Chipmunk is two now, and eager to join in with his big brothers -- whether it's playing knights, Jedi, or making art. Over the past few weeks, the boys have done some collage here and there -- usually to decorate a box they want to use as a ship (space or pirate). Chipmunk's approach to collage is a little different than the other boys', though.
When the other kids do art, we often talk about "filling up the page." That isn't a problem for Chipmunk.
Chipmunk's method is generally to dig out big handfuls of collage materials and dump them on the paper. This often gives good results, with a little adult spreading-out:
(I had an idea to try to draw the twins with their egg-interest into an activity using an egg-frame drawn on paper. I set out a whole bunch of materials, drawing pens, and oil pastels. The twins didn't want anything to do with it. But Chipmunk climbed up on the bench and got right to work.)
While we worked here -- Chipmunk scattering sequin shapes and me wielding a bottle of Elmer's glue -- I tried to emphasize that he needed to put the shapes on the glue or they wouldn't stick. I'm not sure how well that lesson "stuck", but we're working on it. What I will often do is to pour some glue (Mod-Podge is the glue I like best) into a bowl and give him a brush. He gets glue all over himself, but it washes off. And that way his "stuff" is almost guaranteed to stick. He can't use a bottle of glue yet, but he does like to have one if the other boys' are using bottles, too. If that's the case, I often squeeze out big loops of glue for him, and he just focuses on putting the materials onto it.
In the case of his "shiny egg", I have been thinking that maybe I could set out another one for him to make. Then I could cut them out and glue them together, back to back. Then I thought I might punch a hole in the top and hang it from the ceiling in the dining/learning room, where it could catch the light. We'll see if it pans out :-).
Here's another of his collages that I particularly like, and that I enjoyed watching him make:
You can see that I put down a little extra glue -- a bit ahead of where he was, I guess. Pop was using the beads for something else at the time -- gluing them on a box, I think, as "buttons". I started out by giving Chipmunk the long beads since he was insistent on having some. (He does still sometimes put things in his mouth, so while he's doing this work, I have to sit or stand beside him all the time. If he starts to put something in his mouth, I know he's done because he's not concentrating on his work anymore... he's beginning to just goof off. He knows he's not supposed to put the art materials in his mouth.) He began carefully putting the long beads together in a train. If there wasn't any glue beneath them, I moved them over just slightly -- trying not to disturb his concentration -- and squeezed out a bit of glue underneath it. He had to work very hard to put the beads down just so. It was good work for him, and he had that happy, fulfilled manner that Montessori talks about when he was done.
Beautiful!!! Reminds me I need to get the collage tub going again.
Posted by: Theresa | October 18, 2009 at 11:09 PM