Guest post by Creative Arts Lead, Tyler Swain
Some of you may have noticed the bustling, “jam-packed-with-materials” space that has become our Creative Arts Center over the last few months. On any given day you may walk in and run into a cardboard robot, or paint being shot out of a squirt gun, or being flung with flyswatters, while piles of materials like cups and lids, old magazines and yarn are sitting on tables with scissors, glue and tape of a multitude of colors. You may be asking, what is going on in here?!? The simple answer is FUN and IMAGINATION, through art. What appears to be a crazy mess is a purposeful approach to open-ended art, and I assure you, it is powerful stuff.
Hi, I’m Tyler and in May of this year I took the position of Creative Arts Center Lead (possibly the coolest job in the world). With my extreme focus and passion for open-ended art, this area of the museum is a perfect place for me to help inspire the children who come to visit.
The term “open-ended art” may be new to you. The simplest explanation for open-ended art is that it is a process focused experience, as opposed to a product focused experience. Our approach at the children’s museum is not about the end result of what we are going to make or do, but rather how we are going to get there. The journey. There are no directions, no expectations- short of having a good time and getting creative juices flowing in our young guests.
Research shows that children who frequently participate in open-ended art activities do better in both reading and math in school, and focus better while learning or being introduced to new topics. Allowing children to choose their own art materials and method empowers them, creating a stronger sense of self and exploration while promoting a myriad of other skills such as critical thinking and problem solving. That’s exactly what we aim to do every day in the Creative Arts Center.
When you visit, I invite you to go on a journey into your child’s imagination, it’s a powerful and astonishing thing, and you never know where it will take you. Children, from a very early age, are in touch with an awe inspiring sense of symbolism and creativity; sadly most begin to lose this around the ages of seven or eight. It is our aim to foster and nurture this creativity, and the best way to do this with young children is through open-ended art experiences, not by telling them what to do and how to do it, but by giving them an environment where they are free to just create.
You can support this exploration on your visits and all the time by asking open-ended questions in regards to children’s art. For example :
“Can you tell me about what you are working on?”
“What did you like most about making this?”
“What do you like about your art?”
“How does this picture/drawing/painting, ect. make you feel?”
Open-ended questions, such as these, allow children to evaluate their own creativity while initiating a conversation. You should try not to assume anything about a child’s artwork during these conversations; try not to guess what that gooey glob of paint or scribble may be because it may be just that, a scribble or glob of paint. It is important to listen to your child in regards to their art, and accept their evaluations of their work, not to make evaluations of your own. Some art projects may just be an exploration to a child, and as such are disposable to them. It is not necessary to hang on to everything they create, but it’s great to highlight and display the works they feel more passionate about. This best way to discover which projects these are is through conversation.
By promoting spontaneous, open-ended art explorations children can do on their own you will help your child build the skills for a successful future. An easy way to do this is by providing and stocking an easily accessible art box at home for your child to use for this purpose.
For more information on the Open-Ended Art Process, and some great ideas for creating an art box for home, I encourage everyone to read Open-Ended Art Experiences by Kathy Abraham, this short 28 page pamphlet provides an amazing introduction to Open-Ended Art, as well as a plethora of suggestions for activities and materials to explore with your children. A PDF of the complete text can be found here: http://123child.com/website-share/Open_ended_art.pdf
For more information in regards to the developmental stages of children and art, I highly recommend Young in Art, a developmental look at child art by Craig Roland. It is yet another quick read focused more on the research side of children and art. A PDF of the text can be found here: http://www.artjunction.org/young_in_art.pdf
I look forward to seeing you and your family in the Creative Arts Center soon and watching your child take the lead in this amazing process of open-ended art.