What strategies will you use to encourage each child to participate in a variety of experiences?

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Children Who Avoid the Art Area
Children Who Refuse to Try
Children Who Do Not Like the Sensation of Messy or Sticky Hands
Children Who are Fearful of Getting Messy

Art is a favorite activity for most children in child care. However, a few children may be little hesitant to join in the fun. Some children don’t like the mess and don’t want to get dirty. Others may watch from the sidelines or avoid art altogether. Observing children closely will help you understand their reluctance to explore and experiment with art. The following ideas may be helpful as you work with children.

Children Who Avoid the Art Area

If given the choice, some children would rather play in the block corner or housekeeping area all day. Although children should be allowed to make some decisions about where they will play, every child should have experience with a variety of different activities.

Offer an art activity that includes something the child really enjoys. If you have a child who loves cars but doesn’t touch creative art, plan a “Roll A Line Design” art activity. Use small toy cars to dip in paint and roll across paper to make a design. Say, “Jimmy, I have a special surprise in the art center today. I want you to try this new activity. Wait until you see what we get to do!” Starting with something familiar often encourages art avoiders to join in.
Rotate small groups children through different learning centers or activities. For example, say, “Everyone wearing blue gets to go to the art activity. If you aren’t wearing blue, you get to go outside to play. After 15 minutes, we will switch and everyone wearing blue will go outside while the others have a turn at art.” If Rosa still refuses, say, “Rosa, today I want you to try at least one art activity.” Guide Rosa to the art area and help her explore several options.

Children Who Refuse to Try

Sometimes children will stand close by and watch, but will not try the creative art activity. You may need to find ways to help them take that first step.

Model and give step-by-step instructions. Gently encourage the child to give it a try. Stay by the child’s side and say, “Anna, I saved a special place for you. If you would like, I’ll stay with you and get you started. I’ll dip the brush in the glue and put a drip of glue on this paper. Now you choose a piece of Styrofoam to drop on top of the glue. Now you take over. I know you can finish on your own.”
Provide some alone time. Some children just need a chance to try some things on their own. Find a way to allow the child some space and time to quietly explore their own creativity.
Pair up the child with a buddy. Some children are more comfortable exploring with a friend. Two children can mix paint colors together, draw outlines of each others hands, or make paper bag puppets.

Children Who Do Not Like the Sensation of Messy or Sticky Hands

Some children are extremely sensitive to touch and the way things “feel” against their skin. Some children may throw temper fits if pushed to do something that doesn’t “feel right”.

Provide a variety of materials for each activity.Children who may not feel comfortable finger painting, may be just fine painting with a brush. Some children find play dough great fun, others would rather draw and cut with scissors.
Recognize that different senses affect children in different ways. Some children react negatively to strong smells. Other children are sensitive to sounds or touch. Be flexible, provide options and never force a child to do an activity they aren’t comfortable with.

Children Who are Fearful of Getting Messy

Some children may come from homes where they are discouraged from getting dirty. They may have been punished for soiling their clothes, playing with their food, or walking in mud puddles. Ocassionaly children come to school dressed in their best outfits with a warning to stay clean. Families with limited ability to wash, clean or purchase clothes are often greatly dismayed to find their child has accidently soiled clothes with yellow paint.

Educate parents about the importance of play and trying out new activities. Encourage parents to send their children appropriately dressed for dirty and messy work. Be sure to explain the importance of art, while also expressing your understanding of their viewpoint (i.e. some parents feel that their child’s appearance is a direct reflection on their parenting skills).
Have a ready supply of smocks or aprons available. Make putting on a smock to protect clothing the first step in any messy art activity. You can also ask parents to bring an old sweatshirt to school. Cut off the sleeves so that they are the right length, and have the child put on this sweatshirt before beginning artwork. Reassure children that they will not get in trouble for getting messy. You might say, “Katie, your parents know that we paint at school and want you to enjoy it.” Help children who spill get cleaned up before pick-up time.
Try having art activities available outside on swimsuit days. Children can enjoy the art activity and then run through the sprinklers to get clean before putting their clothes back on.

For More Information

To learn more about children’s art, and ways to include art in the early childhood curriculum, check out the section on Art in Child Care, or take a look at following eXtension Alliance for Better Child Care articles.

Photo by laffy4k / CC BY http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

A sense of security and sound wellbeing gives children the confidence to experiment and explore and to try out new ideas, thus developing their competence and becoming active and involved participants in learning.

Children are more likely to be confident and involved learners when their family and community experiences and understandings are recognised and included in the early childhood setting. This assists them to make connections and to make sense of new experiences.

Children use processes such as exploration, collaboration and problem solving across all aspects of curriculum. Developing dispositions such as curiosity, persistence and creativity enables children to participate in and gain from learning. Effective learners are also able to transfer and adapt what they have learned from one context to another and to locate and use resources for learning.

In a supportive active learning environment, children who are confident and involved learners are increasingly able to take responsibility for their own learning, personal regulation and contribution to the social environment. Connections and continuity between learning experiences in different settings make learning more meaningful and increase children’s feelings of belonging.

