Getting crafty at home

The importance of pairing art and hands-on crafts to a academic lesson for young children can not be overstated. As my quote by Benjamin Franklin suggested, “involve me and I learn” illustrates how humans learn from experience. Experiences that incorporate different materials to manipulate, along with the associated theme of learning content - unites both academic and artistic learning - that bring joy and fun to the lesson, and fosters the enjoyment of learning with confidence.

What materials should I use? I like to use water colors and water color paper, acrylic paint, different coloring tools, dough of different textures to manipulate, hard objects to bend, twist, and glue, different textured papers (paper plates)….and always prepare the unexpected. If you are learning about flowers, you can use a coloring template of flowers and print on water color paper, or, introduce different flowers with the materials for the project, and provide an open independent artwork.

It’s important to be organized with your lesson and materials. Do research prior to the introduction. Pinterest and youtube video’s are a great source of inspiration, along with a simply google search. And most important, model the fun by having fun.