Shares concepts, ideas, and resources related to teaching art to young children, PreK-2, many based on articles written by art teachers and published in SchoolArts Magazine.
2. Nancy Walkup
Editor-in-Chief of
SchoolArts Magazine
Davis Publications
www.davisart.com
nwalkup@davisart.com
nancywalkup@mac.com
www.covatar.com
Secrets of Teaching Kindergarten Art
3. “Art is not lecture. Planning an art class is not
planning for a lecture. It is planning for a magical
experience. It’s planning for an art room that will
inspire children.”
George Szekely
4. Practical Matters
• Have students practice entering and leaving the art room as long as needed.
• Have students stay in their seats unless given permission to leave them. (Helps
control chaos.)
• Keep students busy.
• Establish a consistent routine.
• Have at least 3 activities planned for each 45 minute class. (for example, a
book, a short video, and a hands-on activity)
• At the beginning of school, let students take away any artwork they did that
same day. (They won’t all know how to write their names yet and trying to
pass artwork back without names is frustrating for you and a class time
waster.)
• Have a signal for clean up time, like a timer, bell, or other noisemaker.
5. More Practical Matters
• Start with very basic skills. Many students do not have crayons, scissors, glue, or
paper at home.
• I used tiny stickers and praise for incentives, always looking for good behavior.
• Find children’s books that will engage students. Every class could start with
reading a book aloud.
• Do not start painting right away in the school year. When you do, start with just
one color at a time, then perhaps the primary colors. White paint on colored
paper is an option.
• I never used painting shirts and it never was a problem.
• Photograph work you want to keep for a digital display in a highest setting.
• Find a room arrangement that works for you. I placed my tables in a U and had
the kids sit on the outside facing me.
• Keep calm and carry on.
7. • Child-Centered Approaches
• to Early Childhood Art Education
• The Reggio-Emilia Approach:
• Emphasis on exploration, discovery, and creativity in a supportive
and enriching environment . Reggio schools have an atelier, a
combination art studio and science laboratory.
• Choice-Based Approach:
• Emphasis on student choice and self-direction in both subject
matter and media. Often utilizes centers.
• Play-Based Approach:
• Emphasis on the importance of meaningful play in artmaking.
Anything can be an art tool. Anything can be an art supply.
15. Art Books to Share with Young Children
• The Dot, Peter Reynolds (Dot Day is September 15)
• Mouse Paint, Ellen Stoll (Primary and secondary colors)
• The Delightful Mr. Seahorse, Eric Carle
• Who Will Tuck Me in Tonight? Carol Roth
• The Treehouse that Jack Built, Bonnie Verburg
• Corduroy, Don Freeman
• The Velveteen Rabbit, Margery Williams
• Not Norman, A Goldfish Story, Kelley Bennett
• Ten Little Fish, Audrey Wood
• Family Pictures, Carmen Lomas Garza
• My Name is Georgia, Jeanette Winter (Georgia O’Keeffe)
• Henry’s Scissors, Jeanette Winter (available as video)
• Yayoi Kusama: From Here to Infinity, Sarah Suzuki
• Linnea in Monet’s Garden, Christina Bjork and Lena Anderson
• Frida Kahlo and her Animalitos, Monica Brown
• Artists and Their Pets, Susie Hodge
• Keith Haring: The Boy Who Just Kept Drawing, Kay Haring
25. Express ideas found in collections such as real or virtual art museums, galleries,
portfolios, or exhibitions such as this from the Baltimore Museum of Art.
30. Art Websites for Kids
Art History Kids,
https://www.arthistorykids.com/blog/2015/8/9/cut-paper-matisse-
shapes-xs8ba
Met Kids, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/online-
features/metkids/
Families/MOMA, https://www.moma.org/visit/families
The Small Works Project by Mo Williams,
https://www.kennedy-center.org/education/mo-willems/
Tate Museum, https://www.tate.org.uk/kids/explore/who-is/who-
henri-matisse
Henri Matisse, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfvcqeH8fRA
Keith Haring, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7SnDuPX_JA
Georgia O’Keeffe,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORFPKuPkbV8
Carmen Lomas Garza,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqY99gWRVgo&app=desktop
31. You can download this presentation
and others at
http://www.slideshare.net/nwalkup
nwalkup@davisart.com
nancywalkup@mac.com
www.davisart.com
Notas do Editor
Kindergarten teachers lent me their huge store of blocks to use in my room. Students built structures and then drew them.
Just published in 2020, all written by art teachers from articles published in SchoolArts Magazine, now available at www.davisart.com
Each of these lessons correlates with a children’s book.
Any book by Jeanette Winters is wonderful to share with children.
A chapter in the SchoolArts Collection: Early Childhood.
Exploring color and symmetry.
A chapter from the SA Collection: Early Childhood.
www.davisart.com
A great source of short videos for young children, available for purchase on Amazon.