Stretch, Explore... Play!

The importance of play can't be stressed enough when it comes to learning in school.  I really like the idea of children and older students learning when they are having fun.  In the art room, the possibilities are endless for learning through exploration and play.  Not only do students learn new techniques and explore creative ideas, they are also building foundational social skills and problem solving skills through play.

The reading assignment from the Studio Thinking text discussed the activity of "sketching" in clay.  I love this idea.  It is often difficult for students to visualize ideas and plan three-dimensional projects when they have had limited experience with the media.  Allowing them to play with the new materials during a free exploration time gives the students time to learn and to "think with their hands".  In the TED videos, Stuart Brown states, "If the purpose is more important than the act of doing it, then it probably isn't play".  I  like to let my students spend some time working with various media when we create collages and multimedia projects.  I will set up centers with a variety of materials or techniques to try out at each center. I usually do not tell them what the samples they make will be used for later.  The idea is to create a variety of work - trying out techniques such as stamping, watercolor resist, watercolor crayon... etc.  The pieces will eventually be cut up and used for a project.  I don't think I allow for enough opportunities for students to freely explore and engage in "process" oriented work rather than "project" focused lessons.

The readings and videos also touched on the fact that students will need guidance to be able to transition in and out of play.  This is a skill that will be beneficial to students across the curriculum and in daily life - being able to move between the generative and explorative mode of play and then regroup to produce creations or converge ideas.

Go for quantity:  Make art!  Expand ... stretch... unless we are actually "doing, the idea will not get anywhere.  This is the area that I could use the most improvement in.  Many of the readings and the books we discussed during our forum touched on the importance of moving out of our comfort zone.  This is essentially what "stretching" is all about.  I can't wait to spend a little time stepping out of my comfort zone and going for quantity - a necessary action to get back in the habit of making art.