You know, there are just days that are pure gift! I love the day I get to talk to local 3rd graders about art. They're blank canvases, pure sponges, white pages--ready for splashes of color to be poured onto. It's so fun to look out and find all these eager little faces looking up to you. Some of them already don't believe in dreams, but most of them still believe. And all they need is someone to say, "YOU CAN!"
They are all so well-behaved, sitting Indian style in their neat little rows. Takes a minute to get them loosened up and talking, but it happens. I know teachers have to have order in their rooms, but man o man, I love to let them have a little time of "dis-order"! Not much, but enough to get the wheel turning and the minds exploring...
We took it a step further this year, and they got to put a little paint on the paper. I only have 45 minutes and about 60 kids, so by the time we get this far, we're already running out of time, and there is always someone who decides at the last minute that they really want to try it. Just a mark--their name is safe, simple shapes, but very bright colors! They like the brightest colors. They smiled, laughed, and giggled when I squirted water so we could watch the colors run.
We hve a fabric show up at the Gallery, something very different. I think the kids were impressed, especially with the story dolls.
It was so fun to watch the smiles creep onto the kids faces as they actually made their mark. Didn't have to be grand--even a simple mark says, "I'm here, and I can do it!"
Future artists! I showed them an acorn today and told them it wasn't an acorn at all--it was an oak tree...these are oak trees! Unlimited potential! I hope they took a little of that thought home with them. And thanks to Tina for helping today...out of all the pictures we took, no Tina! :( RATS! But she was there!
You know, there are just days that are pure gift! I love the day I get to talk to local 3rd graders about art. They're blank canvases, pure sponges, white pages--ready for splashes of color to be poured onto. It's so fun to look out and find all these eager little faces looking up to you. Some of them already don't believe in dreams, but most of them still believe. And all they need is someone to say, "YOU CAN!"
They are all so well-behaved, sitting Indian style in their neat little rows. Takes a minute to get them loosened up and talking, but it happens. I know teachers have to have order in their rooms, but man o man, I love to let them have a little time of "dis-order"! Not much, but enough to get the wheel turning and the minds exploring...
We took it a step further this year, and they got to put a little paint on the paper. I only have 45 minutes and about 60 kids, so by the time we get this far, we're already running out of time, and there is always someone who decides at the last minute that they really want to try it. Just a mark--their name is safe, simple shapes, but very bright colors! They like the brightest colors. They smiled, laughed, and giggled when I squirted water so we could watch the colors run.
We hve a fabric show up at the Gallery, something very different. I think the kids were impressed, especially with the story dolls.
It was so fun to watch the smiles creep onto the kids faces as they actually made their mark. Didn't have to be grand--even a simple mark says, "I'm here, and I can do it!"
Future artists! I showed them an acorn today and told them it wasn't an acorn at all--it was an oak tree...these are oak trees! Unlimited potential! I hope they took a little of that thought home with them. And thanks to Tina for helping today...out of all the pictures we took, no Tina! :( RATS! But she was there!
3 comments:
How fun! I am glad you were able to share your enthusiams with them and us!! :-)
Susan
That does look like fun. It looks like the kids got to do some hands on stuff. Was that fun? Any genius spotted?
They didn't get to do too much hands on--but seeing as how they've never been able to do any hands on, to them it was great. There's simply not enough time. You have two sets of 50-60 kids for about 40-45 minutes to talk about art. But I did see a lot of enthusiasm and a whole lot of smiles! :)
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