This week Diarmuid presented us with the opportunity to explore the Children’s Art Archive This included work from children from all over the U.K. It was laid out into early, first and second level examples.

At early level, (McAuliffe, 2007) states that children tend to move their whole arm to create art as well as stabbing like motions. This piece is what looks to be a child’s interpretation of a rainforest. You can see the while arm movements in the trunk of the tree, and I must admit that I was blown away with the creativity and standard of the work.

 This first level piece is also of a high standard; however, it looks like part of a teacher-lead activity and not as spontaneous or creative. It is at a much higher level of detail and the attention to this detail is overwhelming. This could have been part of a topic related IDL.

This second level artwork definitely looks like topic related IDL. At this stage, children become aware of artists and their styles and become more critical of their own abilities and inhibitions. This is referred to as the ‘gang stage’ (McAuliffe, 2007). I really like how this particular piece tells a story of what the child imagines pre-historic times was like.

Overall this lesson provided me with an insight into children’s art and how to handle and not assess – but to appreciate it, and to display it with pride.

 McAuliffe, D (2007) Foundation and Primary Settings. In Teaching Art and Design 3-11 (ed). London: Continuum.

This week was our first week in Integrated Arts.
 
In art, we were asked to note down our experiences with the arts – both negative and positive. Our lecturer taught us about how when children scribble, it is art. If children are creating art to show us how they see the world, it is important that we take care and interest and engage with their art (McAuliffe, 2007).

During Music, we were learning about Music Appreciation. To start off, we listened to five sound bites and we were then asked to write down how they made us feel. Bloomfield & Childs (2000) suggests that art gives us a chance to all appreciate the arts individually. This was the first time I feel like I really understood this concept. In the classroom, this concept could be introduced to children in a very similar way.

Our next activity was to listen to a longer piece of music and create a storyboard of what we thought was happening. The music was the Tin Soldier from Disney’s Fantasia. What was interesting is that although each group had different ideas, we all had similar themes. In a classroom situation, this would be a great stimulus for imaginative writing and would also cover music E’s & O’s too!

Bloomfield, A and Childs, J (2000) Teaching Integrated Arts in the Primary School. Oxon: David Fulton Publishers.

McAuliffe, D (2007) Foundation and Primary Settings. In Teaching Art and Design 3-11 (ed). London: Continuum.