by Shiona Herbert
As an early childhood art teacher, I often use toys and books to connect young learners to some of the major players of Fine Art. For example, an Elmer plush toy and book provides an excellent starting point for learning about the art of Paul Klee.
Elmer the Patchwork Elephant is a great toy to introduce young children to the art of Paul Klee
I have two gorgeous stripped monkey toys named Bridget and Riley who I call upon to introduce learning about lines and then go on to show them the art of Bridget Riley. (You should see the kids’ faces when they realize the monkeys are named after a famous artist!)
Bridget and Riley monkeys
Andy Warhol’s love of commercialization has led to the availability of banana and cat cushions in the form of his famous paintings. And of course, there are many ‘artist dolls’ that offer a toy in the likeness of your favourite, famous, artist. A small Frida Kahlo doll is cherished in my collection.
Sam the Warhol Cat
A beloved Frida Kahlo toy
While these lovely toys wait for their moment to shine, they remain on stand-by for an even more important purpose…
Some days your art class or home schoolers are full of bouncing-bean energy while other days it seems they’ve all be hit with melancholy pox. On most days, majority of your kids are switched on, but on those few occasions, no matter how much coaxing, incentive providing (or bribing) that occurs, one particular child is completely overwhelmed by life at that moment in time and is crying and withdrawing from everything, including your brilliant art lesson!
This actually saps energy from all who are present. No one likes to see a class mate or family member distraught and upset. It also makes the internalizing educator panic and wonder “how on earth can I make this better?”
“Call upon an Art Toy!” I say.
“What do you mean?” You ask.
Well, stashed somewhere in a secret place in your Art Room or Learning Space there will be a custom-made Art Treasure Trove of Strength containing:
· Frida Kahlo plush toy for them to cuddle.
· Andy Warhol Sam cat (or banana) toy to snuggle into or lie on as a pillow.
· A few pencils and easy drawing books to distract their overwhelming thoughts.
· Some simple art books or color-in books.
· A couple of funny post cards and quote magnets to bring a smile to their face.
· A small box of tissues ready for action.
Treasure Trove of Strength to help comfort and soothe.
Let your unsettled learner sit somewhere away from the rest of the group, place the Treasure Trove in front of them and encourage them ‘in their own time’ to riffle through the contents, and let them rejuvenate through the magic of art. Continue teaching the rest of your students, but glance over at the Treasure Trove visitor from time to time to see how they are going.
When your learners are busy working on the art task for the session, ‘drop in’ to see how your treasure trove buddy is doing. “Are you feeling a bit better? How good are Ms Kahlo’s cuddles? What do you think Sam would like to eat (if he was real)? Would they like to join in with us now or would you all like to spend more time at the Treasure Trove?”
From my experience, even if a child looks visibly better and have stopped crying, (and appear like they are totally capable of joining the class), they will be loving the quality time with the Treasure Trove and will prefer to ‘stay with it.
So, let them!
Allow them to build up their own reserves of strength a bit longer.
For the once-a-week-art-teachers reading this: the next lesson you see them, you can follow up by saying “Frida and Sam the Cat say ‘Hi’ and hope you are feeling better this week.” This is a really sweet way to ‘checking in’ with your student without them feeling like you are prying into their lives.
You might even ‘train up’ a classmate who you know is socially competent beyond their years and is such a nourishing, empathetic soul, that you can trust them to collect the Treasure Trove, set it up and provide gentle instructions to the Sad Soul on how to interact with the contents.
So, when you’ve got a moment, grab that large box you’ve been keeping for something but you’re not sure what for just yet, and fill it up with the suggested items (or whatever you feel is most suitable for cuddling), as well as the random things that you know will sooth and lift the spirits of your learners. Then, place your Treasure Trove of Strength (or whatever you wish to call it), somewhere easy to grab, but hidden away from the normal clutter of your learning space.
Heads Up: sometimes a student will connect with a particular card or quote magnet inside the Trove so be prepared to ‘gift’ it to them so they have a reminder that someone cares and that people before them (artists in fact) have pulled themselves out of adversity and have gone on to achieve great success… and they can too.
Have fun and take care,
Art History Kids
Now It’s Your Turn!
We’re sure that you’d have heaps of goodies to put in your Arty Treasure Trove, but if you need to pad it out, sign up to our Learning Library for free access to engaging art activities such as the Draw Like Basquiat and Draw Like Haring booklets.
Instructions
Sign up to Art History Kids email list to receive access to the free Learning Library
Download the Draw Like Basquiat and the Draw Like Haring PDFs in the Learning Library
Print them
Gather all the pages together and cut them in half to create two small booklets
Staple the pages of each booklet together
Grab your favorite pencil and start drawing!
NB. Photos supplied by Moshi Moshi Photography