Saturday 22 December 2012

Art as a Teaching Resource for Children under 5

What is art for children?

Art and the real objects in nature and surroundings remain the only teaching resources and a great attraction for children until they learn how to read and write.  

Art develops children's visualization and helps them understand the pre-school concepts and skills.  It is the best source that helps children imagine the places they have not visited and things they have not seen, such as geographical features in different areas, foreign countries, different nations around the world, their life style and their festivals, wild animals and frozen lands.

How does art help Pre-school teachers?

Art is a means of communication between teachers and preschoolers and a tool for building language.  That is why pre-school teachers must be proficient in art skills.  They must know how to present art before children and how to assist them in doing art projects.  They should know how to prepare the boards and the environment for children with displays relevant to themes and plannings.  Just one picture can teach a lot to a child; name, colour, shape, size, position, number, reference, difference or similarity, usage, etc.


The above link is a worth reading article regarding art skills and how important they are for children.

How should art be presented before pre-school children?

In pre-school, art is presented to children on soft-boards, on worksheets or through art activities.  

Soft-boards: 
Pictures on soft-boards seem silent though, they tell stories to preschoolers.  Whatever they percept there creates a long-lasting impression on their minds.  Thus, the objects on the board must be proportionate in size, be placed at right positions, must be clear in view and must be presenting a colour scheme. 

Worksheet:
Worksheets serve as a tool for pre-writing skills.  Pictures on worksheets must not be too large or too small for children to colour.   Similarly, there shouldn't be too small and too many objects for children to count.  
For preschoolers, Math worksheets are best from zero to twelve for teaching counting, counting by two and three, concept of adding more and taken away, concept of odd/even, foot and inches, sides and vertices of shape and even pictorial word problems.     
The instructions should be conveyed clearly and in repetition about what to do on the worksheet. 

Art Activities:
Before starting the activity, children must be told which supplies they are going to use and what steps they have to follow.   

If it is a comparing or matching card activity that teachers have prepared, make sure the cards are measured correctly and are cut in proper shape. 

Children must be guided properly, step by step when doing gluing and pasting activities.  They should be told how many pieces of what colour in what pattern or design they have to paste.  

  










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