# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
When we provide good methods of self-learning in a young mind, I feel we are giving the mind flying lesson to help them succeed and improve the world. Copying gives driving lessons to run errands for experts who tell us what to think and what to do.

This flying clay chicken is by a kindergarten child who was fascinated and inspired when a chicken flew out of its cage in the classroom while she was practicing blind contour drawings of the chicken. As I write, she is starting first grade. How much of this joy of experimentation and expression will she retain as she progresses through the school system? What happened to our own creativity as we matured? Why was most of our own divergent thinking lost by second grade? (click and return using your browser back arrow or button)

Why is copywork commonly used? BACK to Art Education HOME

Copywork feels good because the product can look quite polished and professional. Copying is quite easy. Pictures and other art, when copied, often looks much more professional than the more childish renderings that children make when they work honestly from memory, imagination, and observation. Imitation is an extremely strong instinct, so it is very easy to encourage copywork. In may ways, imitation is a good way to learn stuff. Imitating parents, teachers, slightly older and more experienced friends and other experts is still very common and is still successful for much of what we learn in life. Even in the life stories of many artists, they tell about doing a lot of copywork as a child.

Fortunately, somehow human genetics also leaves young kids with very flexible minds that have other learning instincts. As kids we have amazing imaginations and divergent thinking abilities. The typical terrible two-year-old is a great scientist that is very curious and constantly experimenting to see what is allowed. We still have safety hazards, so parents have to rein in the two-year-old's curiosity for the sake of survival. By the time kids starts school, most kids are still quite able to think divergently and still have a rich imagination (except for those with parents that have been excessively authoritarian and negative). Unfortunately, by the time we reach grade two, most of us have lost most of our ability to think divergently and imaginatively as we become "domesticated" and acculturated to being "schooled" and forced to select our instinct to imitate over our instinct to imagine. A large percentage of school learning is based on repetition, copying letter forms, memorizing words, coloring five birds red, and so on. Those who fail to rein in their imaginative minds soon find themselves in trouble with most teachers.

As art teachers, we are in a unique and highly privileged position. We are so lucky. We teach art. Artists actually get credit for imaginative, impulsive, and creative thinking. In fact the most renowned modern artists tend to be the most innovative, creative, imaginative people. The greatest part about being an art teacher is that our time has arrived. The world has changed so much that imitation is no longer an adequate success strategy. In today's world, the ability to synthesize vast amounts of information and experiences in innovative ways has become essential for success in nearly endeavor---not just in art. As art teachers who understand creative thinking strategies have come into our own. We have a responsibility to model what every teacher needs to be doing. If we agree that synthesis, creativity, innovation, invention, and imagination have become the essential qualities of mind needed in today's world, we need to focus better. We need to eliminate imitation (copying) as a learning method that can earn credit in art classes to make more time available for the more essential mind building types of learning. Even with no art class copying, kids will still learn how to imitate and copy in many of their other classes, but at least they will have a chance to learn the strategies that creative people use when they solve problems in new situations in a changing world.

C opying becomes a crutch and shortcut that makes it harder to make the effort to learn and practice the more demanding disciplines. My purpose is not to condemn those who learned their art by copying. My purpose is the share my beliefs that most professional art teachers already know many other much more creative ways for art learning to take place.

I find that one the most creative ways to teach drawing processes is for me to speculate about the thinking steps and practice steps that must have been used by great artists. Rather than have students copy great artists' work, I have them copy the thinking and practice steps that I have imagined by studying great artists.

The Question

What are the differences in kinds of minds produced by imitation and copywork at the expense of other more experiential forms of skill and knowledge building experiences?

I do believe that as teachers, the learning methods we employ change the kinds of neurons that thrive and grow in the brains of children. Hart and Risely found that highly verbal parents who nurture infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with a preponderance of affirmative responses and questions rather than commands, produce more intelligent and curious children who love new experiences, experimentation and the learning of new things. One the other hand, parents who use less words, more commands and prohibitions while using fewer questions tend to have children that come to school less capable of learning to read. From:
Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children. 1995. by Betty Hart and Todd R. Risley.

