Painting the Sun: Thoughts about Art in the Montessori Classroom.
Who makes the rule that says a painting of the sun should be a big yellow dot in the sky?
Today is a beautiful day, just perfect for painting the sun.
Anyway, this morning it dawned on me that the value of including art in education is underestimated – certainly in mainstream classrooms where there’s less creative freedom.
Giving a person a chance to interpret what they’ve learned in their own way allows them to share their understanding. It also provides a unique opportunity to build confidence and gain feedback while they learn.
Most of my own art is related to nature, whether that be landscapes, flowers, animals or sea. Each of these things relies upon the sun for survival so I suppose what I’m trying to say is that art – in every form – is subjective and open to interpretation.
If we look at this from a project based learning angle, it’s easy to see why allowing freedom within boundaries is a good thing. We can also underpin our projects with the five great lessons, and use big picture questioning to work on ideas.
Project Based Learning Ideas with Art at the Heart
Let’s start by asking some questions.
- What does the sun mean to you?
- How does it make you feel?
- Close your eyes an imagine you’re outside on a sunny day. What can you smell?
Just these three questions are a launchpad for imaginative thinking. They are also an opportunity to talk about grammar, to paint a picture, or to write.
- I could sit and write about a trip to the sea, I could describe the feeling of warmth on my back.
- I could paint a memory of a special day.
- I could remember a song I heard on a holiday and dance to it!
- A child might remember the smell of cut grass on a sunny day, and ask why the grass only smells like that when it’s been mowed.
In the last example the opportunity to research the natural world arises. For instance, the grass doesn’t grow below a certain temperature – it needs the sun to thrive! Just one of plenty of discussions that could be had.
Sowing these little seeds of ideas is a great way to educate others and to learn ourselves. A few words can start all kinds of thought processes, and how we interpret and communicate things is our own unique gift. In fact, the featured image in this article is my daughter’s interpretation of the sun, painted soon after a chat about Picasso!
My own thoughts have led me down a path to Take Five Words and the concept of seed based lateral thinking. I’ll be writing more about that soon; it’s a simple idea with huge possibilities!
But to take things full circle, and to my opening question.
The answer is, it’s up to you. There are no rules.
A fiery ball, a scorched field, or melting ice – each could be an interpretation of painting the sun. Go grab a brush or a pen, and use the bullets above to create your own version. Even better, share it with your children or those you teach!
That’s all for now, but I’ll be back on the blog soon with more ideas.
If you’d like to share your results you can join me on Patreon, FB, Instagram, or Pinterest – all profile names are Montessori Stories.
