"Number" Art

Today, I had the kinder gardeners, the first graders, and the second graders.  

I asked the students to choose their favorite number. Write it on a large piece of construction paper and then incorporate their chosen number into a picture. Giving them a challenge and making them be creative was the purpose of this project. What they ended up creating also showed me a lot. For example, one student worked with the number seven. He actually turned the number seven into the side of a leaning house. While another used the number seven and imagined it as a slide, He used things that he knows like playgrounds and slides and saw the same shape. Also I had another student of mine changed the number three into letters in the alphabet such as “B”. On the other side of this project I had a student, a kindergartener who actually bent the rules a little.  When asked to use numbers, he decided to make judges’ score cards. He approached me with excitement every time he created another giant card. What I enjoyed the most is how hard these kids worked. These students were illustrating a lot in their images and were proud of their end results. Their active imagination (which is the method of assimilation of unconscious contents through their experimentation as fantasies in the wakeful state) according to Jung was being tapped into. They were making a connection between the shape of the number and what they are familiar with. An example is mentioned above: the girl who turned the seven into a slide or the boy who turned the seven into the side of a house. Overall, the project was successful. The only thing that was left to do was talk them into taking their art home ( many wanted to give it to me as a gift). However, I feel it’s important to also share their art work with their family.

-          So next time you look around, see what numbers you see in your world!

            

Chain of names..

Surprise!! Art on a Friday!
Since my site supervisor was at a conference today, I had about an hour of art with the students. On Friday it's a little less than half the amount of students we normally have during the rest of the week. Well, I had the students create a paper "name" chain.  I ask the students if they could write a student’s name on each link and to decorate it. (It was just the girls in art today, so it was 8 students while the boys went to do an activity with another instructor.) The oldest girl cut different colors of construction paper into strips, while the younger girls wrote the students name on each link. When the girls noticed that the glue wasn't really working, a student suggested using a stapler. However, since they are between the ages 5-9, I took over the stapling process. Only one girl decided not to participate in creating the class chain. She also happens to have been the only girl who ever gave me a hard time. Could it be that she was being rebellious? While the other girls expressed excitement as the chain grew longer, that particular girl would grab the stapler out of my hands every chance she got and take off with the strips that the other girls would cut. I left it alone because I knew she was just trying to proof her independence. Also, the girls who cut the strips never confronted her about taking them. It was team project for the remaining girls and at that point her actions didn’t seem to bother them.  I realized that if I used Maslow’s model, “hierarchy of needs,” that many of these girls just want to belong. So, while working on this project I talked to the girls. This helped them to get to know each other a little more. Sadly, the boys didn’t get to work on their chain. However, that’s a different story for another day…
To a great weekend!
                   Miss. Tanja

beads.. oh beads!

I know I'm a little behind, so let me catch you all up!
Well....art is now moved to Tuesday... The kids had sports on Monday (nothing like a friendly game of dodge ball). Let me get back on topic... I had the younger students with me to make bead bracelets and necklaces, one boy actually made a "leg bracelet." While the girls made necklaces for themselves, the boys spoke of making one for their mom. The part that excited the students the most was being able to pick what type of beads they wanted to work with. The sense of having some human agency is extremely important. According to Erikson, the first four stages are about finding one self and decision making is surely a part of that. The kids did a wonderful job on creating the bead accessories. Many of the boys ended up making bracelets for themselves. One third grade boy created a matching set!

The only thing that the students really had any trouble with was trying to tie the knot so that the necklace/bracelet would be complete. Truth be told, even I had problems to tie the supplied string into a knot. The type of string used was a clear stretchy material. I wouldn’t be able to tie a knot with this type of string if my life depended on it! I must have taken at least a good five minutes trying to get the knot from coming undone. Many of the kids had to restart their bracelet because of this, but the kids stayed determined. Love just how flexible and patient some of these youngsters can be!

Side note: Humor always eases the situation, so when a project becomes a little difficult just laugh it off. Not only does it keep you from getting frustrated, it keeps the kids in good spirit as well.  =)

Distraction therapy and play dough!

Hello Hello!!
So a lot has happened since I started my new job as a Paraprofessional. I am now working the afterschool program at that school as well. After talking to my supervisor, I gained the opportunity to conduct an "Arts and Craft" class with the students every Monday and the chance to work with the students, who chose to do art, once they are done with their homework near the end of the day. This week, the students worked on a project that displays a "Fall" theme. Many chose to create pumpkins out of orange construction paper, while only one drew a witch! When I asked her who she was drawing, she said it’s “a girl I know, I gave her a hat.” Oh, forgot to mention, these students range from kindergarten to eighths grade. The student I talked to is in the third grade. What interested me the most is how she chose a black piece of construction paper, however I left her to finish as another student showed me her work. Near the end of the day, I allowed the students to pick their median. They chose play dough, which is similar to clay. The attention to detail astonished me! One fourth grade girl created a “pepperoni and mushroom pizza.” Since it’s late in the afternoon by this time, many of the students were hungry and creating pretend food seemed to have distracted them until their parent’s showed up. Watching this make me look up “distraction and therapy.” By creating the pretend foods, the students were able to deal with the anxiety of waiting for their parents, being hungry and tired after a long school day. Where a younger student may cry or start misbehaving (which has happened from time to time), the play dough distracted them just long enough for the rest of the program to do smoothly….
         Yay! To play dough!
Until next time,
                        Miss Tanja

Just testing if this works..

Hello, Fellow Art Therapists (to be) from WSU!  

As you can tell by the looks of my profile, I'm still very new at this whole blogging thing ( so I hope this turns out alright... fingers are crossed.) I created this blog for an assignment in my art therapy class to document my experiences at the Service Learning Site that I will be located at. Writing on things such as: what I'll be learning, what difficulties I will be facing ( I'm being realistic here..) , what techniques I will be using to assist at the work site and so forth. Of course, every day will be super exciting, so I have tons of “blogging” experience in my near future. I can't wait to find out just where I will be working!
- Have some paper work to complete, so until next time! =)