp. My favorite scissors for beginning snippers is the Total Control scissors by Fiskars, which helps little kids master the most effective scissor grasp.

Chalk and Chalkboards: I’m crazy about chalkboards, and we have them all over, in all sizes. And when I can’t find exactly the chalkboard I want, I make it using chalkboard paint (like your great chalkboard wall, Jean.). The craft store is a great place to find inexpensive little chalkboards. We use them every day, for leaving notes, making signs, labeling things… you name it!

Sand: There is no better way to practice letter formation than writing letters in sand! Sand stimulates all the tactile receptors in the fingers, sending tons of information to the brain, saying, “This is how you make an ‘A!’”

Broken Crayons: Don’t toss all of those broken crayons you have lying around! For kids who are working on mastering a mature grasp of a pencil, tiny tools, such as broken crayons, help them get comfortable with using a tripod grasp.

 

JEAN:  You go into detail about the importance of scribbling and drawing to future writing ability in your book – can you talk a bit about the role scribbling plays and why we shouldn’t undervalue it?

JENNIFER:  I’m such a champion of scribbling! Scribbling is to writing as babbling is to talking, and crawling is to walking. Scribbles are basically children’s first steps on the road to writing. While scribbling, children are building all of their important writing muscles. And they are exercising their self-expression at the same time! There’s a lot going on when kids scribble, developmentally speaking, so it is important not to rush them through this stage and to resist that urge to encourage representational drawing and symbol-writing before they are ready.

I’m also a big fan of drawing for similar reasons. Those small little writing muscles get a big workout while children are drawing. And the creative muscles get a workout too! Drawings are children’s first stories. Early drawings tell a tale that children will soon elaborate on with words. Children who love to draw will start by signing their pictures with their name, labeling their drawings with words, and, later on, by adding a narrative to their pictures, just like they see in picture books. As their skills develop, they will continue to use drawings to illustrate their stories and to help them visualize what they intend to write about. Even older children can use drawing to stir up their creative juices before writing – drawing is a great way of brainstorming an idea or mapping out a story. It can help you “see” what you want to write in your “mind’s eye.”

And to think, it all starts with those little scribbles… I love those messy masterpieces!

JEAN:  Thank you, Jennifer! What a wonderful reference you’ve written for parents and teachers! I can’t wait to try some of your activities with my own kids. And to use your ideas to update Maia’s writing desk as well!

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Giveaway:

Readers who leave a comment to this interview by Friday, January 14th at 12 midnight EST will be entered into a random drawing for one of two copies of Jennifer’s book, The Write Start: A Guide to Nurturing Writing at Every Stage, from Scribbling to Forming Letters and Writing Stories. That's right - there will be TWO winners!

The random number generator chose numbers 89 and 222:

#89 Erin

What a great interview with wonderful ideas! I'll be checking out her blog as well. Thank you for the chance to win! - ej

#222 LJ

Where can I get good, tablet-sized chalkboards? All the ones I'm finding online (amazon, Discount School Supply) have terrible reviews. Apparently the surface is not really slate or good for chalk-- more of a plastic-y material that chalk doesn't adhere to. Any specific store suggestions? Thanks so much! The book looks amazing!

Maia says...

We're operating on a two-hour delay this morning because of the icy roads here. Harry cooked us a pancake breakfast before heading off to work and while we ate I asked Maia if I could interview her for my blog.

JEAN: So, what do you like to eat for breakfast, Maia?

MAIA: Pancakes, waffles, and french toast. (giggles) I almost said french fries instead of french toast for breakfast! (more giggles)

JEAN: I heard you tell Daddy last night that you wanted to change your name. What name would you rather have?

MAIA: Rosabella. Cause it's a pretty name.

JEAN: Hmm. Yes. That is a pretty name. Okay, next question. If you could do anything in the world, what would you do?

MAIA: Do art with you.

JEAN: What kind of art do you like to make?

MAIA: Every kind! Every single kind of art!

JEAN: What's your favorite color?

MAIA: Every color! Every color in the whole world! (pause) Let's do favorite flowers now.

JEAN: Okay, what's your favorite flower, Maia?

MAIA: Every kind, because they are so beautiful and cute!

Okay, sensing a trend, I decided that was enough insight into 5-year-old Maia's world for the moment.

Kari Richmond on raising musical children

 

Kari Richmond is a mother of two and the director of Asheville Area Music Together. She is a wonderful teacher, sharing her love of music with many children (including my own two) in her Music Together classes. Please join me in learning more about encouraging children's musical selves. 

