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The book "Skin Again" (Bell Hooks, 2004) reflects discursive practices because, through the use of literature, classrooms can have discussions and inquiry over difficult topics such as race. The tagline of the book is The skin I'm in is just a covering. It cannot tell my story. If you want to know who I am, you have got to come inside and open your heart way wide.

I believe it's important to talk to children about the world around them in an age-appropriate way and that it's dangerous to assume children won't understand or that they are too innocent to hear about hard topics that already directly affect them at their age.

In my experience working as a camp counselor, I've found that children are generally very receptive to conversations about difficult topics. Many children are from predominantly white areas and often ask if staff members of color are sisters despite the fact that they objectively don't look much alike. Together, we have judgment-free conversations about what makes us different and what makes us similar and how the color of our skin makes us unique but doesn't define us or make us the same as others who share a skin color.

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I believe that transition times from one activity to another are an underlooked part of caregiving, but one that is present in almost every educational and caregiving setting. This article offers practices that can help make these times less stressful for both children and adults. For example, it can be highly effective to let a child know about a transition several minutes before it happens and remind them that it is approaching. Other strategies include playing specific music during transitions, using visual cues, and using positive reinforcement.

As a camp counselor, I worked with a child who really struggled with transition times, especially during shower time, and I worked with her in several ways to try to make these times as easy for her as possible. For her, this meant that she could be the last one to shower so she had more time to prepare for the transition than her peers and letting her pick a song she wanted to listen to during a shower. This was not always effective and sometimes she needed more support, but it's important to know that change is not instant and the more you apply these practices the more effective they may become. Another helpful strategy I discovered is (for example) not saying "5-minute warning until we have to leave the pool" but rather saying "Who wants five more minutes?!" to make the transition even more positive.

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How Can We Help Kids With Transitions? - Child Mind Institute

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With the right support, children can learn to change gears without whining and tantrums and have smoother transitions in life and the classroom.

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This article discusses the material and aesthetic practice of "process art" or allowing children to create art from different available materials with little prompting and no end goal in mind, unlike with crafts. This allows children to be truly creative and create both their own art and their own knowledge as they freely explore the materials in ways they would not be able to do with a traditional "craft".

Maggie's classroom at the CYC constantly offers children the opportunity to create art and engage with art materials. During free time or playtime, access to art materials is unrestricted and there are few limits to what children can do with the art supplies. I have seen students explore materials by putting every color of paint on a piece of paper and seeing how they mix, making a 'control panel' to play with out of stamps and stickers, and creating their own book with drawings of basketball players. It is amazing what children can create when allowed to be creative. Through being creative, students can share their funds of knowledge and engage with other students through creative play.

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What is Process Art and why is it important?

Process Art is art that is child-directed, choice-driven, and celebrates the experience of discovery. In process art, the final product is always unique and the focus lies in the creation of the work, not the outcome.

What we're going to cover...
The benefits of process art How the process art approach benefits adults Why this is the best approach for preschool art How to Get Started with Process Art The differences between process art and product art Process art is... Product art is... What materials are used in process art projects? What is an example of process art? Common Pitfalls with Process Art How do you teach process art in early childhood? Favorite process art activities for kids
What are the benefits of process art?

There are so many benefits to process art! Process art is developmentally appropriate for toddlers, preschoolers, and young children because it meets them where they are as sensory explorers.

Through process art, children...

will have more opportunities for creativity, independence, and imagination

will learn about the physical limitations and possibilities of materials.

are encouraged to use creative and critical thinking skills.

will gain confidence to realize their own ideas.

are motivated to ask questions and experiment.

will embrace experimentation and mistakes as part of the learning process.

How the process art approach benefits adults

As much as process art is age appropriate and engaging toddlers and preschoolers, parents and early childhood educators generally find that it is easier to facilitate than product-focussed art lessons because it aligns naturally with child development.

Here are a few reasons why:

Adults facilitate projects and act as co-learners, so they don't have to hold all the answers. In fact, not knowing the answers can be a huge benefit because it gives adults room to play and experiment themselves.

Process-focussed projects don't require a lot of fancy set up or unique materials that are hard to come by. This saves both time and money.

Because the goal of process art is to explore and discover, rather than achieve perfection, adults are also emotionally free to support whatever the child dreams up as an ideal solution or end result. No fighting, tears, or half-completed projects.

Why this is the best approach for preschool art

After reading up on all these amazing benefits are you still wondering if process art is the best way to teach art to toddlers, preschoolers, and kids?

There are plenty of good reasons to introduce kids to crafts projects, namely connecting to history and culture, developing hand-eye coordination, learning skills like paper folding, and bonding with family members or friends over craft traditions.