To me, copywork is like responding to the command of an expert authority rather than responding to a question. To me, copywork seems like a passive prohibition against learning to develop our own ideas. Copywork does not seem like an affirmation of what we ourselves can produce. To me, the neuron numbing aspects of copywork may not be as serious as outright prohibitions, but copywork does not teach with questions and it does not foster independent thinking and judgment. Populations educated to follow experts rather than having learned to think independently are simply not as ready to participate in government and are more apt to be manipulated and even brainwashed by self-proclaimed experts (deciders), even when they make very bad choices or very deceptive choices.

Today's world has many problems. Is it still acceptable for educators in public schools to develop minds that are conditioned to habitually learn by following "experts" and "authorities"? Might wars in the past have been prevented had more ordinary citizens been willing and mentally equipped read their own cultures and to think for themselves rather than believe what they were told.

My Story

Our school had wonderful north windows. Had Ms. Suderman gone to the window and asked us questions about what we saw in the nearby landscape, I think that I would have also enjoyed making a crayon drawing of my actual observations.

Had she asked me to look carefully at certain lines, shapes, colors, textures, tones and so on; I think that would have certainly enjoyed learning to see new things to draw that I had never really noticed before.

As it turned out, when we got to second grade, none of us could read the beginning of the second grade reading book. Ms. Hett, our second grade teacher, asked us if we had studied reading. We assured her that we had. She then tested us by giving us the first grade book and we recited it word for word. As it turned out, we had not learned to read; we had memorized the book. Ms. Suderman, our first grade teacher, had been a first-year teacher. Apparently, she had known how to teach copywork and rote learning (two very similar modes of thinking), but did not realize that this was not what our brains needed in order to make progress in this world and construct new knowledge by being able to figure out words and read new sentences.

I now understand that she also did not know that learning to read our visual world requires abilities beyond what we learn when memorizing a picture by copying it. Since she was a new teacher, I do not blame Ms. Suderman. However, I would blame myself, if I did not share this insight.

We had not learned to observe from actual life and experiences in our drawing. We had not learned to use our imaginations in our drawing. We had learned how to imitate, copy, and memorize other peoples words and pictures.

Today, we live in a world of constant change and mobility where our instincts for reading each new situation and for imagination as well as for divergent thinking have increasing importance for success and survival. Fortunately, we come to school with pliant brains that can develop either way and both ways. Education needs to help the many ways to learn how to learn. We can imitate instinctively, but with proper practices the neuron buds enabling us to innovate instinctively can also be retained and nurtured.

I am happy to add that I never had an actual art teacher that used copying as method of teaching. I believe that the teachers who challenged us to use our own creativity are the ones that influenced me to become an artist and an art educator.

Another Story

These students are not learning to express their own experiences because they are learning to draw by copying his drawing. They are not learning the skills of experimentation because he is replacing this experience with the results of expert experiments and observations. They are not learning how to make discoveries. They are not learning to read subject matter in their surroundings because he is telling them how things need to look in their drawings. He is not showing them how to look at a subject in order to learn to draw it. They do not need to learn to read it since they are copying and memorizing the "correct" predetermined look as formulated by others. Teaching for him, is passing on expert answers rather than providing questions and practice methods to solve difficulties on their own.

If they are faced with the need to draw a new item, they are forced to revert to childish symbols because they have not learned how to visually read from their environments. Anything outside what they memorized defeats the efforts of most students. If they have not learned the techniques and skills of learning to visually read new material, their frustrations and self-esteem defeats their will to try. This crisis of confidence is well documented in art education studies.

