Week of the Young Child 2022: Artsy Thursday

Children are naturally creative. It is our job to give them the freedom, materials and space to let their creativity blossom to its full potential.

Jean Van’t Hul

Walk into any preschool classroom and you will see one of the favorite areas is the art area. This is a place where the children have the opportunity to explore a variety of materials and create. The process of using the materials is unique to each child, and the discoveries they make expand their understanding of the world around them. Problem-solving with art materials allows children to experiment and discover properties of materials as well as promote decision making.

It is not about the end product, but the exploration and freedom of creating something personal that represents the child. These experiences build connections within the brain that develop essential thinking skills-pattern recognition, mental representations, symbolic representation and abstract thinking.

Ms. Kalsey, a first-year teacher at Beyer Early Childhood Center, is looking forward to celebrating Week of the Young Child with her students:

"In honor of the Week of the Young Child and the art center being one of our most used areas in the classroom, we are excited to participate in Artsy Thursday! In my classroom our focus at the art center is on process art, where students can experiment and engage with a variety of materials and techniques. They aren't worried about the end product. Instead they're able to use their own creativity and ideas to create the image inside their minds and display that in whichever way they wish. As we are entering the beginning of spring and watching our environment change outside, I'm sure we will start seeing that displayed in their work. I can't wait to see what they create!"

Interested in learning more about the RPS 205 Early Childhood opportunities for families with children Birth-age 5? Visit the early childhood webpage or call the Early Childhood Screening and Placement Office at 815-229-2103.

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Hillary Cook-Harris

Hillary Cook-Harris is the Director of Early Childhood Curriculum and Assessment. Hillary joined RPS 205 in November 2019. She has been an Early Childhood educator and director for more than 27 years.