Sage Learning Center

The way this craft was “supposed” to look: It started with a piece of paper with a printed tree trunk on it. The children were supposed to color in the tree trunk brown, dip a hand in the green paint, and then make a single handprint on the tree trunk for the leaves. Then they could use the stickers to decorate it.

Instead, my child traced the outline of the tree trunk very carefully. Then they explored the texture of the paint on both their hands. They made a single handprint on the page, then noticed the way the paint smeared and spread and began spreading it around with both hands. They tried to peel off a single sticker, but something about the way the stickers were attached made a whole line of them come off the sheet (they’re attached by a clear adhesive). On their second try, they managed to take only 2, and on their third try they had successfully increased their fine motor skill to take only 1 sticker.

It doesn’t look like a handy, completed, finished product to give to a parent. But because I observed them completing the process, I know what the exploration and learning all looked like and how valuable it was!

“Process art”, as opposed to “product art” where the emphasis is on the final product, is so valuable for children. But by its very nature, it can be hard to see the value if you’re only looking at the final thing instead of getting to watch them go through it. (Which many parents would, necessarily, have to be if their child is bringing home work from school.) As an example in this picture, I would have no idea that my child spent so much time painstakingly tracing the outline of the tree trunk with a brown marker, because it got totally covered up by the green paint — but they did, and that was part of the process and a valuable chance to practice fine motor control.

Still, I think if parents felt or expressed enjoyment in their children’s process art — and if (especially preschool) teachers felt a lack of pressure to produce “products” with their kids but felt appreciated and successful sending home “process” — I think that the way kids learn through free exploration of materials would be much more valuable.

[Image description: A hand holding up a piece of paper, on which is a green paint blob that has 3 rows of stickers on it: a set of two, a line of six, and then a single sticker. They are vaguely arranged like flowers on a bush, if the green blob were a bush. Underneath it is a caption which reads “No matter how tall we grow, we’ll always look up to you. We love you, Daddy!” as this was originally a Father’s Day craft. End description.]

❤️❤️ Grace To Parent

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