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Art in preschool is all about the process, not the finished product, though, the finished product is pretty cool too. Process art is all about giving your children materials to use, sometimes an inspiration photo, and letting them work their magic. Our topic this month with our Experience Preschool curriculum is Space and Sky. This is one of my favorite units. We get to explore all things space and there is a lot of fun art involved with this theme.
There are several reasons why Process Art is important in preschool, here are just a few. Process Art is important for preschoolers because:
They are working on controlling their fine motor skills.
They are working on their problem-solving skills.
They get to use their creativity.
Process Art reinforces skills like focusing.
They are working on language and literacy skills by dictating.
They get to express themselves through art.
This week our focus is on Space from Earth. We started off our new unit by learning about stars. I planned a Galaxy Process Art activity for them to do to go along with our activities from Experience Early Learning. I used acrylic paint because this shows up better then washable paint on black construction paper. I gave them pink (we mixed red and white) and blue paint, a Q-Tip for each color, and glitter. I told them we were making a galaxy and they decided how they were going to do that. The acrylic paint dries pretty fast, and we needed wet paint for the glitter to stick.
For some, the process went like this:
Dip the Q-Tip in the paint, then swirl it on your paper.
Add glitter.
Add more paint.
Add more glitter.
For others, it went like this:
Paint first.
Glitter to finish.
It is fun to watch their thought process during art. Their galaxies turned out really neat.
In our preschool curriculum this month from Experience Early Learning we received star counters. We practiced tracing these stars to make our own constellations.
We've also learned about the sun this week. We used paper plates, orange, red and yellow paint, a sponge, and gold glitter to create our own sun during art. This was another fun process. We used today's topic as an opportunity to talk about how we can keep our eyes and skin safe in the sun.
We also celebrated Read Across America Day. We wore pajamas and read a lot of good books! Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!
So far we are just two days in to our Space and Sky Experience Preschool curriculum and the children are really enjoying it. We have new space themed puzzles, toys and books out on our shelves and this is going to be a fun month of learning!
