Recently I read this great post for teachers by Deborah of Teach Preschool about a preschool craft project which looked cute but wasn’t really that much fun for the children to complete. In fact, the teacher ended up doing most of the preparation and assembly herself! Now as a teacher I can honestly say we all have those days when, for whatever reason, a project we think will be a hit is very clearly a miss. So what can we, as parents, learn from this? Well, I think we can learn to more closely examine the projects we choose to do with our own children to assess whether they are likely to work well. And to this end, here is a list of…
5 questions to ask yourself when considering an art or craft project for your child…
1. What is my motivation for choosing this project? Did I think it was cute or is this project likely to be of real interest to my child?
2. Will my child find this project fun and engaging?
3. How much of this project can my child do themselves?
4. Does this project allow my child to respond individually, to express themselves creatively? Will the result be unique to my child?
5. Is this project appropriate to the age of my child and their level of development? Is it challenging without being so far beyond their capability that they lose motivation?
If you answer the majority of these questions positively, then I believe you are much more likely to be choosing an activity which will be a hit with your child.
And next time you enter an early childhood learning space, look around and ask yourself, ‘Do the art and craft items I see displayed look like they were completed by the children? Is each one unique to each child or do they all look the same?’ Because when it comes to art and craft with young children, unique, individual and child focused are all good things to see 🙂
Is there anything else that you would add to my list?
For more about inspiring children through creativity, check out my award winning book – Time to Create: Hands On Explorations in Process Art for Young Children.
Christie Burnett is an early childhood teacher, presenter, writer and the editor of Childhood 101. More importantly, she is a Mum who believes wholeheartedly in the value of children learning through play, the importance of quality early education, and the togetherness of family.
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