by Amelia Pennell, Hannah Howe, and Amelia Cote
Have you ever thought to yourself, I just want to do art? Almost all of the Village Elementary kids think this all of the time. The authors of this article love to make art and thought this was important enough to write about. We are writing to express how we and many other students feel about art in our schools.
Many kids that we asked throughout the grades said that they liked hands-on activities and many different types of art, such as drawing, painting, and other forms of art as well. We think hands-on activities are very important because people think in different ways and we want all learners to feel special.
We asked kids from all the grades at Village, and a kindergartener said “I like art because I like to color and use my hands to create something wonderful and beautiful using something other than a paintbrush because your hands make it even more unique”. Many kids in older grades have said that they really like doing artwork with clay.
Some kids have difficult things happening or things that have happened outside of school and need a way to escape, feel free, and let their mind wander without, or with less stress. Everyone has to find a way to escape sometimes and art can be a social emotional tool for that. For example, a fifth grader said, “I love art because art gives you freedom and reduces stress creating a calm environment to work and create something new and beautiful.”
A third grader said, “I love art because it gives you freedom and helps you think in a different way that you might not otherwise and any mistake isn’t really a mistake it’s just a happy accident and you can add or change slightly what you’re making and make it something even better that you hadn’t planned before.” When you do art you are in a calm environment reducing stress and having fun.
We asked our art teacher, Ms. Robinson who inspired this article, for her input and she said, “art allows people to think in a different way, to be able to express creativity, and it gives you a voice in a way you might not have in other things. I think one of my favorite things about being an art teacher is the difference in kids’ minds and the difference it makes in their art.”
Art can make big differences in learning and allows you to escape. We hope this article helps you realize how important art is to all ages. Many of the students we interviewed said how much they love our art teacher and we think she is one of the reasons why Village kids are loving art. Maybe one time in the future, or right now, you might want to create art too. Being able to do art is such an important thing at school and we are so grateful to have all of the amazing art teachers.