Dr. Anjum Majeed
For children to develop a lifelong appreciation and love for the arts, they not only must be introduced to them, but beyond that, they also must be captivated by them.
When my first child was about 4 years old, my family had the opportunity to visit the Louvre Museum, in Paris, France. The Louvre Museum houses some of the greatest works of art. Some are thousands of years old, while others are more recent.
Bewitched by the beauty of those masterpieces, I must have spent hours admiring those rare objects until we reached the room displaying one of the most famous paintings in the world. Excitedly, I picked up my daughter and said, “Shina, this is Mona Lisa.” It was as if I were introducing a longtime dear friend of mine.
My daughter, exhausted from her jet lag, and having spent nearly a whole day at the museum, could barely say, “Mom, it is nice.” Then, moments later, she politely added, “May we go back to our motel room? I am tired.”
Imagine my dismay. In my attempt to expose my daughter to life’s beauty, I neglected her basic needs of rest and sleep.
This story also shows an inherent flaw in teaching new material to children rather than teaching with them. The material may be important, and it may be interesting, but to really teach something, to make a difference in every child’s life, one child at a time, the child’s motivation is essential.
The Keys to Introducing Art to Young Children
When introducing art masterpieces to young children, we must consider at least three things.
First, we must take into account the various modalities of learning, which include auditory, visual and kinesthetic.
Second, for later recollection and appreciation of the art pieces, young children need to be actively involved in the process. For example, the physical act of movement helps later in the recall of the information.
Third, taking students’ prior knowledge into consideration helps them understand and appreciate what they are seeing and discussing. Present new knowledge in context with something familiar.
Children have a great propensity to soak in large amounts of information from their surroundings. If the child is an auditory learner, use songs and read stories related to the artist and the work.
For the visual learners, the beauty of the colors, the shape and the structure of the painting are the attractions.
For the kinesthetic learners, activities, which include touching, doing and feeling activities, will facilitate learning and form the basis of long-term retention of information.
Moving from Seeing to Experiencing
How do we develop an appreciation for the beauty surrounding us? A work of art can be an architectural structure of stone and concrete, a beautiful handcrafted piece of furniture, or a sunset painted with strong strokes and vibrant colors.
An artist creates a work of art expressing personal feelings and the ability to see differently from what may not be obvious to others. The artist may emphasize one aspect of a scene, such as the crashing waves crumbling the seemingly rigid rocks or mercilessly pounding the ship against the shore. As soon as artists emphasize one aspect of the view, they change the appearance slightly or a great deal. Art begins when the artists deviate from what may be obvious, sharing with the viewers how they feel and what they think of their subject.
The main component fostering the development of art appreciation is awareness. Awareness is referred to as the refined use of the sense and requires daily practice to perceive without prejudging. For developing awareness, individuals use their senses to gather raw data from the environment, excitedly participate in the new experiences and possess the capacity for empathy. A heightened sense of awareness enhances the capacity to process new information and see things in new relationships.
Children love to explore, investigate, poke and pry. Their natural curiosity to explore guides them to enrich their sense of awareness.
Many activities can lead to a richer sense of awareness. When we plant flower seeds, we can discuss with children the size, shape, the color and the texture of the seed. If planting in a planter, we can ask them to feel the soil. Was the soil wet or dry, warm or cold? How did the dirt smell as they let it crumble between their fingers? By active experience and questions, we are helping students develop their sense of awareness.
Another approach to enrich awareness is through empathy with the object. One becomes the object. For example, have them look at a tall tree. Have they thought about what it is like to be a tall tree? How does it feel when the wind constantly ruffles the leaves, the tree provides shade for the people from the intensity of the sun, or when the cold winter sets in and the tree may lose its leaves? How about if someone makes a home in the trunk of the tree to avoid the bitter cold of the winter?
Interacting with a Masterpiece
Works of art can open up new worlds for young students in literature, science, mathematics, music and more.
Van Gogh’s The Starry Night is one of my favorite paintings to discuss with children. Ask questions. Do you think this scene looks warm or cold? Why? How do you feel when you look at this painting? What do you see in it? Which areas show movement? If you were looking for peace and quiet, where would you find it in this picture?
Here the thick and strong strokes give a sense of movement to the sky. The sky seems to be swirling, rolling and vibrating. Ask children to identify more familiar objects, such as the moon, the steeple of the church and the houses. To leave a lasting impression, ask them to express their feelings about this picture by using ribbons and sparklers and by moving to Tchaikovsky’s 812 Overture. You also may sing a children’s classic, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
Campbell’s Soup Can, by Andy Warhol, is another masterpiece I have used. Andy was a successful commercial artist. His goal of art was to produce a powerful, shocking image. What can we do with this print? We can develop pre-math skills by asking questions, such as which can is large and which is small?
We can have several actual cans and have the students count. They can fill several empty cans with different levels of water and investigate if they sound different. They can do a science float-sink test by using an empty can and a full can.
For the future architects and engineers, they can use empty cans or toy cans to build structures, a pyramid, a skyscraper or a can manufacturing plant. Finally, the chefs of tomorrow may hone their culinary skills by pretending to cook and serve tomato soup.
Preschool children will love the opportunity to observe, experience, imitate and even write about the works of art they are experiencing. To develop the whole child, art appreciation is an integral part of a quality preschool program.
For more information, please call Ms. Vernetta Madsen, at Self Development Preschool, at (480) 396-3522.