24: The Artists' Journey

Art isn't a result; it's a journey. 

The challenge of our time is to find a journey worthy of your heart and your soul.

-Seth Godin

One of the main reasons why people create art is to express themselves. Art provides a means for individuals to communicate their thoughts, feelings, and experiences in a visual and tangible way. This process of self-expression can be deeply meaningful for the artist as it allows them to grow as individuals in many ways.

As we move closer to the end of our unit, the kindergarteners took a short pause to reflect on their art journey so far. They have all grown tremendously in different aspects and have developed mindsets that strengthen their character.

Learning Patience and Perseverance

"I can't do this!"

Throughout the unit, there were a few moments when the children almost gave up before finishing their project -- especially when we made papier-mache. 

Papier-mache is a technique that involves using a mixture of paper and glue or other adhesive to create a molded object. It's a tedious project that involves several steps and can last for several days, and some of them almost gave up because they couldn't see the end in sight. What I appreciated about each one of them is how they all soldiered on and kept on trying until they saw their progress, and they were happy and satisfied with their creation.

I must say, out of all the projects that they created, this is probably one of their most favorites. The children just love playing with their sculptures and treat them with much care -- I've even seen some of them hug their work just as they would their favorite stuffed toy.

Haruto and Nemo

Zoey and Her Duck

Koh and His Fish

Clara and Her Penguin

Chanin and Nemo

Emma and Her Unicorn

Emma and Her Brown Cat

Kanato and His Dinosaur

Yorinobu and His Cat

Hana and Her Bunny

Learning Collaboration

"What's gonna work?" 

Teamwork, of course. The beauty of working and collaborating together is we get to contribute our ideas and expertise to our team, and we get to grow as individuals in the process. Throughout the unit, the children had many opportunities to collaborate with each other to create pieces of art that reflect their voice and allow them to take ownership together. In the process, they learned new things about each other and have developed deeper friendships with their peers.

They get to create beautiful things together, too!

Learning Growth Mindset

"It's okay to make mistakes, right, Ms. Pam?"

Of course it is, especially if we learn from it. It's a mantra that we keep on repeating in the classroom, as mistakes are to be expected and naturally happen as we learn and grow. Slowly, the children learned to embrace challenges and overcome setbacks with confidence. 

In art, we also learned that a wrong line, a crooked shape, spilled paint or a dirty canvas is not the end of our process -- it's an opportunity for us to create something beautiful.

Learning Agency

"Let me do it, please!"

One of the most important lessons that I learned -- and continue to learn -- as a teacher is to let go and allow the children to create their own process of doing things. This is when they take charge of their learning and discover what is best for them as a learner. 

Agency is when children have a voice, choice, and take ownership of their learning. Throughout the unit, the kindergarteners were given numerous opportunities to make choices, try something new, express themselves in different ways and learn more about themselves in the process. 

"I made it, Ms. Pam!" With emphasis on the "I" 😊

I am Kanato.

I am Hana.

I am Clara.

I am Zoey.

I am Koh.

I am Haruto.

I am Chanin.

I am Emma.

I am Yorinobu.

I am Sarah.

I am Kallea.

I am Emma.

Learning to Have Fun

"It's so messy, it's fun!"

Pardon the mess, but we ARE learning and having fun at the same time. 😃

 Learning the Basic Concepts and Skills

The beauty of learning art is that it has many different elements that we can utilize and learn from. Throughout the unit, we learned different concepts and honed many skills that made us into better artists. 

We learned about:

colors

lines

shapes

sizes

space

art materials

art tools

We honed our:

drawing skills

painting skills

cutting skills

folding skills

gluing skills

tearing skills

sculpting skills

spatial ability

And of course, we learned that we can make something beautiful if we put all of these together. 😀

Learning to Express Ourselves

"Art makes me happy!"

Throughout the unit, we were able to get to know our feelings up close, identify them, and help us understand our emotions better. We got to know characters through different stories that aided in our inquiry on feelings, and we got to create our own characters to represent who we are and what we feel, too.

Learning to Pause and Reflect 

Every process becomes more meaningful if we take the time to pause and reflect on our experiences. Have a look at some of the reflections of the children as we move towards the end of our unit on art and emotions:

EMMA C.

 What is art for you?

Art is making beautiful things like paintings.

What is your favorite form of art?

I like drawings.

How does art make you feel?

Art makes me happy because I like making art.

CHANIN

 What is art for you?

Art is painting.

What is your favorite form of art?

I like coloring things.

How does art make you feel?

Art makes me happy because it's beautiful.

CLARA

 What is art for you?

Art is painting nice things.

What is your favorite form of art?

I like paper mache because I like making my penguin.

How does art make you feel?

Art makes me happy because I make a lot of things that are nice.

KANATO

 What is art for you?

Art is making things like sculptures and paintings.

What is your favorite form of art?

My favorite is sculptures.

How does art make you feel?

Art makes me feel excited because I like painting things.

HANA

 What is art for you?

Art is about making paintings and sculptures.

What is your favorite form of art?

I like painting.

How does art make you feel?

Art makes me feel super happy because I like getting messy. I like painting my hands!

HARUTO

 What is art for you?

Art is making beautiful things.

What is your favorite form of art?

I like painting.

How does art make you feel?

Art makes me happy because I like making nice things.

YORINOBU

 What is art for you?

Art is using paper, crayons, glue, paint to make something.

What is your favorite form of art?

I like sculptures.

How does art make you feel?

Art makes me feel happy because it's so fun.

KOH

 What is art for you?

Art is something that I like. I like making things like paper mache and drawing.

What is your favorite form of art?

I like paper mache.

How does art make you feel?

Art makes me feel happy because it's so fun!

EMMA I.

 What is art for you?

Art is when you use paper, canvas, paint, boxes and playdough to make nice decorations.

What is your favorite form of art?

I like painting.

How does art make you feel?

Art makes me feel happy and excited because it's fun to make.

ZOEY

 What is art for you?

Art is making nice things like paintings, sculptures and drawings.

What is your favorite form of art?

I like paper mache.

How does art make you feel?

Art makes me feel happy because it's very nice.

Learning to Celebrate and Share our Achievements

To celebrate the end of our unit, we would like to invite you to our mini-art exhibition to showcase not only the masterpieces of the children, but the journey that they went through into becoming artists in their own right.

Thank you for taking the journey with us for the past few months. 

We can't wait to show you everything that we have accomplished. 

Have a wonderful week ahead, everyone.

Your Kindergarten teacher, 

Pam