I love open ended art. What is this you ask?
This is art that is focusing on the process rather than the product!
This allows kids to survey the materials they have and use their imagination to create and to explore rather than going by directions and re-creating something that has already been done!
This allows children to think outside the box and use that side of the brain to think about how they would like to make something.
When my kids were little, I would get out art supplies and let them create! Joey, at age 6, loved using buttons, paint and glue. So his paintings were very colorful and had different textures because of the buttons!
One day Jackson, when he was 3, made a little monster from googly eyes, a toilet paper roll and pipe cleaners! Then he role played with me about how he loved Jesus and his little monster sang "Jesus loves me."
Fast forward to present time with them being older. It is summer of 2024.
Open ended art and activities, is STILL a thing they they enjoy doing! All of my kids range from 8 all the way up to 15!
The other day, we said enough to screen time and they need to do something creative. Jack got out something he got for Christmas that included 5 little cars and clay. The instructions of this was to redecorate the cars with the clay.
Well, the clay was dried out and they couldn't do what the box said.
One kiddo said, "Oh hey, lets make a racetrack with boxes!"
Once I heard that, I knew that the creativity was going to flow from everyone! 4 kids worked on the race track by cutting, coloring, taping and trying what they had made. They had to go back a few times and fix places that was not working but they were working together and putting their heads together creating a race track!
Our oldest didn't want to do the race track which was fine! He was on his own little creativity path. Joey loves everything about animals which includes fish!
He asked if there was a box, glue, and markers. He proceeded to made a mock fish tank!
Check it out!
What are the best open ended materials?
Sand, blocks, water, play dough and paint.
Think of the possibilities with even these things. It doesn't take a whole lot of materials to be creative!
Have fun with your kids and watch their minds create things.
Who knows, you may have an artist or even an engineer on your hands!
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