Every month Mother Goose Time invites their blog ambassadors (that’s me!) to share some of our experiences with using the curriculum. This month I have been asked to respond to questions about the “Art of Learning.” Here is a quick snapshot of how we use Mother Goose Time’s “Visual Arts” resources in our home school.
Visual Arts
What MGT project or activity did you do that encouraged your child to make choices through an artistic process?
A visual arts activity that has really stood out recently as an opportunity for Ladybug to express herself and make choices is a simple cow craft project from our “Food and Fitness Theme.” The object of the craft was to understand that cows and people have similarities and differences. For instance, cows and humans both have one heart, but cows have four stomachs, whereas, humans have one.
Describe how your child expressed his ideas throughout this project.
Ladybug chose to represent the four stomachs and one heart differently than presented on the above craft sheet. She reported that cows do not have hearts and stomachs on the outside of their body, so it was silly to glue them onto their skin. She chose instead to open the paper plate and glue these body parts inside the cow’s body where they belong. This was adorable, smart, and humorous.
I had actually turned away to help her younger brother with his craft during the gluing process. When I turned back around I couldn’t’ find the paper organs and she had to explain what she had done and the logic behind it to me. This little one amazes me everyday 🙂
Was there challenge?
Ladybug’s biggest challenge with this project was the placement of the cow’s legs. She glued the legs on before stapling on the glove we used as an udder. After the udder was attached, it was no longer possible to see the front legs of her cow. This bothered her, but since the glue had already dried moving them was difficult.
How did she problem-solve?
Ladybug first tried to solve the problem by removing the front legs, but the since the glue had already dried the paper started to tear. We discussed that even though the legs weren’t easily visible they were still there. The craft cow did still have two legs even though you couldn’t see them. She wasn’t thrilled with this answer. She created two new legs out of paper to attach to the front of the cow, but they didn’t match in length and she ultimately decided that having two legs blocked by the udder was preferable to the cow having legs of different lengths since that might interfere with her ability to walk well. Have I mentioned how much I enjoy this child recently? 🙂
What do you believe is the benefit of art in learning?
Our family benefits most from art by using it as a vehicle to start discussions and encourage the kid’s natural curiosity. Some of our best conversations have been the result of creating artwork or working on crafts.
Art also helps my kids:
- safely experiment with the world around them
- mixing colors
- playing with glue
- observe the natural world
- a cow’s stomach is inside the cow not on it’s skin
- birds have feathers
- follow directions
- able to use provided templates and images
- listen to auditory instructions
- fine motor skills
- scissors, cutting, gluing, drawing, assembly, etc.
How about you? In what ways does art benefit your home school?
As a blog ambassador for Mother Goose Time, I am happy to share preschool curriculum ideas, activities, and crafts with my readers. Mother Goose Time provides our family the opportunity to use their curriculum free of charge in exchange for honest and authentic stories based on our personal experience. 
