by Jennifer Barrett
Your schedule is packed. On top of everything you have already done, the grocery store trip is still looming on the horizon with child or children in tow. This excursion can be an exercise in patience since many a meltdown seems to happen at the store. Once your child’s excitement of driving the car attached to the shopping cart wears off, here are some ideas you can use to exercise your child’s creativity and keep them busy while you manage your errands.
Turning a trip to the Grocery Store into a Creativity Exercise:
Creativity has 4 components described by Dr. E. Paul Torrance (1915-2003), known as the father of creativity. These are:
▪ Fluency: the ability to produce lots of ideas and alternate solutions to problems.
▪ Flexibility: the ability to create ideas with a variety of possibilities, different angles, different points of view, and to use different approaches or strategies for problem solving.
▪ Originality: the ability to generate new, unusual, and unique ideas.
▪ Elaboration: the ability to expand on an idea by enhancing it with specific details. A detailed plan is one example of elaboration.
Next time you are at the store, focus on one of these components and one material. Take, for instance, the brown paper bag. As a grocery store item, this is about as mundane as it gets. Ask thinking questions for fluency such as: how many things can you make from a brown paper bag? For flexibility, ask: what other things can you use a brown paper bag for other than its intended purpose? For originality, ask: what is the most unique idea you can dream up in which to transform you bag? For elaboration, have your child create a story for their paper bag, such as the life of a brown paper bag. Who buys the bag? How long does the bag stay in its new home? What is it ultimately used for, a sack lunch? A puppet? Have your kids describe in detail the life cycle of their bag.
Fresh Lenses:
Let your kids be your eyes to discover materials they can use in their work. Materials like coffee filters and aluminum foil can be readily transformed into many interesting works of art, both 2-D and 3-D.
Supermarket Scavenger Hunt
Give your kids a dollar limit, and instruct them to find materials to create a work of art using only those materials. You could specify the subject, such as a puppet, emphasizing product. Or, keep it open ended, emphasizing process. Let your children see if they can experiment with the materials in different ways to realize their ideas. Since they chose the materials themselves, they will even be more invested in their outcomes. This is also a great way for them to extend their learning into math, keeping their materials within a budget.
Package Design
Turn aisles of cereal boxes and bags of chips into a branding and/or a graphic design project. Kids can choose a particularly aesthetically unappealing cereal box to makeover. Older kids can think of ways to solve packaging problems like how to reduce the overall volume of packaging through design.
Everyday Art Lesson: The Art of the Paper Bag
Materials Focus: Brown Paper Bag
Mess Factor: Low-Moderate
Ages: Can be modified for ages 15 months-18 years
Objectives: Students create art from brown paper bags with varying levels of complexity.
Suggested Additional Materials:
• Younger kids:
Brown paper bags, chalk, crayons, finger paints, images of cave paintings such
as Lascaux
• Older kids
Brown paper bags, chalk, crayons, pencils, scissors, glue, collage materials
▪ Middle and High School Students:
Brown paper bags, Conte crayon, charcoal, pencil, white or toned drawing paper
(**Materials are like Ingredients. Many things can be substituted for what you have on hand.)
Younger Children: Cave Painting
Cut a paper bag along the seam, and then along the bottom seam. Cut the remaining bottom piece off so that you are left with a flat rectangular piece. Have your child wrinkle the cut paper bag, so that the texture resembles a wall. Show your child pictures or books about cave paintings, like in Lascaux, and have children create a story about the pictures you show them. What story were the cave dwellers trying to tell through their drawings?
Chalk, crayons, or finger paints can be used to draw animals, people, or handprints on the paper bag “wall”. To create a more authentic cave painting experience, tape the paper to an easel or wall, and have your child draw on an upright surface. Use only the colors cave dwellers might have used, like pigments made from crushed berries and leaves.
Older Children: Puppets
This is an old project, but still a good one. Older children can create their favorite characters or animals out of paper bags. Materials can be other items you find in the grocery store, including cotton balls for sheep, aluminum foil cut into diamond shapes for the scales of dragons, etc. The Pinterest link below will reveal many fresh takes on brown paper bag puppets.
