A guide for mothers and for women who run nurseries in
their homes
Art is a young child's vehicle to language. Some say it is
the child's first "written language" with symbols and marks
that are unique to him and universal at the same time. What
does a parent need to know about this? When is a small child
ready for handiwork? What are the signs and what is too
little or too much? We present some thoughts of Mrs. Lily
Fish, a supervisor of preschools throughout Israel on the
matter.
Preschool arts and crafts offer children challenges for
development at the right time and the right pace. Art and
handiwork is a parallel outcome of a child's physical and
mental development. This includes cognitive, perceptual,
social, emotional and creative problem solving skills. In a
preschool, the stages of development are well known to the
staff. The projects given to growing children and their
purposes are anticipated and prepared in advance. We parents
can learn from the programs used in the best preschool
situations.
Children arrive at milestones generally close to the same
time. Little Sara and Yoni will be ready to begin scribbling
by the age of two. This is when the crayons are first set
out on the tables. Obviously, we would not give a baby
crayons because s/he cannot yet properly hold and control
this drawing tool and might put it in their mouths. The same
holds true for all levels of development. The ideal in a
preschool is that there is planning and supervision that
offer activities and materials at times when children can
succeed without being tested. He is given things to achieve
at his level and potential. He should be able to have a
success story every day.
Development for very little children starts in a general
manner and ends in a specific manner. In the beginning, an
infant can swing at a crib toy but not grasp it. His fine
moter skills are not coordinated. Yet, in a few months, the
baby will be able to grasp at this object. Most learning
situations begin with gross information input and output. It
is only after one has grasped the general concepts in
thought and action that one can go on to the finer details
and specifics. Occasionally, a child skips a developmental
step. She may walk before she crawls. If this happens, it
may be due to the child compensating for something that is
difficult and it is worthwhile to check it out. In handiwork
for young children, the pattern also follows large and
general to small and specific (or detailed).
Babies Learn Through Touch
Everything babies experience is a learning situation. They
learn through all their senses. Their brain develops through
the messages it receives. Little babies need to experience
messages. The information is eventually organized and
enjoyed. Touch awakens the mind and the body of a child.
Exposure to a variety of textures encourages the babies to
touch objects which encourages use of their hands and minds.
Exposure to a variety of textures: fuzzy, wet, smooth, rough
and so on, encourages the tactile sense of touch in
babies.
Sometimes older children don't want to touch clay or paint.
This can be a stage or result from a message from the home.
Children should be willing to touch things. Sometimes, a
child will not want to touch his food, or play in sand. This
is something to work out because it is very healthy for
children to get dirty, in moderation. If a child does not
want to touch things, we won't force them. We present it to
them over and over. We let them watch their friends and we
hope soon they will touch it themselves.
Under Three Years Old
Under three: water play, large bead work, sand play, clay,
finger painting and drawing (scribbling). When the children
are able to use both hands, we bring in large beadwork. This
comes early and is one of the first things we do. There is a
lot to learn from placing big beads on plastic string such
as grasping, threading, sequence and repetition. Choosing
and sorting comes later. Children experience challenge and
success in their age range and really enjoy it.
We give them clay around the age of one and a half when they
are able to move one hand to the other and use both hands
together. Clay can be an object of delightful play. They put
their personalized imprint into the clay. The mark is solid
and has form and doesn't disappear until the clay is removed
and mashed up again. Sticking pieces of small things in the
clay or pounding and rolling the clay is satisfying. Clay is
three dimensional and pliable and can represent organic
forms in nature to the child that later in life can be
formed into functional objects. Children also like playing
with rolls of clay or sand in containers because it is
suggestive of challa making or baking.
There are a lot of learning concepts for infants in water
play. They love water play. They are given little wet
objects like sponges to squeeze. Water feels clean and
soothing. Pouring, splashing, dropping objects in water is
fascinating to little children. [Pour some liquid soap into
a pail or bathtub as the water is running in and let them
play with the foam and bubbles.] We go on to play in
sandboxes. They feel, lift, throw, fill, pour, sift, mix and
shape the sand.
Finger painting also offers random intense sensory
experience. It makes children very aware of their fingers
and hands, of colors and what is considered clean or messy.
Children get very excited about the freedom to make a mess.
Like clay, finger painting may be confusing or objectionable
to a few children. If so, show them how it can be washed off
when finished or put a bit of dishwashing detergent in the
paint to make cleanup easy.
We prepare children for the manipulation of scissors by
giving them clothes pins and a hard piece of board and let
them put the pins all around it. Or let them hang laundry.
Opening and closing pins is similar to the motion of cutting
with scissors. If they are not able to handle clothes pins,
don't give them scissors yet. Scissors require too much
work. In the late twos you begin to see if they can handle
clothes pins and scissors.
Scribbling and drawing materials are provided around the age
of two when a child has control of his upper torso, arms,
both hands and fingers. Then you can expect him to produce
average sequential patterns in drawing (dots or random
marks, vertical lines, horizontal lines, curved lines and
borders). A child needs to use both hands together, one to
hold the paper down and one to draw with. Until the child is
ready to use both hands in an organized manner, he is not
ready to draw. The paper will be falling on the floor or
ripping. He is not only using hands, he is using the rest of
his body to balance part of an object. His brain and eyes
should be matured and able to deal with this set of
maneuvers. He can coordinate and move his fingers, wrist,
shoulder and upper torso. He has something in mind that he
can work out. Before two, he can't control his hands or
wrists in a way he needs to.
NEXT WEEK: Three Year Olds