***Note: Readers will have a chance to win a child's hand drum at the end of this interview.***

JEAN:  Can you tell us a bit about your background and why you have been drawn to music and to Music Together?

KARI:  Before I was a Music Together teacher, I would have answered this question by talking about piano lessons, church choirs,  high school band, and so on.  But my Music Together journey has really reminded me of the true roots of my love of music, and to a large degree, my musical tastes and abilities.  My truly foundational musical memories include watching my parents boogie to their favorite oldies and classic rock records; creating "instruments" out of tinker toys and empty cereal boxes to form "rock bands" with my sisters; and an enthusiastically musical Children's Church teacher.  As I remember it, I was always the joyful and aggressive drummer (think Animal from the Muppets) in our make-believe rock bands, and I have vivid memories of playing the rhythm instruments during music time at church. I am a life-long devotee of the old Muppet shows and Warner Brothers cartoons, which effectively (though perhaps not intentionally) teach musical concepts through the silly antics of the characters.  Taking the Music Together Teacher Training workshop put me back in touch with really special musical memories, and teaching Music Together is the perfect outlet to be free and silly and spontaneous with music again.

JEAN:  How do you feel parent/child music classes affect the families who participate?

KARI:  Kids often wait until they get home after class to display their musical *stuff,* so parents have given us a lot of feedback to let us know what's going on outside of class.  The most basic effect that parents notice is that their child's musical experimentation increases by leaps and bounds.  More humming, more singing, more tapping and bouncing.  On the older kid end of the spectrum, one mom sent me a video of her 4-year-old daughter singing a song that she had created--music, lyrics, the whole shebang!  

My favorite stories are the ones where music has helped grow emotional bonds within families.  I've heard stories of siblings creating and playing musical games together at home, based on the activities we did during class.  The Hello Song we use in class becomes a dinner blessing ritual or a morning wake-up ritual for many kids.  A lullaby at bedtime can become an important bonding time, and these connecting moments are cherished memories for parents AND children years later.  One of my Music Together families this past fall included a newly adopted 3-year-old.  The mom told me that Music Together classtime was one of the few times where she and the child experienced positive interactions with each other during their stressful acclimation.

I know from experience with my own children that music-making helps us get through our day more joyfully. Tricky times like transitions and clean-up times are more fun and efficient when we sing our way through.  Hopefully, Music Together class inspires parents to keep music in their minds more at home, to sing and move with their kids, to notice their kids' musical behaviors for what they are--musical "babbling" and play/experimentation--and to support those musical behaviors.  

JEAN:  You’ve called music one of the languages of the world – will you talk about this concept?

KARI:  The Music Together founders refer to music-making as a birthright for every human being.  We believe that every child is musical, and this isn't just fluffy feel-good philosophy.  That statement is based on research that shows that potential musical ability is distributed on a standard bell curve across the population.  This contradicts the commonly held concept of musical Talent that is bestowed mysteriously on the "lucky few."  

Music activates our most basic emotions, stimulating hormone and other physiological changes.  Our regularly beating hearts render us individual rhythm machines.  Some experts suggest that humans were a singing species before we developed speech, and a fascinating book called "The Singing Neanderthals" discusses the possible evolutionary stages and advantages of music-making.

On a personal level, I find it incredibly exciting to trace our musical heritage and to know that I share a gut-level emotional response with folks of other cultures, whose music birthed our own modern American music genres.  Though I can't speak any African languages, I can recognize certain African rhythms and tonal cadences and can follow their evolution through blues, gospel, and modern pop music.  Our modern bluegrass music has long roots back to Celtic music, our modern classical music has been heavily influenced by middle-Eastern, Indian, and European musical traditions, and our cinematic music calls up music from any culture you can think of!  Our inheritance is not just a set of musical themes, but the moods and ideas that have been tied to the those themes for centuries.

JEAN:  I’ve often felt (and maybe this just shows my ignorance) that music isn’t as open ended as some of the other arts – that with music you can be right or wrong, which I don’t feel is the case with visual art. You can be off beat or get the notes or pitch wrong. Can you talk about the role of creativity versus skill and memorization in music?

KARI:  This is a really interesting question.  I do think that there is a right or wrong component to the majority of our musical context, but if you check out some of the post-modern music that people have written and performed in the past few decades, you might re-think where the right/wrong line can be...or even where the music/noise line can be.  There is a lot more flexibility in what's acceptable for tonal and rhythmic accuracy than most people realize.  Especially in pop music of the last hundred years or so, there's so much vocal sliding and rhythm "bending" going on that it's just become an accepted part of our musical tradition.  Some of our best-loved singing artists were/are really not that "good" in the sense of true accuracy...think Janis Joplin, Billy Joel, Nina Simone, Prince, Bob Dylan, Britney, Dave Matthews for goodness sake!  But that doesn't lessen our enjoyment of their sound!

