Artistic Expression

Projects offer children opportunities to use many different kinds of artistic media to express themselves and their ideas. During Center Time, children may draw, paint, create models using clay or Beautiful Stuff (found and recycled materials; Weisman Topal & Gandini, 1999). Children have opportunities to build and decorate musical instruments from recycled materials, create models of vehicles using loose parts or experiment with mixing different colored paints. Making connections to Big Ideas and Projects in artistic ways such as these gives children the time to communicate ideas creatively and explore materials in new ways. In addition, SEE utilizes Storytelling and Story Acting, where children can both engage in literacy learning while also having opportunities to participate in dramatization and expressive theater arts.

Check out the Thinking With A Line site for great ideas how to use this method in the classroom: thinkingwithaline.com