Art teachers are quite aware of the crisis of confidence in drawing that often begins in second or third grade. I get parent notes telling of their child's desperate requests for a competent drawing teacher. College students confide in me about how much they wanted to learn to draw, but nobody knew how teach them. Even though they loved art when they started school, they soon avoided it and many came to fear and avoid drawing. Many elementary classroom teachers, when asked by a child for help with learning to draw something, responds with a very anti-educational comment. They say, "O that's okay. I can't draw either." Not only is this teacher bad mouthing learning, all the ways that drawing could help this teacher explain things to students are not being used. All the ways that this teacher could use drawing to solve problems are not really being used. This person is a diminished and handicapped teacher and individual.

Another Art Class Story

As the students complete the enlarged copies of their small bits of the work, they put the large post them on the wall to make a giant copy of the original. Some teaching also use this project to have students learn how to enlarge something using a grid. Of course everybody tries to copy the original as accurately as possible with regard to color, tone, proportions, etc. However, the final combination of all the parts shows considerable individual variation. Some teachers point out how this shows how we are all creative, even when we try to be conformists. This is not creativity. These are actually copying mistakes.

To me, the sad part of this project is not that mistakes are made. The sad part is that it teaches conformity. It uses scarce time to learn how to replicate when much more creative thinking tasks could be practiced during this time. When I wish students to learn how a grid can be helpful, I have them make a grid in a viewfinder (using some black string and tape). They select, observe, and create something from their own environments. They could draw a self portrait with a marker on a mirror while looking at themselves. A grid method could be used to transfer this drawing to paper where it is finished while using the mirror to study their own face for additional visual information.

What damage is done?

To my knowledge there is no definitive study to show that copywork or coloring books damage a child's creativity. Negatives are difficult to prove empirically. However, I continue to be convinced that copywork fosters the kinds of thinking habits that stunt a child's potential. Learning time is being wasted. I see enough cases where children have lost self-confidence in learning because they have not be given sound ways to practice. Tests do show that divergent thinking quickly diminishes as children enter school. School is filled with copywork in math, in learning to print and write, in learning to spell, and so on. Art is the one place we can seek to counteract some of the dulling and dumbing effects of other course work.

Our Family Story

They attended public schools through grade 12 and enjoyed their teachers as well, even though some teachers were more traditional than we were at home. At home we tried to compensate for things that happened in school. We used questions more than answers and commands.

We used explanatory affirmations whenever possible and prohibitions were used sparingly as needed to keep them safe. When they quarreled, their mother had the wisdom to ask them to make a choice between several positive or creative alternative activities rather than commanding them to stop quarreling.

In the end, two earned Ph.D. degrees in science from MIT and Harvard. They are now enjoying success as scientists at major universities. They have a number of patents and copious research results that may help cure disease and increase food supplies. The third is a successful technical writer. A sample of only three kids is not a proof of concept, but it is evidence that we do not need to teach our kids to copy in order to be successful.

Our scientist daughter and son tell me that many of their graduate students and post docs, when doing scientific experiments are very puzzled by unexpected results. Some expect their teacher, an expert, to tell them what has happened, and others assume they have made an error and they do it over. They lack the dispositions and neurons to think divergently enough to see, recognize, and identify their own discoveries. They are quick imitation learners, but neither their science teachers nor their art teachers have helped them learn and become competent and expectant discovery learners. They lack ability in divergent thinking.

As Einstein said, the imagination is more important than intelligence.

Fortunately, in my own experience, I eventually had some good art teachers. At the time, I did not understand what they were doing. After beginning my career as a public school art teacher, I attended graduate school in the summers. We searched the research on creative thinking and the traits of highly creative individuals. I eventually formed a new understanding of alternative ways to learn art. I now believe copying is done to produce a product. It is generally not done to learn how to draw. It is superficial, not teaching us many of the basics of how to see the truth of the world itself.

------------ end of page 1 --------------

--------------- Page 2 responds to:----------------continued on PAGE 2 >>

What do I do if a student can't remember what a landscape or a particular animal looks like? Could I permit kids to use photos as prompts from which to interpret? How do I deal with them wanting to draw what they can't recall or visualize? Do you always have them draw only what they see in front of them?

We can name a number of famous artists whose work is highly derivative and in some cases even copies artists that came before them. Doesn't that mean that copywork is a legitimate way to be artistic?

