The Magic of Art at The Children’s Museum of the Upstate

This week’s blog is written by Erin Munroe, Museum Coordinator, TCMU-Spartanburg Para versión en español, haga clic aquí. Children learn many things from art appreciation. Connecting or expressing non-verbally is very important for Pre-K children. We may think that letting them sit and often times make a mess is not very important, but to them they are making choices and learning to express themselves. By learning to appreciate art, children begin to learn how to translate their thoughts into language. Observing closely (what colors do you see), thinking critically (they used brown for a horse because horses are brown), and discussing respectfully (what do you like about the art work?) are all Common Core elements. Here at The Children’s Museum of the Upstate we value these learning behaviors in all ages and strive to incorporate them into all we do. When given the opportunity to work with children we turn an art activity into a moment to talk about feelings, and build confidence in children to try new things. We have seen children who have never painted before and children who are afraid of messing their picture up turn into brilliant artists in our museum. Every time we lead a new project we always hear kids say it was their favorite thing. We have also seen over 4,300 people engage in art programming here at the museum. In this video we have a very simple craft you can do with your children at home. The materials needed are: markers, coffee filters, and a spray bottle. We are teaching children how to tie dye and mix colors. Our program guide Fatima walks you through step by step showing you what to do along the way. First, color the coffee filter completely with the markers. You can color any way you’d like. Second, using a spray bottle spray the filter and make sure it is all wet. Third and last, wait on the filter to dry then create many things out of it such as: a butterfly or monster. You can also make multi-colored flowers and window decorations.