Arts and Culture: For a Four Year Old

I wanted to share some of our current favorite books.

This first is my favorite, and the kids just get to reap the benefits. If you have young children, this book is a must-have, in my opinion. It will get you through some dark, long, lonely, crabby afternoons. Mary Ann Kohl’s First Art : Art Experiences for Toddlers and Twos. I love Kohl’s philosophy of art for young children, that it is a process, without so much the finished “product” in mind. It’s about learning, experimenting, doing, touching.

Kohl says:

During the process, toddlers and twos discover their own independence, as well as the mystery of combinations, the joy of exploration, the delight of creating, and the frustration of challenges–all important pieces in the puzzle of learning… The art process allows toddlers and twos to explore, discover, and manipulate their worlds…Art process can be a way to ‘get the wiggles out’ or to smash a ball of clay instead of another child. The adult’s job is simply to allow this process to happen!

There are six chapters full of activities (and recipes!!) divided under the categories:

• paint activities,
• dough and clay activities
• making marks in various ways
• sticking on and gluing things
• making prints
• activities for adults to enhance their children’s explorations

There’s a great variety of activities which are specific enough to help you figure out what to do, but general enough to act as a launching for further creativity. There’s also a helpful key with each project so that you’ll have an idea how long it may take and what the mess level might be.

I know the book is listed for toddlers and twos, but my four-year-old and one-year-old are both having a great time. In fact, I even used some of the ideas for our church’s VBS crafts–all the way to 5th grade, so don’t let the title scare you. (Though Mary Ann Kohl has many other tantalizing books.)

Other books we’ve been enjoying this summer (now that I’ve finally paid the, ahem, library fine) are the “Small” books by children’s author Lois Lenski (1893-1974). When I was kid, I read her Strawberry Girl
over and over, so I was tickled to find this other series of books for my son. There’s Fireman Small, The Little Train, The Little Auto, The Little Sailboat, etc. Each book features the main character, Mr. Small, as he goes about his day on whichever adventure. Brief explanations of trains, sailboats, autos, etc are woven into the story. And since these books were written around the 1930s, it’s a fun little history lesson, too, because traffic laws for Policeman Small are much different than what we know today.  The illustrations are simple and charming. We have been enjoying these books immensely, and I’m tucking them away as Christmas present ideas.