Doesn't the apprentice system employ a lot of copywork as the way to learn to be an artist? ^^^
BACK to Art Education HOME Page
continued on PAGE 2 >>

These are some related links for those who are looking for learning methods that do not depend on copying.

Art Education HOME Page Skills sets needed to draw anything | Original Idea Generation | Creativity Killers | Teaching Creativity A blind contour drawing lesson - grades 3 to 6 - How to teach drawing to children |
A lesson with no copywork, with no prior examples, using blinders, live animal, & including art history
Inside-out gesture drawing and other drawing ideas |

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All rights reserved. Art Department © Marvin Bartel. Last update date shown with © at top of page.
continued on PAGE 2 >>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
site sponsor

^^^ | Goshen, Indiana, USA | ^^^

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Reasons to Prohibit Copywork in Art Classes

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
When we provide good methods of self-learning in a young mind, I feel we are giving the mind flying lesson to help them succeed and improve the world. Copying gives driving lessons to run errands for experts who tell us what to think and what to do.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Originality is a key value of art education, but at the same time, replication is just as important. We want our students to create original work, so we have various expectations about what sort of copying is allowed. Understanding when borrowing the work of others is appropriate and when it's not is an important skill for kids to have.

In the image-flooded world we live in, however, there's no one clear answer. Unfortunately, the discussion of building on previous work is often skipped or boiled down to petty things, like the appropriateness of drawing iconic cartoon characters or using stock photos. Is it a copyright violation or not, we wonder?

Before we think about what our stance on copying should be, it's valuable to understand the issues involved, which range from legal to moral.

Copyright law is complex, but understanding a few key ideas can help teachers.

Copyright

Copyright law has existed since we've been able to easily make copies of written work, which happened with the invention of the printing press. The laws have changed and expanded over time, but still have the same primary goal: to protect the rights of the artist. Copyright law does this by prohibiting the copying of an artist's work. Copyright infringement occurs when someone's work is used without their permission or without giving them compensation. There is a big exception to this, though - fair use.

Fair Use

Fair use is a key part of copyright law that allows schools and other organizations to use copyrighted material for educational purposes. If you're worried that students are violating copyright law by copying images off the internet, don't be- it's protected by fair use, although plagiarism could be an issue (more on that in a minute).

Fair use also recognizes that the repurposing of work and images is a key way that artists build meaning. This type of borrowing and building on previous work has a long history and was integral to movements like Dada and Pop Art that asked important questions about the meaning of art and popular culture. It's even more prevalent today with our unprecedented access to digital images. The College Art Association published fair use guidelines in 2014 which include the following advice for artists:

Using the work of others "is part of the construction of new culture, which necessarily builds on existing culture."

Artists' use of copyrighted material is protected by fair use when the work "generates new meaning." Only changing media won't accomplish this, just ask Shepard Fairey, who settled a lawsuit by the Associated Press involving his iconic "Hope" poster.

Artists should be able to explain why they've repurposed work belonging to others and give them credit unless they have a really good reason not to.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism, or using someone's work without giving them credit, is the issue at hand in schools, not copyright infringement. This is a moral issue, and schools typically have consequences for situations like turning in another student's essay as their own. This can happen in art too, but not as often as some may think. For example, when a student draws a picture of Spongebob, are they trying to claim that it's an original image, or are they just developing their drawing skills by making a modern form of a master copy? This is very different from taking someone's drawing and claiming it's yours.

Copying images is a good thing. It's an important part of the conversation that art creates and we have to teach our kids about it.

Our role as art teachers is to inform our students about making art. Guiding students through adding meaning to previously created content is an essential part of our role. We have to teach our students how to use existing work to explore original points of view. This can be done by teaching them to take inspiration from the work of others and to build upon it. One way Ian Sands and I have accomplished this is in units like Artists Steal, where students learn the guidelines to make their own decisions about image use.