The beauty of music is that given a decent amount of exposure, babies start to decode musical information very very early.  My 6-month-old daughter lights up when I sing to her, and she often responds with musical "babbling" behaviors, like toning on my resting tone or a related note.  The more I sing to her and bring her to classes, the broader her experience becomes, with more opportunities to advance through the upward spiral of musical understanding.

One of the catch-phrases that kept coming back in my Teacher Training workshop is "Repetition is good.  Repetition is good.  Repetition is good."  Young children thrive on repetition--they love it and learn through it--and most kids go through a stage of preferring or requesting one or two particular songs over and over until the parent thinks she will lose her mind if she has to listen to THAT SONG one more time!  This repetition helps the child decode that song over time until it is mastered--meaning the child can sing it in tune and in time.  With each new song, the the decoding process is more efficient and shorter with each new musical obsession, until the experienced music-processing child can actually predict the ending of a song she's never heard before.  Along the way, any musical understanding that is accumulated becomes the jumping-off platform for creativity.  You only have to know one note to make a chant.

One reason it's so important to get young children into musical environments and exploration is that they are not self-conscious about whether they sound "good" or "correct."  For them, making music is all about the experience itself, not the product, and learning happens naturally and efficiently through play.  That is the kind of pressure-free environment we try to establish in Music Together classes too.  We lay out the information like a buffet table, and we invite each child to sample whatever is attractive and appropriate to her.  Depending on the child's stage of development he may be more focused on trying to match what he hears, or he may be more interested in experimenting with new sounds that he can create.

Consistent exposure to rich, varied, joyful, live music-making environments (Music Together class!) supports children as they build their musical foundations; a child's personal musical experimentation games become intuitive musical understanding.  An intuitive grasp of music concepts gives the child increased opportunities for creative outlet.  

 

JEAN:  What can parents do to encourage musical exploration at home?

KARI:  Young children are highly motivated to learn to do what their parents do.  Most of us are not Grammy-award winning musicians, and most adults I know loudly bemoan their lack of musical skills. But even if you can't sing in tune or tap in rhythm, you are not off the hook for teaching your child to be a confident, joyful music-maker!  Modeling musical exploration is so so simple and so important.  Get out a shaker or a drum...or a pan and a spoon...or Tinker Toys and empty cereal boxes, and sing and bang along to "I've Been Working on the Railroad."  Sing along with your favorite CD--certainly doesn't have to be "kids' music!"--and dance around with your child.  Sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" or "You Are My Sunshine" while you're changing a diaper.  Make up short little songs or chants to describe your child's activity (i.e. Picking up your blocks, picking up your blocks, Hi ho, the derry oh, picking up your blocks to the tune of "Farmer in the Dell").  Leave familiar musical phrases unfinished to see if your child will chime in with the last note.  "Happy birthday to ____!"  Bring your child to a fun class where he or she can experience the community music-making environment.  Take your child to live musical performances as often as you can.

So many parents fear that they will somehow "mess up" their child by singing out of tune around them.  This is simply not true.  The only way to raise a child to be fearful of or inept at making music is to NOT make music with them. 

Think of how you would introduce your very young child to creating art or to any sport or to reading books. Most 2-year-olds don't have the "equipment" to read, but we don't have to wait until they do to get them excited about books, familarize  them with the reading process, and instill an early foundational *propensity* to read.  We present our little ones with attractive age-appropriate books, and we model by reading out loud.  Luckily, we don't have to be prize-winning authors to be qualified to teach our children a love of reading and basic reading skills.

JEAN:  Will you share your favorite instruments or music games for young kids?

KARI:  I'm pretty spontaneous about what my favorite game is at any given moment.  The best game is the one we're playing right now!  Because that's what's relevant.  And spontaneity and silliness often go hand in hand.  

Though everybody gets excited when the parachute or the instruments come out in class, I try to help parents understand that children can only truly learn to play instruments after they have mastered "playing" their own bodies.  I love games that reinforce the parent-child bond or that build a sense of community.  With all this in mind, we do lots patty-cake type activities, hugging, rowing, rocking, hand-holding, tickling, dancing, anything that involves loving physical interaction between parent and child.  

Peek-a-boo!  It's a universally beloved game, and it can be taken to new heights when you add music.  We do things as simple a singing "Peek-a-Boo" on the cadential notes of a song, and as involved and protracted as having a whole 4-phrase chant that is basically one long peek-a-boo game.  "Jack in the Box" is a favorite chant along those lines.