Crafts have their place and I happen to love them, even for kids. But when it comes down to helping children think like artists and inventors, process art, rich with open ended explorations that follow the child's interests, is always the way to go.

How to Get Started with Process Art

Offer self-serve supplies that the child can easily use independently

Allow children to come and go as they please

Provide interesting art materials

Allow the child to follow his or her interests

Keep the focus on open-ended activities that don't have just one outcome

Be playful and joyful in the art-making process

Ask open-ended questions and make objective comments about the child's artwork

The differences between process art and product art

Sometimes I'll hear people talk about process art versus product art as if they're opposing ideas. In some sense they are, and I'll explain what that's about in a moment. First, however, I'd like to dispel a myth that process and product can't work together, when in fact they can!

When people pit process against product, they're generally referring to how children make art. Process art's goals relate to what happens during the art sessions, while product art's goals relate to the final outcome.

Something I'd like you to keep in mind with all of this is that we shouldn't think about process and product as polar opposites because product is almost always embedded in process. When a child goes through the process of making a work of art, it's likely that he or she has an idea, question, curiosity, or even product in his or her mind. It may not be evident to us as viewers, but there's always an intention behind the process, and sometimes that intention connects to a final product.

This isn't really what people are getting at, however, when they talk about process versus product. The debate is actually about the intention behind the art experience itself. Let's take a look at the breakdown in terms of how a process project and a product project might look...

Process Art...

is child-directed

celebrates the experience of discovery

has unique outcomes with no two pieces looking alike

is open-ended with multiple avenues for discovery

Product Art...

is adult driven

offers the child clear steps that have to be followed

expects the final product to look like a sample

what you might think of as crafts projects

has expectations around a right and wrong way to do it

What materials are used in process art projects?

Any and all materials can be used in process art. It's less about what is used and more about how it's used, but I do have a tip for assembling a successful process art prompt. Gather supplies that fall into four different categories and you'll have something fabulous to play with: base, connector, tool, and treasure

The base: paper, clay, cardboard, or wood, cardboard rolls,

Connectors: glue, yarn, tape, slip (mushy wet clay)

Tools: a pencil, paint brush and paint, fork, sponges, crayon, skewer, markers, scissors

Treasures: foil, tissue paper, bubble wrap, beads, sequins

Example #1: clay, slip, skewer, bubble wrap

Example #2: cardboard, hot glue gun, tempera paint sticks, foil
9 Process Art Projects from TinkerLab
What is an example of process art?

Maybe it would help to see this type of open ended making actually looks like with toddlers, preschoolers, and kids? Let's take a look to see what ideas children have when given the opportunity to create with materials, with no product oriented expectation in mind.

Large sheet of paper (base) + washi tape (connector and treasure) + crayons (tool)

This started as an invitation to create with a bundle of three crayons, connected together with a loop of washi tape. The child had no interest in drawing with a crayon bundle, deconstructed it by removing the tape, asked for more tape, and made this energetic composition with crayon and tape. Marvelous!

Paper (base) + stencil (tool)+ office stickers (connector and treasure)+ markers (tool)+ paint brushes with paint (tool) colored pencils (tool)

Although this is a semi-realistic illustration inspired by the stencil, the child was not guided to do anything specific and this is the direction they chose to take this in.

Clay (base and connector) + Beads and Buttons (treasure and tool)

Notice how the beads double as a treasure and mark-making tool. The child decided to pull all the beads and buttons out when they were done, returning the clay to its original state. There was literally no product with this creation, as it all got returned to the art shelf when they were done.

Heavy paper (base) + White glue and paint brush (connector) + Tissue paper (treasure), Marker (tool - off camera)

In this example, notice how two children used the same materials to create two entirely different outcomes. On the left, an organized design with symmetrical balance. On the right, a whimsical animal is taking shape.

If you're digging this topic, I wrote this fun piece for Americans for the Arts that I think you'll enjoy: Process over Product: Building Creative Thinkers Through Art.

Common Pitfalls with Process Art

There's not much you can do wrong with this kind of art making because children lead the way once the materials are laid out. However, getting to that place where we simply step back can be hard for a lot of people. Here are three things that can block a good process art experience:

1. Don't stop your child to tell them what you think they should do. Instead, just pause, take a deep breath, and give your child room to keep making. You can ask them to tell you more about what they're doing. Usually this little bit of information helps us see their intention, reminding us they're on the right track.

2. Don't doubt the process. Maybe you thought your child would use the materials one way, but they're doing something else, and you think: "This is not working. They're not learning anything. What's the point of all of this?" This is a totally normal reaction to process art. Instead, trust the process. If you're not sure where it's all leading, ask your child to tell you more about their ideas. I promise you'll be amazed at what they have to share.

