Art - how *picky* should I be?

[Wee Pip]

We're doing KinderArt (www.kinderart.com (http://www.kinderart.com)) for our Art this year. My 7 (almost 8) yo is finally at an age where she can follow directions and make a nice project. My 5 (almost 6) yo does not. The 5yo is very concerned about doing what *she* has in mind. When we did blotter bugs (paint squished around in paper and decorated to look like bugs) she didn't want to paste them on paper - she wanted to use them as toys instead. When we did patterns today, she had her own ideas in mind that was anything but patterns. So...do I have your permission to let her run wild and not follow directions? Or should I be putting my foot down ("you will not leave this table until you make a pattern on paper!" LOL). By the way, the 7yo used to make lousy projects and then destroy them, so it could be worse! LOL. At least my 5yo has an intense concern for beauty and things that are beautiful (in her opinion). And yes, sometimes this becomes an issue for other people teaching her in co-op or AWANA. Beauty (and following her own creative ideas) is very important to her - I hate to squash that, but on the other hand, it makes it hard to make projects. Thanks!

[Titus.Two.Five]

Well, see to *me* art is about creativity. Now how can you be creative if someone is always telling you HOW/WHAT to create? That is why I always hated art class in school. sigh SO stifling!

:001_smile:

[Ancora_Imparo]

For art I use Discovering Great Artists, which talks about an artist and then has art project based on that artists style. I usually describe what the book says and then let dd loose to interpret that as she sees fit. We try to keep the style the same, but not necessarily the subject. To me the projects are more about experimenting with different types of art and finding a way to make it your own.

[Linda]

Awwww, let 'em loose. It's art, not spelling :-)

[newbie]

We had the best art teacher, she would really bend, she would have them work for five minutes on the project she set up and then change to whatever medium they would like.

But she let them be creative w/in the project she was working on at the time.

Saves the battles.

[Rosie_0801]

I had this problem in my early 20's when doing a cake decorating class. Once the teacher realised my experimentation was a display of enthusiasm for her art, rather than a mockery (or something) of it, she chilled out and decided to like me after all :)
Perhaps your dd has no need to copy what you say exactly, because she already knows what happens, so is trying something slightly different for experimental purposes. Anyway, there's no wrong way to do art, my arty brother tells me, unless you are at uni and the tutor doesn't like your work. Your dd is a long way from there!
:)
Rosie

[Nan in Mass]

Definately. And encourage that creativity. Just beware that when you get to teaching her writing later on, it may be just as difficult to get her to follow directions that upset her creative sense and you will have to do lots of negotiating! That's what has happened with mine, at least, both in art and writing (14yo and 18yo now). I found that if I let them modify the assignment a bit, what they produced was often better than it would have been if they hadn't modified it. My problem was that by the time they finished explaining why they couldn't do the assignment as written, I could see that they were right. Sigh. Makes it hard to make them follow the directions LOL. This only happened with learning-to-write assignments. When they were writing or drawing for some other purpose, a more real purpose, for history or science or literature, it wasn't a problem. In those circumstances, they just had to accomplish the task. They had more leeway to do it in a way they thought good.
-Nan

[Karen in Eastern WA]

I teach drawing for our small co-op. I'm definitely not an artist, but what I have found to be successful is to give "free drawing" after the main lesson. So everyone gives the lesson/project a try and then later they can draw whatever they want. She may be a bit young for that still, but it might help in future.

Also, I like what Mona Brooks has to say in Drawing with Children about teaching and encouraging art, so you might look at it if you have a chance.

[jonnia]

My ds has a strong mind of his own also. There are times when I make a very clear point that a particular assignment or project is all about following directions - like following clues and instructions to find a secret treasure or something like that. He will gladly cooperate and can follow multiple step instructions with no trouble. Knowing that he CAN follow directions when it is important (to him) to do so, helps me let him loose to follow his own inspiration most of the time.

[Cadam]

She is creative, and she is 5 yo so leave her alone. I would go so far as to praise her out of the box thinking. Also, is this the hill you want to die on? There is so little in their lives that they have control over, art should be left alone.

[Wee Pip]

Thanks all! My reoccurring thoughts tend to agree with all of yours:) She's 5. She's creative. She has a great sense of all things aesthetically pleasing. So what if her kinderart book doesn't look right or reflect the lesson? She obviously knows what a pattern is, knows that blue + yellow = green, and all those other concepts. So I'm going to let go. She can practice "direction following" when she does her math worksheets:)