Children develop understandings of themselves and their world through active, hands-on investigation. A supportive active learning environment encourages children’s engagement in learning which can be recognised as deep concentration and complete focus on what captures their interests. Children bring their being to their learning. They have many ways of seeing the world, different processes of learning and their own preferred learning styles.

Active involvement in learning builds children’s understandings of concepts and the creative thinking and inquiry processes that are necessary for lifelong learning. They can challenge and extend their own thinking, and that of others, and create new knowledge in collaborative interactions and negotiations. Children’s active involvement changes what they know, can do, value and transforms their learning. Educators’ knowledge of individual children is crucial to providing an environment and experiences that will optimise children’s learning.

This is evident, for example, when children:

express wonder and interest in their environments are curious and enthusiastic participants in their learning use play to investigate, imagine and explore ideas follow and extend their own interests with enthusiasm, energy and concentration initiate and contribute to play experiences emerging from their own ideas participate in a variety of rich and meaningful inquiry-based experiences persevere and experience the satisfaction of achievement persist even when they find a task difficult

Educators promote this learning, for example, when they:

recognise and value children’s involvement in learning provide learning environments that are fl exible and open-ended respond to children’s displays of learning dispositions by commenting on them and providing encouragement and additional ideas encourage children to engage in both individual and collaborative explorative learning processes listen carefully to children’s ideas and discuss with them how these ideas might be developed provide opportunities for children to revisit their ideas and extend their thinking model inquiry processes, including wonder, curiosity and imagination, try new ideas and take on challenges refl ect with children on what and how they have learned build on the knowledge, languages and understandings that children bring to their early childhood setting explore the diversity of cultures and social identities promote in children a strong sense of who they are and their connectedness to others – a shared identity as Australians

This is evident, for example, when children:

apply a wide variety of thinking strategies to engage with situations and solve problems, and adapt these strategies to new situations create and use representation to organise, record and communicate mathematical ideas and concepts make predictions and generalisations about their daily activities, aspects of the natural world and environments, using patterns they generate or identify and communicate these using mathematical language and symbols explore their environment manipulate objects and experiment with cause and effect, trial and error, and motion contribute constructively to mathematical discussions and arguments use refl ective thinking to consider why things happen and what can be learnt from these experiences

Educators promote this learning, for example, when they:

plan learning environments with appropriate levels of challenge where children are encouraged to explore, experiment and take appropriate risks in their learning recognise mathematical understandings that children bring to learning and build on these in ways that are relevant to each child provide babies and toddlers with resources that offer challenge, intrigue and surprise, support their investigations and share their enjoyment provide experiences that encourage children to investigate and solve problems encourage children to use language to describe and explain their ideas provide opportunities for involvement in experiences that support the investigation of ideas, complex concepts and thinking, reasoning and hypothesising encourage children to make their ideas and theories visible to others model mathematical and scientifi c language and language associated with the arts join in children’s play and model reasoning, predicting and reflecting processes and language intentionally scaffold children’s understandings listen carefully to children’s attempts to hypothesise and expand on their thinking through conversation and questioning

This is evident, for example, when children:

engage with and co-construct learning develop an ability to mirror, repeat and practice the actions of others, either immediately or later make connections between experiences, concepts and processes use the processes of play, refl ection and investigation to solve problems apply generalisations from one situation to another try out strategies that were effective to solve problems in one situation in a new context transfer knowledge from one setting to another

Educators promote this learning, for example, when they:

value signs of children applying their learning in new ways and talk about this with them in ways that grow their understanding support children to construct multiple solutions to problems and use different ways of thinking draw children’s attention to patterns and relationships in the environment and in their learning plan for time and space where children can refl ect on their learning and to see similarities and connections between existing and new learning share and transfer knowledge about children’s learning from one setting to another, by exchanging information with families and with professionals in other settings encourage children to discuss their ideas and understandings understand that competence is not tied to any particular language, dialect or culture

This is evident, for example, when children:

engage in learning relationships use their senses to explore natural and built environments experience the benefi ts and pleasures of shared learning exploration explore the purpose and function of a range of tools, media, sounds and graphics manipulate resources to investigate, take apart, assemble, invent and construct experiment with different technologies use information and communication technologies (ICT) to investigate and problem solve explore ideas and theories using imagination, creativity and play use feedback from themselves and others to revise and build on an idea

Educators promote this learning, for example, when they:

provide opportunities and support for children to engage in meaningful learning relationships provide sensory and exploratory experiences with natural and processed materials provide experiences that involve children in the broader community and environment beyond the early childhood setting think carefully about how children are grouped for play, considering possibilities for peer scaffolding introduce appropriate tools, technologies and media and provide the skills, knowledge and techniques to enhance children’s learning provide opportunities for children to both construct and take apart materials as a strategy for learning develop their own confi dence with technologies available to children in the setting provide resources that encourage children to represent their thinking