So, anyone who knows me, knows that I am known as the “messy one” in The Burrow. Often on show arounds I hear Jess tell the parents “This is Nic, she’s the messy one in the Burrow, the one who gets all the paint out, all the glitter out, all the shaving foam and so on”. This is me, down to a T.
Often, Burrow parents will arrive or drop off and we all have to duck under the washing lines as they are all full of the Burrowers’ amazing art work. We always save the children’s art work and I know that Soraya and I are always looking around the Burrow and under the arch for places we can hang or make a display out of their art work. We always try and have their art work at the children’s height so they can see what they have made…however it is not about the end product…it is all about the process!
So over the past few weeks, we’ve been exploring paint. Lots of paint. We’ve explored paint using paintbrushes, rollers, our fingers, our hands and even our toes! We often see some paint getting explored up the children’s arms and even their faces. This promotes lots of sensory experiences and children learn best by having "hands on" experiences with lots of different materials.
We have also been exploring painting on different textures, now this has varied from tin foil, to corrugated sheets, to fabric bed sheets, old curtains and so on.
Helping children to be creative is as much about encouraging attitudes of curiosity and questioning, as about skills or techniques. Children notice everything and closely observe the most ordinary things that adults often take for granted. Building on children’s interests can lead to them creating amazing things or making marks on paper that represent for them an experience or something they have seen. Encouraging children to choose and use materials and resources in an open-ended way helps them to make choices and to have confidence in their own ideas. Retaining childhood confidence in their ideas and skills can easily be lost if others ‘take over’ and try to suggest what the child is making, thinking or doing. Just expressing an interest in the process a child has gone through is often enough or asking open questions such as ‘Can you tell me about it – that looks interesting’ may be all that is required to help a child hold on to their remarkable creativity.
If anyone has any old bedding or materials going, or anything we can put our marks on please feel free to donate! We will always find a use!!
Thanks for reading,
Nic