Middle School/High School Kids: Paper Bag Still Life
Middle School and high school kids can do observation drawings of brown paper bags using Conte crayons. Conte crayons are like pastels, only a little less messy. Conte crayons come in neutral earth colors, plus black and white. They can use the neutral browns for the middle tones, the black for the shadow, and the white for the highlight.
To set up the still life, place the bag under a lamp or window. Light travels in a straight line, so the highlight will be on the top of the bag, and the shadow directly underneath the bag. If the light source is at an angle, the highlight is on the right or left of the bag and the shadow is diagonally opposite. Various folds and seams can be brought out by the neutral colored Conte crayons.
If Conte crayons are not readily available, use a regular pencil to express the different shades, or values, of the bag. For an added challenge, have your child sculpt the bag into a shape that they want to draw. This will add folds and wrinkles that are more challenging to draw.
References:
On Creativity:
jrimagination.com
people.bethel.edu-Torrance
Project Idea Images:
https://www.pinterest.com/cave painting for kids
www.creativespacearts.com (Brown Paper Bag Still Life)
https://www.pinterest.com/paper bag puppets for kids
Feel free to email any questions or comments to info@creativespacearts.com, or visit my website at www.creativespacearts.com. I aim to create an open exchange of ideas and best practices.
Jennifer Barrett is the Arts Liaison and Performing Arts Coordinator at a public junior high school in Brooklyn, and has taught visual arts there since 2002. She founded Creative Space Arts in 2014 to offer a different kind of art studio, always changing and inspired by the immersive environment of galleries and other creative spaces. She has also guided countless students through the rigorous audition process of portfolio development, with many gaining acceptance and even scholarships into some of NYC’s most prestigious art schools. Jennifer’s paper creds include: B.F.A. in Drawing, M.Ed., S.B.L Certification.
About Creative Space Arts:
What do dragons, neighborhood-scapes, rainbow fish, and the moon have in common? They are all possible motifs at Creative Space Arts, a pop-up art studio set in galleries and other creative spaces. Our fun and immersive workshops are inspired by the work currently on view in gallery spaces, or by weekly theme. Through this approach, we aim to ignite curiosity and freedom of artistic expression.
Your schedule is packed. On top of everything you have already done, the grocery store trip is still looming on the horizon with child or children in tow. This excursion can be an exercise in patience since many a meltdown seems to happen at the store. Once your child’s excitement of driving the car attached to the shopping cart wears off, here are some ideas you can use to exercise your child’s creativity and keep them busy while you manage your errands.
Turning a trip to the Grocery Store into a Creativity Exercise:
Creativity has 4 components described by Dr. E. Paul Torrance (1915-2003), known as the father of creativity. These are:
▪ Fluency: the ability to produce lots of ideas and alternate solutions to problems.
▪ Flexibility: the ability to create ideas with a variety of possibilities, different angles, different points of view, and to use different approaches or strategies for problem solving.
▪ Originality: the ability to generate new, unusual, and unique ideas.
▪ Elaboration: the ability to expand on an idea by enhancing it with specific details. A detailed plan is one example of elaboration.
Next time you are at the store, focus on one of these components and one material. Take, for instance, the brown paper bag. As a grocery store item, this is about as mundane as it gets. Ask thinking questions for fluency such as: how many things can you make from a brown paper bag? For flexibility, ask: what other things can you use a brown paper bag for other than its intended purpose? For originality, ask: what is the most unique idea you can dream up in which to transform you bag? For elaboration, have your child create a story for their paper bag, such as the life of a brown paper bag. Who buys the bag? How long does the bag stay in its new home? What is it ultimately used for, a sack lunch? A puppet? Have your kids describe in detail the life cycle of their bag.
Fresh Lenses:
Let your kids be your eyes to discover materials they can use in their work. Materials like coffee filters and aluminum foil can be readily transformed into many interesting works of art, both 2-D and 3-D.
Supermarket Scavenger Hunt
Give your kids a dollar limit, and instruct them to find materials to create a work of art using only those materials. You could specify the subject, such as a puppet, emphasizing product. Or, keep it open ended, emphasizing process. Let your children see if they can experiment with the materials in different ways to realize their ideas. Since they chose the materials themselves, they will even be more invested in their outcomes. This is also a great way for them to extend their learning into math, keeping their materials within a budget.
