Art enables primary school students to have fun and learn.
Art is a beneficial subject to engage primary school students in. Through art activities, children of this age learn about colors, shapes, patterns and textures. Art activities also help young children develop fine motor skills. In addition, children of this age learn to think creatively and critically, express themselves and appreciate others' ideas when they are exposed to the arts.
Emotional Art
When teaching primary school students about emotions, art is an ideal way for children to convey the different emotions they feel. Have a discussion with your students about different emotions--happy, sad and mad, for example. Place a variety of different colored paints, paint brushes and artist paper out for children to use. Inform them that you are going to name an emotion and that you would like them to use the paints to create a picture to show what they think the emotion looks like. Once they have completed their pictures, compare them to see if there are any similarities among students. It is interesting to see what colors and images children use to express their feelings and how specific colors are generally associated with different feelings.
Shape Art
This art activity reinforces shape recognition. Out of oak tag, create a variety of different shaped stencils--squares, triangles, circles, hearts, ovals, rectangles, octagons and hexagons, for example. Distribute the stencils, colored construction paper, crayons, markers and colored pencils to students. Ask students to use the stencils and art supplies to create pictures. Inform them that the pictures don not have to be about anything in particular, that they just need to use their imaginations. Once they have created their artwork, have them share with the class, explaining what they drew and the different shapes they used to create their masterpieces.
Textured Art
Allow children to get creative with different types of textured materials. Set out a variety of materials--for instance, construction paper, crepe paper, newspaper, lace, cotton, wool, tin foil, sandpaper and cotton. Provide children with glue, tape, crayons, scissors, markers, crayons and artist paper. Instruct them to use the materials to create their own unique works of art. The collection of materials provides a sensory experience, as not only are they visually interesting when combined, but children will also enjoy feeling the different textures. Display the completed artwork on a wall that children can reach and allow them to observe their classmates creations, not only with their eyes, but also with their hands.
