- written by Ms. Ashwini Maslekar, TFI fellow 2015-17 and an intern at
Mantra4Change
The Art-Mela was organised
by the students of 2nd year M.A. in Education (Early
Childhood stream) of the Azim Premji University. Though of a short duration
(half a day from 9.30-2.00), the event was packed with several take-aways with
respect to the potential of art in the curriculum and pedagogical practices in
pre-schools. The aim of the Mela was to ‘open up the opportunities and possibilities
of art and its implementation in the curriculum to reveal the integration of
both, to make the classroom teaching learning practices interesting for the
pre-schoolers’.
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Even
before a formal gathering of all the participants was arranged, the foyer was
thrown open with an array of ‘Colour Blast’ activities. These activities made
the participants get hands on learning experience of various art activities
while also enabling them to thoroughly enjoy themselves. All the activities
part of this are listed below.
WALL
PAINTING: for the purpose of the event large chart papers were put up on the
walls of the foyer. With no set design in mind the participants could make use
of materials such as sponge, leaves (of different types) and even their hands
to paint (imprint) on the ‘wall’. A simple fun way to express ones thoughts
with no right or wrong painting, this activity would be a great way to decorate
the classrooms.
SPRAY
PAINTING: the tool used here was an old toothbrush which resulted in beautiful
paintings of leaves, flowers, paper cut outs or any object which will leave
behind a pattern. An artistic touch to reusing old objects and also learning
about shapes and patterns
STRAW
PAINTING: requiring one to huff and puff through a straw on the paper, this
method created interesting patterns on the paper. It is a joy to find known
shapes emerge from a random flow of the paints. The size of the straws can vary
with the age of the kids.
BUBBLE-WRAP
ROLLING: wrap a bubble wrap on a rolling pin, paint colour on it and just roll
away.
GLASS
RINGS: this activity involved the use of paper glasses with paint on their rim.
As kids make circles with the glasses, they can learn a variety of mathematical
concepts from counting to Venn diagrams.
VEGETABLE
IMPRINTS: Onions, Capsicum, French Beans, Lady Fingers, Potatoes or any other
vegetable that will leave a distinguishable imprint. This activity which is
quiet popular in schools gives the students and idea of shapes, patterns and
about the vegetables themselves.
FROZEN
PAINTS: a painting method which surprised and intrigued everyone, this involved
freezing paints mixed with water with an ice-cream stick to create paint
popsicles! As the paint starts melting roll these popsicles on a rough surface
to create any pattern one desires.
THREAD
PAINTING: dip threads of various sizes into paints and drag them or simply
place them on the paper to create design.
TIE
AND DYE: this stall had two methods of dying cloth. One was the well-known way
which used grains tied in the cloth with a thread while the other one required
a wet cloth to be put into a half cut bottle with holes on the sides. All one
has to do is put paint through the holes to stain the cloth. The result is a
colourful melange. It is nothing short of Holi in a bottle!
RANGOLI:
Rangoli is a great way to understand lines and patterns. One can have
symmetrical patterns by connecting dots or make asymmetrical designs of variety
of colours and details. For those who are less deft than others with their
fingers the organizers had a quick fix. Just spread the rangoli colours onto
your design and make any desired pattern with your index finger (or any finger
you are most comfortable with).
CLAY
MODELLING: the surest way to get ones hands dirty and still learn a whole deal.
Clay modelling is quite useful for developing motor skills in children. Apart
from that it can also be used to understand 3-D shapes by actually making the
miniature models.
ORIGAMI:
the Japanese paper folding art has been with us throughout our childhood and
has varying levels of difficulty. With basic folding, the children can make
their own playthings and also learn lines and shapes.