Shapes and Colors

When a toddler recognizes something, it is a pleasure to see it in their faces.
Like a girl who for the first time covers her hands with paint, looking at her hands in a new way, or a child who comes to realize that he can create something from nothing. Or an adult who can find the inner child, and let go of fears and try something different, new. It is why I love teaching.

We have started our playground dates with two different groups, Wednesday group and Friday group.

Our Wednesday group is made of 5~6 toddlers around the age of 2 (couple months younger or older).
Toddlers have an energy that seems like never ending, and when they are introduced to new materials you can see the energy transformation from the materials to the art work. The most important thing for a toddler is recognizing things with their senses. So when I see a toddler trying to taste what has been given to him I am not surprised:). But at the same time I look for motor skills and how advanced they are.
You can also see this energy on their paper when they draw/paint a non-stopping line that covers the paper, until they start noticing that they can stop and start again. When you look at a toddler's doodles you can notice these energy displayed through it. They force the limits of their body, energy, and also the limits of the material. They continue creating with instincts until they get tired or they loose interest. (20 minutes max)
Having these in mind I decided to introduce them with paint, more specifically finger paint. Only primary colors red, blue, and yellow. We first read books and look at images, try to recognize shapes and colors.

Our Friday group is a little bit older, ages varies between 2 to 5. Which is harder to plan a lesson since the developmental stages differ a lot. Trying to address each students developmental needs, I plan the lessons in 3 different parts. Have a part that get toddlers interested in the project, have a connection to their personal lives and the part of art making.

Since Halloween is just around the corner, I decided to have a mask-collage lesson. With different shapes, colors, and materials I am very curious to see the final masks...

A playground for toddlers, young adults, or even adults who wish to bring back their imagination

Playground is a place where we build our imaginary friendships, where we create a world that is ours, made from our thoughts and imagination. As we grow older, and as we are introduced to the responsibilities of this life we fade away from our imagination. Even the education system teaches us to think realistic but not how to connect it with our imagination, therefor we forget, or we bury those ideas at the deepest hollows.

I believe in an education where students are taught how to keep their imagination, creativity alive and learn how to connect them with their other subject areas. A mathematical question for example; is a problem and it has more then one solution. Having an open mind to diversity would help a student to come up with these multiple solutions.

I also believe that creativity is another language that helps us expressing our selves. It is a tool that with enough experience would let us use it for many more.

What I would like to achieve is for young students to keep that connection between creativity, imagination, and reality alive and for those who might have lost it to bring it back through manipulation of different materials and subject matter that are relevant to their personal lives.

Hope you have a place that you can get in touch with your inner child and find a way to bring that imagination back to your daily lives. If not maybe I can help you...