The wonder and joy of painting

This is what I see, as a teacher:

I saw a child putting white stickers on a piece of white paper, so I asked her to have a good look at her art work, pointing out that the white stickers did not stand out against a white background. My comment did not bother her. She smiled and instantly came up with an idea. She decided to paint the stickers…the problem was solved. Good thinking!

While she painted, she sang, ‘sparkly green, sparkly green, sparkly, sparkly…colour, colour, colour, I always like to colour…’ She was singing her original song and smoothing paint over the white stickers with rhythmic, bold and broad strokes.

I noted that she was playing with colours. It was actually about the magic of transforming a blank sheet of paper and white stickers into a pleasing piece of work with colours. She seemed to be focusing primarily on the movements of the paint brush and the textural qualities of the paint itself.

Painting is an artistic learning experience. Through the sheer pleasure of painting, she is developing her creativity, colour awareness and manipulative motor skills.

Will a parent who picks up the art work at the end of the kindy session see the same competent child? How can we ensure the parent is aware of a beautiful story behind the random scribbles? Does the parent value the creative process as well as the product?

Let's keep up with learning stories to make learning visible to parents.