What is Process Art?
Process art is centered around the making of the art. It does not need a set way or specific look at the end. It is about the different learning that goes into making the art.
Important Characteristics of Process Art are:
- NO specific right or wrong way to do the art.
- NO end result on how the art should look.
- Open ended and enjoyable to do and repeat.
- NOT important step by step directions on how to complete the art.
An example of this is the picture above. The child is mixing watercolors into a paint pallet. This art is not something the child will be able to take home later or needs to look a certain way. The child can mix many different paints together to get endless amounts of colors while also working on many learning areas such as color recognition, fine motor skills, communication, early chemistry, early science and mathematical skills.
What is Product Art?
Product Art is doing a project that has a specific end result of what it should look like. These often have many step-by-step directions. Childrens focus is on getting the project done instead of using imagination and play to complete the process.
Why is Process Art So Important?
Process art experiences facilitate creativity and exploration. They stimulate new ideas, new discoveries and start to scaffold on previous reptations and escalate learning to a whole new level. Children build confidence when repeating steps in process art and have a better understanding of predicting, planning, comparing and problem solving. They also get a greater sense of ownership and pride in their creations.
What If Its Ugly?
That is okay!! Not all the art is savable and refrigerator worthy. Just because we as adults do not find the picture visually appealing, doesn't mean the child will not be swooned over it. Remember they just took all that time building and creating and exploring how to use the tools, and simply doing the art.
How to Support this Style of Art:
- Provide a variety of materials that the child can use and explore easily by themselves. These materials could be items like; paper, scissors, glue, tape, stickers, paint, crayons, markers, ect.
- Teach them different ways on how to use the tools an materials provided to them.
- Allow plenty of time for them to create. Give reminders how how many minutes they have left to create their art so its not a shock or disappointment when they have to stop.
- When talking about their art say things like: " Can you tell me more about this?" "What did you use to make this?" " What is your plan with ________ section of the paper?"
We as adults sometimes need to take a step back and let the children simply do the art... even if it isnt what we envisioned.
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