What Is Open-Ended (Process) Art & How To Encourage It In Toddlers At Home (VLOG)

Source - fredbabbart.com

My son is now 2.2 years and art at our home is mostly about open-ended exploration with various mediums like crayons, pencil colors, water colors, tempera paints, sketch pens, ice paints etc.

At the end of an engrossed art session, my toddler calls me to his art desk & tell me, mumma, see I made a sun. Mumma, see this is road & car, this is a house.

Ice painting 

tempera paints using paint brush

Mumma, this is golden sun, red sun & green sun!

And the art work never looks like that particular object, of course because he is just 2.2 years right now. But what I am happy about is the way he is continuing to express himself on the paper, with no adult prompts, totally motivated on his own.

There are so many of his art works now that I have no idea how to store them ;)

Last night he did this painting while I was browsing through facebook on my bed.

Mumma, this is Anaconda

Usually, he calls me to show his artwork when he is done, but last night he suddenly got up from his chair & ran away from the room. I asked him what happened? He said with a mischevious smile, mumma, I made an anaconda, he is going to bite me! I laughed out so loud on this :) Then he teasingly said, mumma, this is just a toy anaconda, it will not bite me!

I was so surprised & amused with this episode that I decided to write this entire blog post on open-ended art for toddlers! Hope this is useful for you too.

What Does An Open-Ended Art Activity Mean?

Here is a checklist to know if what you are doing with your child is open-ended or not -

• Variety of art supplies are there for the child to choose from & there are no direct instructions to choose one or more
• The supplies are kept at a reachable place for the toddler, the furniture is child-sized so that the toddler can help himself when he wants to practice art
• The place where the child would practice art is accessible, well maintained & clean
• There is no end product or sample to follow, the child is free to express with the art supplies
• There are no step-by-step instructions
• The emphasis is on the process of making the art & not the final product, there is no right or wrong way to create an art work
• The end product may or may not look like some creature or some thing really
• The child decides the time & duration when he wants to do the art, there is no arts-time in the time-table

How Does An Open-Ended Art Exercise Help Toddlers?

• Fosters independence & responsibility while they freely use the materials & take care of them 
• Enhances their power of expression while they use their little hands to reflect themselves on to a piece of paper 
• Enhances intrinsic motivation because there is no one to tell them when & what to paint. Going forward in life, it is very important to have that intrinsic motivation to succeed
• Boosts their creativity
• The process of making such art relaxes them, it is therapeutic 
• Kids feel accomplished when they make something they want to make themselves, it boosts their self-esteem
• It improves their planning, problem-solving & comprehension skills as they try to create something on paper that they have in mind, they choose the art medium, colors, shapes all by themselves
• It enhances their fine motor skills of course!

How To Encourage?

I have set up a small arts corner at my place where he can work on his art projects independently & whenever he wants to. Sometimes the masterpieces are done in the mornings, sometimes evenings & sometimes at midnight too ;) This is so Montessori inspired! The prepared environment for the child :)

Here is a sneak peek into my toddler's art corner. I have used whatever I had at home, no fancy easels or boards. It is super budget friendly. You can take some ideas to set up something similar with what you already have at home.

I would love to hear from you all & see pictures of your child's art spaces!

Happy Parenting :)

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Toddlers As Surprise Packages - They Learn As They Play - How They Self Learn

Self discoveries of a toddler, do I really need to teach him or even interfere? :) I'm just sitting back, relaxing and enjoying the observations and conversations of this curious mind!

Shadow

A (my 2 years old son, walking after dinner in the society premises along with me) : mumma, shadow shadow! [And he walked along, the shadow disappeared and shifted to another position because of the new street light positioning]. Mumma, shadow gayab! Oh, shadow is here now! [And he walks ahead and continues to discover how shadow size and positions are changing]

Music Instruments 

He takes out all the music instruments he has, from the polythene and does some research on each one by one carefully listening and engrossed how the same instrument makes different sound when played with hand or stick, when hit on the leather or wood, etc etc.  This goes on uninterrupted for some 15 minutes and then he arranges the instruments in some fashion and asks his dad to play dholak and he chooses to play the manjeera. My home grown bhajan mandali )