Package Design
Turn aisles of cereal boxes and bags of chips into a branding and/or a graphic design project. Kids can choose a particularly aesthetically unappealing cereal box to makeover. Older kids can think of ways to solve packaging problems like how to reduce the overall volume of packaging through design.
Everyday Art Lesson: The Art of the Paper Bag
Materials Focus: Brown Paper Bag
Mess Factor: Low-Moderate
Ages: Can be modified for ages 15 months-18 years
Objectives: Students create art from brown paper bags with varying levels of complexity.
Suggested Additional Materials:
• Younger kids:
Brown paper bags, chalk, crayons, finger paints, images of cave paintings such
as Lascaux
• Older kids
Brown paper bags, chalk, crayons, pencils, scissors, glue, collage materials
▪ Middle and High School Students:
Brown paper bags, Conte crayon, charcoal, pencil, white or toned drawing paper
(**Materials are like Ingredients. Many things can be substituted for what you have on hand.)
Younger Children: Cave Painting
Cut a paper bag along the seam, and then along the bottom seam. Cut the remaining bottom piece off so that you are left with a flat rectangular piece. Have your child wrinkle the cut paper bag, so that the texture resembles a wall. Show your child pictures or books about cave paintings, like in Lascaux, and have children create a story about the pictures you show them. What story were the cave dwellers trying to tell through their drawings?
Chalk, crayons, or finger paints can be used to draw animals, people, or handprints on the paper bag “wall”. To create a more authentic cave painting experience, tape the paper to an easel or wall, and have your child draw on an upright surface. Use only the colors cave dwellers might have used, like pigments made from crushed berries and leaves.
Older Children: Puppets
This is an old project, but still a good one. Older children can create their favorite characters or animals out of paper bags. Materials can be other items you find in the grocery store, including cotton balls for sheep, aluminum foil cut into diamond shapes for the scales of dragons, etc. The Pinterest link below will reveal many fresh takes on brown paper bag puppets.
Middle School/High School Kids: Paper Bag Still Life
Middle School and high school kids can do observation drawings of brown paper bags using Conte crayons. Conte crayons are like pastels, only a little less messy. Conte crayons come in neutral earth colors, plus black and white. They can use the neutral browns for the middle tones, the black for the shadow, and the white for the highlight.
To set up the still life, place the bag under a lamp or window. Light travels in a straight line, so the highlight will be on the top of the bag, and the shadow directly underneath the bag. If the light source is at an angle, the highlight is on the right or left of the bag and the shadow is diagonally opposite. Various folds and seams can be brought out by the neutral colored Conte crayons.
If Conte crayons are not readily available, use a regular pencil to express the different shades, or values, of the bag. For an added challenge, have your child sculpt the bag into a shape that they want to draw. This will add folds and wrinkles that are more challenging to draw.
References:
On Creativity:
jrimagination.com
people.bethel.edu-Torrance
Project Idea Images:
https://www.pinterest.com/cave painting for kids
www.creativespacearts.com (Brown Paper Bag Still Life)
https://www.pinterest.com/paper bag puppets for kids
Feel free to email any questions or comments to info@creativespacearts.com, or visit my website at www.creativespacearts.com. I aim to create an open exchange of ideas and best practices.
Jennifer Barrett is the Arts Liaison and Performing Arts Coordinator at a public junior high school in Brooklyn, and has taught visual arts there since 2002. She founded Creative Space Arts in 2014 to offer a different kind of art studio, always changing and inspired by the immersive environment of galleries and other creative spaces. She has also guided countless students through the rigorous audition process of portfolio development, with many gaining acceptance and even scholarships into some of NYC’s most prestigious art schools. Jennifer’s paper creds include: B.F.A. in Drawing, M.Ed., S.B.L Certification.
About Creative Space Arts:
What do dragons, neighborhood-scapes, rainbow fish, and the moon have in common? They are all possible motifs at Creative Space Arts, a pop-up art studio set in galleries and other creative spaces. Our fun and immersive workshops are inspired by the work currently on view in gallery spaces, or by weekly theme. Through this approach, we aim to ignite curiosity and freedom of artistic expression.