I do love the instruments too, and I have a special place in my heart for the drums.  There were never enough drums to go around when I was a kid, and I SO wanted to be the drummer!  I love the big ol' booming gathering drums!

JEAN:  Anything else you’d like to add?

KARI:  While books-on-tape are fun and useful, you wouldn't rely solely on them to teach your child to read.  Likewise, don't fall into the trap of thinking you can teach a child to be musical by relying solely on recorded music.  You may raise a skilled consumer of music this way, but probably not a confident music-maker.

Also, I want to encourage parents to keep on singing, even when you're not receiving accolades from your child.  It is typical for every child to go through a protracted "No Mama, don't sing!!" phase.  My son did this from about 2 1/2 years until 3 1/2 years.  But "How can I keep from singing?" Eventually he outgrew that phase, or maybe he just gave up!  No matter what your child says at any particular moment, your voice is the most important and beautiful one in the world to him.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to spout off about musical learning for young children! I would love to hear your readers' reactions to any of what I've said and answer questions, so fire away!

JEAN: Thank you so much, Kari!

Registration is now open for Asheville Area Music Together winter classes. If you live in the area and have small children (between 0 and 5), I highly recommend them! And if you live elsewhere, there is likely a parent-child music class somewhere near you.

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Drum Giveaway:

To be entered into a random drawing for this child’s hand drum, please leave a comment about a favorite musical experience you've shared with your child – this could be a favorite song sung together, a show you’ve attended together, a favorite musical routine… Comments left by Thursday, December 9th at 12 midnight EST will be included in the drawing.

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The random number generator picked #70 so Ann wins the drawing for the child's hand drum. Congrats Ann!

I love Music Together. We play the CDs and my boys now 7,7 and 10 still love them. Last night in the ER with my 2 year old we sang "open, shut them" together while waiting for her to get stitches in her forehead. For a Christmas present I want to give her (and me) registration to Music Together classes.

 

Jessica Flowers of Free Arts of Arizona

Jessica Flowers, mother of one, is a program manager at Free Arts of Arizona, a nonprofit organization that brings the healing powers of the creative arts to abused, neglected, and homeless children in the Phoenix, Arizona area. Join me in learning more about the amazing work that Free Arts does to help children overcome adversity.

JEAN:  What a wonderful program you have combining the therapeutic and creative potentials of art! Can you tell us more about how Free Arts uses art to help disadvantaged children?

JESSICA:  While research shows us that the arts are beneficial to the development of all children, they have a special added therapeutic bonus for youth who have experienced trauma.  The children we work with at Free Arts have all experienced things that most of us can only dream of – physical or sexual abuse, extreme neglect, and prolonged homelessness.  Because of this they often lack the ability to express themselves in a positive way.  In order to deal with the trauma they have faced, some may turn to drugs or cutting or violence to express their feelings while others may turn inward and not speak at all.  At Free Arts our goal is to connect youth with positive, caring adults and introduce these youth to the arts with the hope they will feel safe and successful in our programs and also find positive ways to cope and express their feelings.

The program that I manage is called the Weekly Mentor program.  I train volunteers who go into group homes, homeless shelters and residential treatment facilities to bring art activities to groups of youth. We work with over 110 sites and youth ranging in age from 0 -21 years old.  In the mentoring program (and really all of our programs) it is the blend of the arts and caring, positive adult role models that make the program successful.

JEAN:  Why do you feel art is an important way to reach and help these children?

JESSICA:  We have a motto here at Free Arts, “There are no mistakes in art!”  We really believe that this phrase is what makes art the perfect medium to help youth to heal.  There is a freedom that comes from truly expressing yourself creatively.  Many of the youth that we work with have not experienced success in other areas of their lives: they may struggle in school, or receive little positive reinforcement at home.  For many of our youth, Free Arts programs are the only place where they can be themselves, make “mistakes” and not be judged.

Art also gives youth the power to make choices.  For many of our kids, their lives are governed by the state (Child Protective Services).  They do not have a say in where they will live, what they will eat, how they will behave. . .  In a Free Arts program they get to choose what materials to use, how to use the materials, whether or not to share their project with the group.  This may not seem like a big deal to us but I will never forget one young man in our camp program telling me once, “It was so cool being able to choose what colors to paint my project – I’ve never done that before!”  

JEAN:  Will you share a bit about your own background and how you got involved with Free Arts?