Indian Classical Music Concert

We managed to take our son to an indian classical music concert last weekend - Panchatattva - that had maestros like Pandit Jasraj, Sanjeev Abhyankar and the likes. He attended the program for 1 hour 10 minutes to our SHEER surprise. BTW thanks to Surekha for her post, I pushed myself to bravely decide that my son is old enough to attend a live show. He particularly saw solo instrument performances of tabla, mridangam, kanjeera, flute and some vocals. The experience was so enriching that after we came back home, he wanted to again attend the concert. When asked, he enacted how do you play a flute, a kanjeera, a mridangam, tabla. As a musician myself, what could I have asked more for!

Wood And Fire

We did a bonfire at home on our terrace with family as a part of holi celebrations... Holika dahan. He observed and commented that after burning wood, it is finished! And became black powder. Smoke is rising from fire. Some great science lessons coming in for free :)

Awareness About Air

He has been telling us about air since long now, for example fan is giving air, AC is giving cool air, air is blowing (while playing outdoors). But today while travelling on our bike at night, he said, mumma cool air, I'm enjoying it mumma. And then the bike slowed down and he said mumma air is finished now. Again when the bike gained speed, he said, mumma air has come back again! He was beautifully making connections about the relation between the speed of the vehicle and the impact of air.

Toddlers are everyday surprise packages! Their curiosity and ability to learn from anything and everything amazes me :) We need to follow the child's lead, give them ample opportunities & exposure & enjoy!

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How We Switched To Ceramic Cup For My 22 Months Old Toddler - Montessori In Action

A small but significant step in making our little ones more independent, responsible, confident & self-sufficient 😊

We started with a ceramic cup for his milk last week. He is 22 months. It was completely led by him.

It started when I gave him mud clay figurines during Diwali for decorating them on the killa. I told him it's made of mud n easily breakable so be careful while handling. He played beautifully with them. One figurine accidentally broke while playing n he realized what it means to break n the consequence that he won't be able to play with it.
He then started asking for our tea cups (ceramic). I gave him telling they are breakable n he handled them beautifully. He used to take them from the kitchen slab, play n give me back happily.
Then one day he said he wants to have his milk in papa's tea cup. I gave him n he happily drank it by himself! This weekend I got a ceramic cup for him exclusively n he was super happy 😊

Its all about trusting them & respecting their demands, of course under supervision & danger limits.

I cannot count the reasons why I love Montessori 😊

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20 Months Old Toddler's Love For Cars & Logos (VLOG)

It's all about connecting with your child, feeding his curiosity, following his cues, providing exposure to various things.

Children as natural learners, will absorb & learn themselves :)

Watch my 20 months old in action!

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Sanskrit Mantras By A 20 Months Old (VLOG)

I have been reciting some Sanskrit mantras to my son since he was 3 months old. After bath, when I get him ready, I recite the mantras. The motive behind this exercise was to impart some positivity & stimulation of his senses. I never expected him to learn the mantras.

Two days back (he is 20 months old now), I just said a part of the mantra & he completed that particular line & I was literally happily shocked that he had learnt many of those mantras. I am sure he had learnt a lot earlier but he is able to articulate them only now.

Why Sanskrit?
It is a well known fact that the recitation of Sanskrit language improves the speech of the children. And of course there is so much positivity in these mantras.

Here is the video of Sanskrit Mantras recited by my 20 months old son.

Vakratund Mahakaay
Gayatri Mantra
Tvamev Mata

Children absorb so much from their environment, we cannot even comprehend. So let us give them a rich environment which stimulates their senses, give them exposure to lot of things. You never know when they surprise you. Kids are a total surprise package!

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Learning Through Multiple Senses - A Delightfully Shocking Example

I'm delightfully shocked!

We had played with this world map foam puzzle (got it from Creative Express) when he was may be 17 or 18 months old. This was after a lot of simple matching activities that he showed interest in & did beautifully starting from 13 months. He would ask what every piece is & I used to tell him names of the continents. That was it. He had not even started speaking words back then.

Never did I show him a globe. Or any kind of spherical manifestation of the world map.

He turns 20 months today.

