You probably do some of this without even realising, but we’ve taken transient art to a new level at Sparkles and Millies, and we love it!
We were inspired by the work of Rachel, an early years teacher who regularly tweets her ideas and shares her pictures which are on her website http://www.stimulatinglearning.co.uk. Here are some of her fantastic pictures.
Transient, as the word suggests is moving and fluid art using “loose part” resources. It’s not stuck down, so pictures are movable and creativity and learning is child led meeting individual needs and learning. After joining an early years professional chat on Twitter about transient art, hosted by Rachel I became hooked! First I used resources we already had. These worked fine.
From the one table you can see the different ways children used the resources we found after a rummage in the cupboards! This child loved using natural resources with craft on a mirror tile. She organises the gems in a row and creates her she’ll and craft at the side.
This child creates a face. Huge concentration!
Another decides she need to “stick” gems down and transports some dough to the table.
I hope the pictures are demonstrating the learning value of transient art. The three pictures show how differently the children use and interpret their own learning. There is no right or wrong, there are no language barriers, no ability or gender restrictions. It will engage children who may struggle to stay with an activity. We have seen high levels of concentration, lots of fun, and children feeling good about what they have created. Lots of learning areas are covered; maths through creativity, counting, sorting, using shapes, physical fine motor skills, creative styles and differences, and above all a sense of achievement and a great boost to self-esteem.
I didn’t stop there…a quick visit to the Pound Shop for a few resources added light and colour to the transient art.
You can theme it, indoors it, outdoors it, number it, write with it, naturalise it, light it up, dull it down. I promise you, whatever you do with it, the children will be learning and engaged, and ready to talk to you about what they are doing.
Here are a few more pictures from Rachel. You can find her on FB Stimulating Learning by Rachel and on Twitter @HilaryWhite3. Thanks to Rachel for inspiration and permission to use her pictures.
Give it a go. It’s fabulous in so many ways!
Sparkling Pre-School and Child Care 