The bottom line on copyright is that it's just not an issue in classrooms, it is an issue for working artists as well. Students should know it exists and what the expectations for original work are. They also should be aware of the moral issues surrounding plagiarism. Of course, it's hard for teachers to take a moral high ground on originality if their lessons produce student work that is highly similar or are derivative copies of a popular artist. We can't teach not to copy if we plan lessons that expect students to copy from us, so we must build independent decision-making that keeps work individualized into all our lessons.

The most important part of copyright law for teachers to be informed about is fair use. We have to keep in mind that the goal shouldn't be to keep our kids from copying, but to start a conversation about originality. Peter Jaszi writes, "The goal of US copyright law is to promote the progress of knowledge and culture. Its best-known feature is protection of owner's rights. But copying, quoting, recontextualizing, and reusing existing cultural material can be critically important to creating and spreading knowledge and culture." So, please, inform your kids about copyright, fair use, and plagiarism and teach them how to copy in a way that adds new meaning to images. It's how art is made.
What are your expectations for originality? How do you teach students about repurposing images?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to Deal with Copyright, Plagiarism, and Original Ideas in Art Education - The Art of Education University

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Originality is a key value of art education, but at the same time, replication is just as important. We want our students to create original work, so we have various expectations about what sort of copying is allowed. Understanding when borrowing the work of others is appropriate and when it's not is an important skill [...]

# data[].attributes.headline
The Fine Balance Between Copying and Creating Art

# data[].attributes.subject
The Fine Balance Between Copying and Creating Art

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Kids Drawing Lessons Tips, Is copying pictures good?
By Spramani Elaun
In this blog post I want to share a common question I get asked regularly while training teachers and parents - Is copying pictures good to teach kids?

I'll share my expert advice on this topic and give you tips how to approach this type of drawing lessons.

Yes, letting kids copy images is a good thing

I've taught thousands of children how to draw realistically and it's a very slow process over childhood.

One of my techniques I use is to copy images or trace images to develop good fine-motor drawing practice.

In my book Nurturing Children in The Visual Arts Naturally, one of the key things I tell teachers and parents - is kids visual perception along with fine-motor development is connected to visual art learning.

These two developmental stages are also key to learning to draw.

For this reason I have taught kids to copy images and trace images to develop drawing muscles in their eyes, hands and memory.

Does copying images stifle creativity or imagination?

No, but you don't want to develop all your art lessons by simply copying images.

You want to give kids a good balance of projects that use copy-mode and creative-mode drawing exercises.

Copy-mode and Creative-mode are two phrases I explain in my first book how kids need balanced art lessons to stay creative and have imagination flourish.

I have been drawing and illustrating professionally my whole life, and when I was a young girl I copied my favorite things like Snoopy the dog.

By doing this I got really good at drawing Snoopy.

I got lots of practice identifying how images came together by organic and geometric line shapes.

When I finally got to fine art school and my professional drawing classes, I had all the fine-motor practice to learn to draw creatively by all the copying I did.

Having lots of experiences copying and tracing gave me excellent fine-motor practice and gave me the esthetic eye I need to advance into an illustrator.

So I say yes it's good to copy images.

I call this in my books guiding kids with art inspiration!

All kids need some creative spring-board of ideas to start drawing.

You should always give kids some point of reference to copy or an idea to design their own drawings.

It's really hard to sit down and think of something off the top of your head if you have not had practice drawing.

So yes it s good for kids!

Can copying too much be a bad thing for creativity?

If you require kids to follow copy-mode step-by-step instructions, and not allow any personal creativity then it can stifle creativity or any love for art making.

Over the years I've worked with adults and teens that told me the number one reason they stop drawing was because of a bad teacher that insisted they follow directions and copy step-by step without freedom to personalize or draw their own ideas.

My advice is to give a good balance of drawing lessons in both copy-mode and creative-mode.

If you would like to know more about creative-mode vs. copy-mode, I recommend my drawing books, or my first book Nurturing Children in The Visual Arts Naturally.

Teaching Professional Tips!

