Art That Teaches Language - The Texture Collage
Although Crayola has honed and redesigned the crayon to fit the primitive grasp of the toddler, and big fat paint brushes with sturdy easels are now readily available and priced right for home use, there are many other ways that a toddler (aged 2 to 3) can explore the world of color, texture and general creativity. Here is one of my favorites:
The Texture Collage: I have used this activity with children from ages 20 months to 5 years old. As soon as your grandchild is no longer exploring everything with his or her mouth they can easily engage in this activity. Before your grandchild comes over, begin assembling a special box where you put scraps of just about anything stickable. Cut them so they are easy for a toddler to grasp (not too small). Some suggestions would include: odd pieces of
wrapping paper, ribbon, lace, corrugated cardboard, the satin edging of an old blanket you might be throwing out, some knitted material from an old t-shirt, cotton balls, old cut up greeting cards, clean feathers (the ones from outside would need to be sterilized) sand paper, pieces of aluminum foil, tissue paper, small baking cups or the wrappings from a box of chocolate, raffia and cellophane... virtually anything that is clean and can be cut into manageable pieces, that you might be throwing out. Stay away from small hard objects like buttons and beans, just to be safe, until you're sure that your grandchild is past the sticking in the nose and ears stage. Keep adding to the box until you have a wide variety of textures, colors and designs to choose from, then, under your supervision, let your grandchild paint some white glue onto a piece of
construction paper with a thick brush. When the paper is covered let the child go to town picking things out of the box at random and sticking it onto the paper. You might have to put the first piece on yourself then turn the paper upside down to show that the piece sticks. Basically, however, step back and let the child pick and choose. When the child decides it's finished, you could use the collage to teach some conceptual vocabulary. Explore together the different components of the collage and talk about the textures using words like rough, smooth, scratchy, etc. If you use old pieces of fabric, try to provide varied designs so that you can teach words like striped, printed, polka-dotted, plaid, checked, etc. If the collage turns out layered you can explain the meaning of words like behind, on top of, under, and next to. The collage could be kept in a special place so that the words could be reinforced on the next visit, but if the collage winds up going home with the child, don't worry. Your box will provide many opportunities for future fun together!
The main thing to remember is that this is play. The child is not making a picture and doesn't need to explain anything afterward. The product is not important. You are both in it for the experience. Have Fun!
Visit Nona Nita's Nook at http://www.nonanitasnook.com for more information about Enlightened, Modern Grandparenting and
My Path Productions at http://www.mypathproductions.com to help you on your path to conscious living.
The Texture Collage: I have used this activity with children from ages 20 months to 5 years old. As soon as your grandchild is no longer exploring everything with his or her mouth they can easily engage in this activity. Before your grandchild comes over, begin assembling a special box where you put scraps of just about anything stickable. Cut them so they are easy for a toddler to grasp (not too small). Some suggestions would include: odd pieces of
wrapping paper, ribbon, lace, corrugated cardboard, the satin edging of an old blanket you might be throwing out, some knitted material from an old t-shirt, cotton balls, old cut up greeting cards, clean feathers (the ones from outside would need to be sterilized) sand paper, pieces of aluminum foil, tissue paper, small baking cups or the wrappings from a box of chocolate, raffia and cellophane... virtually anything that is clean and can be cut into manageable pieces, that you might be throwing out. Stay away from small hard objects like buttons and beans, just to be safe, until you're sure that your grandchild is past the sticking in the nose and ears stage. Keep adding to the box until you have a wide variety of textures, colors and designs to choose from, then, under your supervision, let your grandchild paint some white glue onto a piece of construction paper with a thick brush. When the paper is covered let the child go to town picking things out of the box at random and sticking it onto the paper. You might have to put the first piece on yourself then turn the paper upside down to show that the piece sticks. Basically, however, step back and let the child pick and choose. When the child decides it's finished, you could use the collage to teach some conceptual vocabulary. Explore together the different components of the collage and talk about the textures using words like rough, smooth, scratchy, etc. If you use old pieces of fabric, try to provide varied designs so that you can teach words like striped, printed, polka-dotted, plaid, checked, etc. If the collage turns out layered you can explain the meaning of words like behind, on top of, under, and next to. The collage could be kept in a special place so that the words could be reinforced on the next visit, but if the collage winds up going home with the child, don't worry. Your box will provide many opportunities for future fun together!The main thing to remember is that this is play. The child is not making a picture and doesn't need to explain anything afterward. The product is not important. You are both in it for the experience. Have Fun!
Visit Nona Nita's Nook at http://www.nonanitasnook.com for more information about Enlightened, Modern Grandparenting and
My Path Productions at http://www.mypathproductions.com to help you on your path to conscious living.
I love this idea.... mostly because I hate to throw things away.... reuse and recycle. Older children could do a theme collage.. like objects, grouped together or whatever they want to do... children's art is artful!
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Dear Nona,
This is the best suggestion for keeping a child occupied. The trick is to keep our creative interference to a minimum. An additional suggestion would be to play some classical music while your grandchild's masterpiece is being created.
Ellen
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Wonderful suggestion. Classical music is so calming and has studies have shown a link between listening to classical music and the fostering of creativity and higher level thinking skills.
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