Paint: Learning the Elements

Smith (pp. 17-39)

-Children experience the kinesthetic sensation of their arm movement, the
tactile sensation of the paint brush, and then discover marks produced on
the paper (17)
-enthusiastic activity, experiences like this-- experimentation--will lead to
children to discover the properties of paint (18)
Stimulated by their pleasure in the feel of paint, by their interest in the
mysterious phenomenon of making colors change, and by making marks
appear where none were before, the children continue to paint and
experiment (18)
-process over product- the sensation of the material
-teachers can comment on the childrens effort, interest, pleasure, body
movements, expressivity of the graphic elements, colors
-Communication of their pleasure and understanding helps teachers to build
a shared sense of concern for painting with the children (23)
-children discover about line, shapes, colors
-repetition and variation- foundation principles of design, discovered and
used by children
-teacher can bring consciousness and awareness to the ideas children are
grappling with and talk about the characteristics of visual elements, as well
as the repetition and variations
One of the profoundest rewards of young childrens work with paint is their
developing sense of themselves as active and competent agents, able to
interact and be effective in the world (31)
Shift to designing:
-childrens concept of surface space of the paper grows
-realization of boundaries between shapes (and shared boundaries)
-variety and complexity increases: for ex: repetition and variation with
geometric shapes, patterns, organization, arrangement of lines, shapes,
colors
-Teacher can teach self-reflection and thoughtful attention to craft (Is this
just the way you want it? (39)