Pied Piper of Passion for Arts and Crafts

For 37 years I taught hundreds and hundreds of children from Kindergarten through Grade 12. Language Arts, Literature, and French is what I loved to teach, share and spread to all the students within my reach. Especially in this age of technology and media that robs children of imagination, it is so important to broaden their horizons with arts and crafts. To express yourself through the use of creativity builds self esteem and confidence. Creating arts and creativity promotes critical thinking, comprehension, good mental health and the ability to think out of the box.

During my classroom experiences I noticed as the years passed the students were changing. Technology and media is a blessing and a curse. The students have been robbed of their imagination. The arts stimulate the brain and motivates the students to think out of the box. It raises self esteem and builds confidence.

Most parents and even some educators don’t realize how important it is for children to make arts and crafts a part of the regular curriculum. Financial problems and time make it hard to put it in theor lesson plans every week Teachers are under pressure to get the standardized test scores up and that makes another reason why arts is low on the priority list. They don’t understand art in the classroom is vital and will help in the long run in their classroom work and the domino affect-roll into the standardized tests.

Since I retired in 2013, I have tried to sub as much as possible. All year I look for my art supplies at a good sale price. I try to have a variety of supplies and ideas in big sturdy sacks that I call the Magic Bags ready to go when called to sub. When the students see me enter the building they get excited and hope it is their teacher absent. They try to guess what is in the magic bag. They don’t want their teacher sick, but they enjoy getting the lesson plans finished and diving into the art I have them.

I begin the art lesson by introducing the artist of the day and they learn about the artist’s life and career. They then see a variety of images of paintings the artist created. Then it is time for them to create their version of art imitating the artist. I bought frames at Dollar Tree and the students framed the above and gave the above pictures to their moms for Mother’s Day. They were very lovingly received by their moms.

I want to reach as many students as possible and share my passion for the arts. The benefits of the arts and crafts for them is not just enjoyment of creating something, but it is also good for their brain power, their mental health such as stress and anxiety relief and building up their self esteem.