In my drawing classes or workshops I take kids through a series of copying their favorite images, tracing basic geometric and symmetrical simple line drawings, then allow my students to color or paint the finished drawings however they want.

Then after some projects copying or tracing, I then give kids creative-mode lessons using the practice skills from copying and tracing with me.

Copy-mode art can just be practice for getting ready to work on creative type projects they can use their imagination.

All kids all ages!

Yes, this works for all kids in elementary and the teen ages.

Kids have to have practice drawing something first!

What can kids copy?
Drawings line form Their favorite Animals Their favorite objects Their favorite characters Fun objects you're currently studying Geometric Shapes Fruits In order to get good at drawing you have to do some practice copying and tracing!
Give kids fun objects to trace.

Give kids a focal point to the lesson and ideas to copy, along with visual samples.

Give kids the freedom not to copy-step-by step.

Give kids the freedom to draw their own ideas that are related to the subject matter you're teaching.

Start all drawing lessons with basic pencil and eraser, then complete with fun mediums.

You don't need to know how to draw realistic drawings yourself to teach kids these basics drawing skills.

If you have questions reach out to me.

Now go have a fun drawing art lesson with kids!

All rights reserved ©, Nature of Art For Kids®

No part of this blog may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in

the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Kids Drawing Lessons Tips, Is copying pictures good? -

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kids Drawing Lessons Tips, Is copying pictures good? By Spramani Elaun In this blog post I want to share a common question I get asked regularly while training teachers and parents - Is copying pictures good to teach kids? I'll share my expert advice on this topic and give you tips how to approach this type of drawing lessons.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Families may be surprised to know that when it comes to arts and crafts projects, there is more than one way to approach an activity. Some families may opt to go with a more product-focused approach, while other families may go with a process-focused approach. So, what is the difference between the two?
Product-Focused Art vs. Processed-Focused Art:
Product-Focused Art is when a child begins a project knowing what the end product should look like and they follow a set of instructions to get to their goal. Product-focused art have a right and wrong way to work on the project and typically require a specific skill and technique to reach that end goal.

Process-Focused Art is when a child is given an open-ended project and they have the opportunity to express themselves through their work. Though process-focused art can end up being a gift or decoration, however the artwork turns out is based on your child's discovery and creativeness.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children, or NAEYC, describes process-focused art experiments as having some of the following characteristics:

There are no step-by-step instructions

There is no sample for children to follow

There is no right or wrong way to explore and create

The art is focused on the experience and on exploration of techniques, tools, and materials

The art is unique and original

The experience is relaxing or calming

The art is entirely the children's own

The art experience is a child's choice

Benefits of Product-Focused Art vs. Processed-Focused Art:

Product-Focused Art allows your child to practice their fine motor skills such as cutting in a straight, curved or angled line and most importantly how to follow directions and reach an end goal. Product-focused art is also a great way to teach children about specific shapes, colors, etc.

Process-Focused Art also allows children to practice their fine motor skills, however, how and what they practice ends up being up to the child and how they decide to create. They can practice with their scissors, they can gasp different types of materials, squeeze bottles of paint or glue. With process-focused art, it is all about the discovery. This allows your child to focus on being creative and learn to have the confidence to explore and experiment. Processed-focused art also provides plenty of opportunity to problem solve.
What are some fun process-focused art projects families can do at home?

Draw with markers, colored pencils, or crayons

Finger painting

Create collages using different types of materials

Use different types of paints and objects as paint brushes

Tape crayons or markers to trucks or cars and color paper while driving their cars around

Use a stamp pad to create a picture by stamping with their hands, toys, etc.

For more process-focused art project ideas you can do right at home, follow us on Pinterest!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Families may be surprised to know that when it comes to arts and crafts projects, there is more than one way to approach an activity. Some families may opt to go with a more product-focused approach, while other families may go with a process-focused approach. So, what is the difference between the two?

