What is art? Why do we engage in artistic experiences with young children? What are children pursuing in their relationships with art materials? What values and beliefs do we hold about young children and the arts and do our practices align with these? What if there’s more to the arts with young children than process and product? Do common mantras like ‘process-based art’ speak to the complexity that is inherent in children’s pursuits with art materials? Together, in this 1.5-hour session, let’s deconstruct ‘process’ and ‘product’ in children’s art experiences and consider what other possibilities might exist for children if we shifted some of our language, thinking and practices.

Come and discover the value and possibilities in creating an outdoor art studio. We will consider questions such as: What could an outdoor studio look like? Feel like? Would it be a permanent or transient space? Or have elements of both permanency and fluidity? Would there be a difference in the materials that are offered outdoors vs indoors? What possibilities does an outdoor studio hold that an indoor studio doesn’t? How could space be used? What elements could tie the indoor and outdoor studios together? Material, space and outdoor provocation ideas will be shared as part of the conversation, and we will also take time to explore 1-2 art and nature provocations together.

Bottle caps are buttons on a space shuttle, an empty wrapping paper tube is a telescope, leftover laminate is the windshield on a cardboard car. Recycled materials hold infinite possibilities. Children naturally see these possibilities and breathe new life into materials that we as adults might otherwise discard. In this 1.5-hour session, we’ll think together about the important role recycled materials hold in children’s play and how we can nurture and deepen this natural relationship between children and recycled materials. We will also take some time ourselves to explore the possibilities of a few recycled materials.