JESSICA:  Growing up, art was my coping tool.  When I would get mad or upset I would go into my room and draw or dance for hours.  In college I majored in theater and went on to teach musical theater and dance for high schools locally and nationally.  After doing some volunteer work in the Midwest, I realized that I wanted a career that blended my art and teaching background with social service.  In a strange and kismet turn of events I ended up at Free Arts and have been here for 4 years.  It is the perfect blend of all of my skills and passions. 

JEAN:  You mentioned that you manage over 100 volunteer mentors who in turn run weekly arts programs for youth throughout the city. Can you give an example of what one of those weekly programs is like? What kinds of activities do the mentors do with the kids?

JESSICA:  First, let me say that I am so lucky to get to train and lead 100 amazing and passionate volunteers each term! Our mentors are the best and I learn from them every day.

At Free Arts we have designed a curriculum for our mentors to loosely follow.  They are all asked to adhere to the basic program structure of beginning, middle and end with the beginning being a warm up or get-to-know-you activity of some kind, the middle being the main project and the end begin some kind of discussion, reflection or sharing. 

For the middle projects we provide mentors with a Project Manual which is organized based on Bruce Tuckman’s group development theory.   So, for instance, in the beginning of their mentor term the group is doing projects that require limited media and are very simple so that youth can experience a high level of success and begin to feel comfortable doing art.  Subsequent sections of the book introduce more media and focus on things like creativity, social skills and empowerment.  The projects included in the book are all therapeutic in nature.  Some are healing simply because they are fun and process-based (finger-painting to music) and some are more intentional like creating a dream pillow. 

Additionally, mentors are asked to focus on several therapeutic elements throughout their time with the kids.  Mentors are not therapists and don’t interpret the artwork but are taught to ask discussion questions and work to help youth see the value of the arts in dealing with emotion and expressing hopes and dreams. 

JEAN:  Are you able to track the effects your arts programs have over time?

JESSICA:  Great question!  Unfortunately, due to the transient nature of our population (youth often only stay in the facilities we work with for 1-3 months) we are not able to track “long-term” effects.  We do, however, collect qualitative and quantitative data from our programs where we can see if kids have improved in certain areas like social interaction and coping skills.  The most telling information comes from the kids directly who tell us things like:

"Emily, our Free Arts Instructor is the most instructive, helpful, coping, heartful and caring person I've ever met.  We love you and you've touched our hearts. You'll be remembered . . . thank you."

“I had a blast! I had never experienced the things I did there before. Now I'm more talkative and outspoken! Thanks Free Arts!”

And “I want Madonna!”

JEAN:  Anything else you’d like to add?

JESSICA:  I wanted to tell one of my favorite stories of transformation:

Arthur was this big hulk of a teenager wearing an Insane Clown Posse tee-shirt and a black sweatshirt with the hood up.  He was pierced and tough looking with a stoic face that said “Don’t mess with me”.  He came to MAC Camp begrudgingly.  He approached the registration table with the facility staff who said to us, “This is Arthur, I dunno how he’ll do here so just call me if you want me to come pick him up.”  Arthur spent most of his first day plugged into his i-pod ignoring what was going on around him.  On the second day we learned that he was an author, with several novels in the works.  Several volunteers asked Arthur about his work and the next day he brought in samples for us all to read.  By day 3 he actually got up and danced in the Latin dance class.   On the final day of camp, I was standing in the cafeteria and Arthur came and threw his body against the glass window, melted to the ground and crawled down the hallway – he had turned into the camp clown!  At the final showcase Arthur performed his Latin dance steps to a crowd of 100 friends and staff members.  After the showcase was over his house manager came up to me with a shocked looked on her face, “that was the first time I’ve ever seen Arthur smile.”  She said in awe.  “How long has he been there?”  I asked, thinking that his answer would be just a few days, “4 months” she replied.   Arthur had been transformed in just 4 short days.  The combination of being introduced to the process of art and making connections with and being supported by so many positive adults gave Arthur the strength to be his silly, fun-loving, creative self! 

Lastly, I want to thank you Jean.   Besides being a Program Manager I am also the mom of a fabulously creative two and a half year old.  It wasn’t until I discovered The Artful Parent that I realized that I can bring my work home with me!  I have so enjoyed being inspired to do art with my son at home and through that process have rediscovered my own creativity and have so much more to share with my family and the youth and volunteers I work with everyday! 

JEAN: Thank you, Jessica! Thanks for sharing yourself and your work with us. I loved learning about how Free Arts uses the power of art to transform children's lives!

Free Arts of Arizona is a nonprofit organization and relies on the support of people like us. If you would like to contribute time or money to help them do their work, you can find more information on donating here and on volunteering here.