# data[].attributes.headline
Sticky Fingers and the Importance of Process Art

# data[].attributes.subject
Sticky Fingers and the Importance of Process Art

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Schoolyard Blog | Teacher Resources | School Specialty

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Arts & Crafts School Specialty *

If your preschoolers are painting with bath poufs and bubble wrap, the odds are good that you have a firm understanding of "Process Art". And if you neglect to offer up a model project for your early learners to try and reproduce, that's another point in your favor. Offering young children an opportunity to experience the gooey, sticky sensory feeling of finger paints and modeling clay or the inspiration that comes with safety scissors, colored glue and a box of rainbow-colored paper strips without any required end result, provides a young child the path to exploration, cognitive learning and creativity.

Process Art is, after all, about the process and not the finished product. It doesn't have to resemble anything you've ever seen before. It doesn't require that all the eyes be in all the right places or that all the colors be tucked neatly between the lines. It doesn't have to be anything at all and certainly doesn't need to be recognizable. In fact, the only requirement for this type of art project is that kids are having fun creating ... something.

And if you have no idea what it is that's looking back at you from the paper - or the wall or the sidewalk or the floor - that a preschooler just proudly pointed out, pat yourself on the back - you're getting the hang of this type of art that thrives without boundaries on creativity.

Who Invented Process Art?

The term "Process Art" was coined by the artist Robert Morris in 1968, when he first began experimenting with soft felt to celebrate the way it was impacted by both gravity and stress. Sometimes called Anti-Form or Post-Minimalist art, Morris' early works were achieved by a simple process of cut and drop - hence the unevenly arranged pile of pink felt scraps littering the floor at the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

The importance of Process Art is that it simply refuses to conform to anything. The finished product is actually unimportant. What matters is the process used to create it.

Process Art and the Preschool Curriculum

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) touts Process Art as highly developmentally appropriate for the preschool classroom, citing a number of benefits:

Process Art nurtures social and emotional health, reinforcing such skills as relaxation, focus, self-esteem and emotional sharing.

It helps to build such cognitive skills as comparison, prediction, planning and problem-solving.

This form of art encourages the development of fine motor skills like painting, cutting and gluing.

Process Art may also help to build the skills of verbal expression and language if the child chooses to discuss his or her work.

But your classroom full of early learners has no idea of what's going on behind the scenes of this exceptionally fun and positive project. All they care about is that they were given free time to create something that has importance to them. They'll get sticky. They'll make messes. They'll need more time than you were planning to give. But at the end of the day, you'll have a classroom full of kids with excited stories to tell and artwork to show off.

Educators are using process art as part of their curriculum for the "A" in STEAM. And this trend is also in alignment with environmental rating scales such as ECERS, as it encourages open-ended activities that inspire sensory exploration and curiosity.

Your Role in "Process Art" Experience

If you plan to incorporate Process Art into your curriculum, there are strict rules for you, as instructor, to follow - as ironic as it sounds:

Don't be tempted to lead or guide kids into making something recognizable.

Don't give children a model project to try and copy.

Don't give in to the overwhelming urge to ask "What is it?"

Be sure to provide a wealth of materials for preschoolers to work with - paint, crayons, paper, markers, safety scissors, clay, yarn, pencils and stamps.

Never discourage a child from trying out his or her art idea unless it's unsafe or impractical.

Let the child decide what he or she wishes to do with the finished product.

And most importantly, make sure the time you dedicate to Process Art inside your preschool classroom is fun, relaxed and stress-free. Play music, move around and allow kids to come and go from their projects as needed. There are no fast and hard rules for your early learners when the subject is Process Art.

School Specialty has everything you need to make Process Art come alive for small kids with big imaginations. Visit our website today for a wealth of unique and affordable art supplies that speak directly to the process and not the finished product.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Sticky Fingers and the Importance of "Process Art"

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
If your preschoolers are painting with bath poufs and bubble wrap, the odds are good that you have a firm understanding of "Process Art". And if you neglect to offer up a model project for your early learners to try and reproduce, that's another point in your favor.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
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

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A Complete Guide To Process Art For Kids - TinkerLab

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
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.