Today he was playing with this inflatable ball, he threw it on the floor, Australia faced him, he bent over the ball & with a eureka expression, he said 'Australia Australia'!

And I was shocked, literally!

It's not about teaching continents at this age. I know it will be rote learning. Neither am I interested in memorizing him names of the continents.

I am amazed, how a hands-on learning approach is so powerful. How a child learns & absorbs if more than one sense is involved. How a child can map a flat surface shape to the same shape on a sphere. How they make so awesome connections in their brains.

This is the reason why I love miniatures & figurines too.

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Adlabs Imagica – A Review Through The Learning Lens!

Adlabs Imagica – badi interesting jagah hai!Their advertisement has always made me giggle with those two birds & two human beings having a serious talk of their lives! Being a hard core fan of adventure & thriller rides, I always wanted to try those inviting roller coaster rides. But having an eighteen months old super energetic toddler with me does not give me the luxury to experience rides like Dare 2 Drop, Deep Space or Nitro! But one fine Thursday night, we decided to visit Imagica on Saturday with our son. I was not sure how much he will be able to enjoy but nevertheless, we headed to our destination. After spending an entire day there with a toddler, I must say, as their website says, “Built For Kids”, it is indeed very true! My husband, son & myself, we had a gala time there. There are enough accounts & reviews of Imagica from an adult’s perspective. This review is focussed on how a child can enjoy & learn at Imagica.

Read my review HERE for more, specially from a parent's point of view. It has been featured on Indian Moms Connect

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The Ostrich Who Came For Tea - Pretend Play

The other day, I posted on my facebook page about how & why I love figurines & miniatures. And how open ended they are for a child to enjoy & play with.

Today, my 19 months old was enjoying in the swing leisurely when he suddenly wanted to get down. I helped him get down & he ran to another room & grabbed the ostrich from the animal figurines basket. He kept on playing with the ostrich for some time & then grabbed his tea set. Little did I know he had actually invited the ostrich for tea & snacks!

As you can see in the pic, from left to right, top to bottom, he first laid out the saucers, put cups over them, prepared tea & mixed sugar with the spoon, tasted the tea himself, invited the ostrich for tea, offered him tea & snacks by spoon himself, and then drank his tea himself!

I love how free play/pretend play brings forth the creativity in a child. All these were his own ideas :) Oh yes, he offered me some tea as well at the end!

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Play Is The Work Of Child - Montessori - Free Play Moments - 18 Months (VLOG)

Maria Montessori said - "Play is The Work Of The Child". Free play is very important for a child. It yields a lot, more than what meets our eye.

Here are some moments of free play of my 18 months old son. Joyful & eureka moments that I could film!

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How Free Play Can Bring In Creativity And Order

I have read & experienced myself how important is free play for a child. Free play can bring out the most exciting moments & experiences I bet. I have seen them myself many times. I have seen him doing many things on his own while free play which otherwise he might not do when I sit with him or when I tell him to do.

Today one more exciting thing happened.

I have got this shape & color sorter game for him. I have done a quick product review of it which I will link it up soon on my YouTube channel. Meanwhile don't forget to subscribe to my channel at http://www.youtube.com/kg141083

So this is what happened today -

I give him this shape sorter game for free play.

He independently puts all stars in one rod without me telling or prompting him anything.

After that he puts all the octagons on top of stars. 

Of all the shapes in this set, he chose to sort stars & octagons!?! To give a background, he already knows shapes like circle, square, rectangle, hexagon, triangle, crescent, star, heart. He was able to point to them when asked at around 14 months if I remember correctly.

Then he puts back all 64 shapes back in the box & closes the box. Everything without me prompting anything & on his own. 

This shapes set contains 8 pieces each of triangle, circle, rectangle, star, pentagon, octagon, diamond & square. Total 64 pieces.

A is 17 months right now and it isn't easy to dig out all the stars & all the octagons from 64 pieces, and to distinguish between pentagon & octagon, all the more. 

I was really amazed to see this free play exercise & a sense of order he adhered to, of putting his stuff back to its place. And did I tell you this is an amazing fine motor skill development activity? :)

Kids surprise us, right?

Have you seen something magical while your child played on his/her own? Please do share in comments :) 

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