3. Take off your perfection hat. Cookie cutter projects are now a thing of the past. Paper may be cut at a crooked angle, white spaces may show through quick paint strokes, and lines might be draw so faint that you can barely see them. What you see in your child's work may not live up to your expectations, and instead please just change your expectations. Notice the beauty of the wobbly lines, the personality of the paint strokes, and the energy behind the novice cut lines. Tell yourself how beautiful and charming it all is, and look for evidence of your child's imagination, ideas, and curiosities.

How do you teach process art in early childhood?

Use the tips offered in this post and you'll be well on your way to leading meaningful process art experiences! If you could use a little more assistance, helping families and teachers find easy ways to bring process art to life is my jam and I'd love to welcome you into our tight knit community as a member of our subscription program, TinkerLab Schoolhouse, where we go deeper into process art and you'll gain access to a library of hundreds of playful prompts.

Favorite process art activities for kids

Now that you know more about process art, let's dive into some process art projects that you can try today:
Watercolor Paint on Doilies: Process Art with a Beautiful Outcome - ages 3 and up Collage with Leaves, Glue, and Cardboard - ages 3 and up Sticking Tape to Paper Bags - ages 2 and up Office Stickers inside a Drawn Frame - ages 2 and up Cookie Sheet Monoprints with Tempera Paint - ages 2 and up Shaving cream & food coloring - ages 2 and up

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A Complete Guide To Process Art For Kids - TinkerLab

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Process art is all about creating something new by experimenting with different materials and seeing what happens. Even the process itself is the final piece. Here's how to make it work.

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Ecological practices and outdoor education are highly prominent in a summer camp setting and as a camp counselor I wanted to find an article that explained the benefits of outdoor education such as building a love of nature and a respect of the environment. I feel as though children spend less time outside now than they used to, which is a shame because nature holds so many opportunities for learning and inquiry.

As a camp counselor, I have been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to teach in an outdoor education setting. This ranges from just allowing children to interact with their environment (such as picking up and observing rocks or using sticks to build 'fairy houses') to teaching concrete skills such as orienteering and fire building. In addition, children are taught to respect and care for the environment by ensuring they pick up any trash they see, don't litter, and don't remove anything from the enviornment.

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Outdoor Education at Camp: Enriching Lives through Positive Interactions with Nature

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In an increasingly connected world, today’s children experience an ever-decreasing connection to the natural world. As a result of hours of screen time, lengthening school days, and increasing participation in organized out-of-school activities, children are spending less time outside than ever befo…

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Toys are an important part of play and the toys children interact with help shape their experiences. As this article on gendered toys states, toys marketed towards a specific gender often carry certain connotations or biases. For example, toys marketed towards boys are more likely to have violent connotations while toys marketed towards girls are more likely to focus on physical appearance. The article argues for more gender-neutral toys in education spaces which I agree with, but not fully. I am of the opinion that while toys might be "meant for" one gender, toys are toys and are not bound by and do not inherently have gender. For example, there's no reason why a little boy shouldn't play with or have some interest in a doll or a makeup kit or a little girl shouldn't have interest in action figures. I think providing a variety of toys and letting children have equal access to them is important.

In Maggie's classroom at the CYC, the toys are very gender neutral. Staples include various building materials, toy cars, small stuffed animals, a kitchen with pretend food, and a doll house with small plastic molded figures. I am curious if the children have noticed this or have thoughts on it. I am also curious because boys in the classroom greatly outnumber the girls, so I wonder if the classroom and play is slightly more geared towards boys.

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What the Research Says: Gender-Typed Toys

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What makes a good toy for a young child? NAEYC asked two researchers about what their work tells us about toys, children, and play.

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Calendar time is a popular schooling practice that isn't always beneficial or effective. While it can be argued that teaching children the days of the week or the months of the year while young is important, this article, Calendar Time for Young Children (Beneke S, Ostrosky M, and Katz L, 2008), points out that young children do not yet conceptually understand time in a way that makes the way we talk about it during calendar time understood. This is not because of the way it's being taught and more so due to congnitive development. Despite children not being cognitively ready to discuss time in a linear way, it is still an almost universal practice in many classrooms.

I used to privately teach a 4-year-old child. My stepmother was her teacher first, so I carried on with her practices (many of which were incredibly effective, for the record). As such, I carried on with her practice of calendar time and noticed that the child couldn't conceptualize linear time. I'd ask her what day of the week it was, but as the article above described, she would usually just guess. Sometimes she would follow up with questions like "Well, can tomorrow be Tuesday?" on a Friday or "Was yesterday December?" in May. She knew all of her days of the week and months, but couldn't yet understand the rigid order they followed or how long each one took.