Clearing mental clutter
It has been well documented by different schools of psychology that children thrive around order. If everything has its place, if it is neatly organized and set up, then the mind can also work calmly, be more focused and organized.
Our first art lesson was based around this type of order: knowing where everything was stored in the art supply cupboard, knowing how to use it, clean it up, and put it back in its place. We started off by linking the art lesson to math and learned about different types of lines: vertical, horizontal, diagonal, perpendicular, zigzag etc.
Then students used these different types of lines with a specific medium, using one type of medium in each square. In the end, they tried eight different types of media and made a composition with a title, labels and their names. Throughout this process, they found their own materials, experimented with their use, cleaned and replaced them in the art supply cabinet.Some background classical music helped make the atmosphere even more pleasant, so much so that at the end of the lesson the students asked for more!
