Comments on: Stop Making Cute Crafts with Young Children

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 21 May 2016 19:17:59 +0000

Sometimes the arts and crafts are cute little projects that go great with the lesson plan so the teacher uses the idea. No matter how often we explain to parents about children\’s art they still want to see a \’finished project\’ that is explainable with their adult eye.
In the past I have had to remind volunteers/Foster Grandparents not to fix the child\’s art and to just \’leave it alone\’.

By: candy connors

candy connors — Sat, 21 May 2016 16:55:33 +0000

In reply to Anonymous. I agree that we should have a conversation with the child about their project. What a great why to incorporate all kinds of learning. A great way to get kids to open their minds and to let yo into their thinking. I actually never thought of that before but it opened a whole other avenue to push the kids in their creativity.

By: Jen

Jen — Thu, 19 May 2016 12:37:43 +0000

In reply to Anonymous. Yep. It is hard for me to get inside of the adult who wants children\'s work to look different than it should. Probing questions about the content, color, and thinking behind the project are much more meaningful and also communicate to the children that you are actually paying attention and not simply walking by saying meaningless sentences.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 19 May 2016 11:42:16 +0000

100% agree and I tell it to the parents of my students all the time. There is also a way in which you should comment on children\’s art that isn\’t all about praise. Ask probing and clarifying questions, get the children to talk about their creativity and process, and leave room for them to continue working on their project. When you exclaim, \”I Love it. It\’s beautiful. Can I have it and hang it on the fridge?\”, it usually ends the conversation and a potential work in progress.