#8-Art Word of the Week: Fluency

This week's art word is fluency.  When I think of the word fluency, a sense of flowing or progression comes to mind.  According to Shirrmacher and Fox, fluency refers to "thinking that generates many ideas and solutions" (p.365).  Once I had created my imaginative person using objects around my house, my thoughts took on a sense of fluency that allowed me to come up with the likes and interests of the lovely Daisy Darling.

The Basics

Name: Daisy Darling
Age: 19
Born: in the city of Gardenia
Resides: in her parent's house called The Castle of Seeds
Occupation: Florist in training
Language spoken: English
Favourite food: florentine omelet





Daisy loves relaxing in the big armchair in her house.  Ever since her parents decided to get new furniture, she basically took it over as her own.  After a long hard day of work at her parent's florist shop, she loves to just plop down in the armchair and let all her worries slip away.

One of Daisy's FAVOURITE things to do is watch the Toronto Blue Jays play. She's been a proud supporter ever since she was a little girl, and still loves to go to games when she has the chance to go downtown.  Even though her hometown of Gardenia is far Daisy loves taking her two little cousins down there, since they get SO excited whenever the Jays score a run.  As for other sports, Daisy could not be less interested, especially when it comes to football and basketball!


Like any flowery girl, Daisy loves accessories. Bracelets, rings, earrings, you name it, Daisy has got it.  If Daisy wasn't going to be a florist, she'd probably be a make up artist, since she loves getting all dolled up...even if she's only going grocery shopping!

Daisy's number one desire in life is to travel the world.  She would love to spend her days relaxing on a beach and seeing the beautiful wonders the world has to offer.  Her travel list is long, including places such as Greece, Italy, Costa Rica and Fiji.  Her dream is to open up her own flower shop one day and visit different countries to get inspiration from the flowers there that are not grown in her hometown.

Once the day is done, Daisy loves to fall into bed and catch up on her reading.  Once she has had enough, she rests her tired eyes and slips away into dreamland.

EDUCATORS
The story of Daisy Darling is of course, completely fictional.  When creating Daisy out of different objects and then conjuring up her interests and likes, I realized that I was experiencing a sense of fluency that led my thinking to all of these different ideas.  Physically creating a "person" out of a variety of items and giving it a personality is a great imaginative activity for children.  There are endless opportunities for them to let their creativity shine by using materials in new and unique ways.  As an educator, providing activities that allow children to bring inanimate objects to life and create stories to go along with it are a perfect opportunity for children to be as expressive as they can.

Schirrmacher, R., & Fox, J.E. (2009). Art and creative development for young children (6^th Ed.).
         Belmont, CA: Delmar.

#7-Art Word of the Week: Colour

This week’s art word is COLOUR! How fabulously exciting the world of colour is. Whether you are thinking about your favourite colour shirt, your favourite colour nail polish, or the colour of your car, the word is simply inescapable.  We define so many things by colour and categorize items according to their shade, hue or contrast.  Shirrmacher and Fox (2009) define colour as “the visual sensation of light caused by stimulating the cones of the retina” (p. 364). 

(I did this on paint!)

The first category of food that came to my mind was fruit.  I mean I can’t say healthy foods are my absolute favourite (I love candy, chocolate, fatty foods).  However by selecting fruit as my category of interest, I was able to conjure up so many different types, shapes and colours.  Fruits are often extremely bright and vibrant, which is probably what attracts me to eating them, besides being sweet of course.

Red: strawberry, cherry, raspberry, red delicious apple, cranberry

Orange: cantaloupe, orange, mango, tangerine, clementine, peach, nectarine, tangelo

Yellow: lemon, banana, pineapple

Green: honeydew, lime, kiwi (though the outside is brown), Granny Smith apples

Blue: blueberries

Pink: watermelon, grapefruit (could also be red), guava (the inside), dragonfruit

After categorizing these different fruits by colour, I realized that so many of them could fall into multiple categories.  Watermelons and guavas for example are green on the outside but pink on the inside.  The various types of apples have different colour skin, but all generally have a pale colour inside.  Kiwi is a great example of falling into different categories, since its skin is an ugly brown colour, but its flesh is a beautiful green.  I know that many vegetables are actually fruit and the official categories for fruits are pretty specific.  However I like to categorize fruit using colour because I believe that a part of eating is with our visual sense. My absolute favourite fruit are raspberries, which is why I chose to sketch them, along with a strawberries, blueberries and blackberries.

EDUCATORS
Utilizing fruit is a great way for children to learn fundamental categorizing skills. Being able to distinguish their different colours will allow for children to gain an understanding of grouping objects together.  Whether it is a trip to the grocery store, as I went on during the summer at my daycare job, or snacks in the classroom, exploration of various fruits is a fun way for children to experience different types of fruits, shapes, and of course, COLOUR!

Schirrmacher, R., & Fox, J.E. (2009). Art and creative development for young children 
       (6^th Ed.). Belmont, CA: Delmar

#6-Art Word of the Week: Texture

"SCULPTING WITH SCISSORS"

Playing with playdough is probably one of the most fun things to do in an early childhood classroom.  The squishy feel, the often bright colours, and variety of tools to use present endless opportunities for children (and adults!) to create and sculpt imaginative things.  This week’s art word is texture, which according to Shirrmacher and Fox (2009) is ”the surface quality of a work of art” (p. 144).  Playdough has that soft, smooth feeling that is so pleasing to squish between your hands.  It can also become gritty, when salt or sand is added to it, which dramatically changes the texture. 

Sculpting is an art form that requires a lot of dexterity and attention to detail.  It is amazing what someone can make out of a lump of marble, soap or clay.  They can turn it into a masterpiece that is just simply astonishing.  Children are capable of creating so many different and unique pieces of art that are often expressions of what they are thinking or feeling.  Honigman and Bhavnagri (1998) outlined the amount of discovery that was occurring during the children’s own exhibition of “Painting with Scissors”, and how significant it is to their broadening their thinking.  The point brought up here demonstrates how important art activities are to children’s overall development.

Art Activity: Sculpt Yourself!

Step 1: Use playdough or modeling clay, whichever you prefer.  I like playdough because it is softer and generally easy for young children to manipulate

Step 2: Using whatever tools you like (your hands are the best!), sculpt the way you see yourself.  You can sculpt just your face or your entire body!  This will be an interesting challenge for children, since they are still developing their self-concept.  Adults would also benefit from this, since their view of themselves could differ from the way other people view them.

Step 3: Add decorations! Use string for hair, sequins for eyes etc. Add playdough/clay arms, legs, be creative! Do not limit anyone by strictly outlining what to use and what not to use.  Encourage children, and even adults to sculpt other things related to their life.

Step 4: Encourage the children, and even adults to use their self-created sculptures to act out imaginative scenes, such as going to the movies or gardening outside.  The possibilities are endless! 

EDUCATORS
This is a great sensory activity for children and adults alike.  Not only will they have the chance to squish playdough/clay between their fingers, they will also be able to see themselves in a new view.  Acting out imaginative scenes will add to the process of discovering new things about themselves.  As an educator, having sensory materials such as playdough or clay allows for creative manipulation by then artistic hands of children.

Honigman, J. J., & Bhavnagri, N. P. (1998). Painting with scissors: Art education beyond production. Childhood Education, 74(4), 205-212.)

Schirrmacher, R., & Fox, J.E. (2009). Art and creative development for young children (6^th Ed.).  

               Belmont, CA: Delmar.