Art & Cooperative Learning

Yesterday's 68-degree weather was a perfect opportunity to take our Extended Day learning outdoors.

When the children ventured outside, they were greeted by an inviting setup: a long surface of poster boards with trays of brightly colored paint and a variety of mark-making tools at one end.

Once the children were seated, I explained that today we were going to make one large painting together. Each child would get a turn to choose their "brush" (roller sponges, toothbrushes, combs, stamps, etc.) and make a line with it down the paper. The definition of "line" was very open-ended, as the dotted lines created with stamps still qualify as lines here. "A continuous collection of similar marks," might be the best way to think of "line" in this instance.

The challenge: Can you make your marks without overlapping those of your friends?

The social-emotional undercurrent of this lesson is subtle, but crucial. In participating in this activity, children must:

-make their own (artistic) choices
-pay attention to what their friends are doing
-make their own choices based on those of their friends. If the challenge is not to paint over someone else's work, then they must be very mindful, and tune into each others' actions on a deeper level than they might typically .

The first mark! A striped sponge roller and red paint.

Working together

A very clever way to avoid "stepping" on someone else's art: note the green bird prints in between the yellow paw prints.

With such a wide surface, two friends at a time can work on this.

The finished product is hanging in the room where we meet each day at 1:00 to begin our Extended Day program (a mixed age group of 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds). My wish is that it reminds the children of how well they can work together, and inspires them to always treat each other with the kindness and respect they showed each other that day.