Tag

Play

Browsing
Uncategorised

Welcome to Art Play Children Learning

Hello, I am Dr. Louisa Penfold! I started Art Play Children Learning back in 2016 as a way to help parents do fun and meaningful art activities with kids. I currently work at Harvard University as a Post-Doctoral Researcher in Early Childhood Education. Check out the video below to hear what Art Play Children Learning is all about… This blog features ideas for how parents can integrate contemporary art into children’s lives. To find your way through the posts, I have created the following five directory sections: Kids art activities Family excursion ideas Tips for parents and teachers Amazing artists and educators Academic research A little about me  Aside from nerding out on this blog, I also do some other things. I am originally from Melbourne, Australia but have lived overseas for many years. From 2015-2019 I was based in London while doing my PhD in art education. My doctoral research looked at…

Keep Reading
Amazing artists and educators

Froebel’s Gifts and Isamu Noguchi’s Playgrounds

Noguchi's Playground Moerenuma Park in Sapporo, Japan.

The folks at 99% Invisible have created some fab new podcasts and articles on the relationship between children, play and the material world. And because I am a massive nerd, I have created summaries of them to share with you! I highly recommend listening to the podcasts (links are included below) as they are entertaining, well-researched and only around 25-minutes long. Isamu Noguchi (design) and Shoji Sadao (architect). Moerenuma Park, Sapporo Japan. 1988-2004. ©The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York / ARS Play Mountain: A podcast on the work of playground designer Isamu Noguchi Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) was a Japanese-American sculptor, designer and landscape architect. After working for numerous years as a sculptor in New York, he came up with the idea to construct a ‘playground’ that had no rules or obvious way to play in it. Instead of having swings and slides, Noguchi wanted to the playground to…

Keep Reading
Children's creative spaces

Toshiko Horiuchi MacAdam’s giant crochet sculpture

Last month I was fortunate enough to visit the Hakone Open Air Museum, an outdoor sculpture park located a couple of hours outside of Tokyo. A highlight of the visit was seeing the wonderful crochet play ‘sculptures’ of the artist Toshiko Horiuchi MacAdam. The artwork, titled ‘Knitted Wonder Space 2,’ is a gigantic textile structure that has the appearance of a net suspended in mid-air. The sculpture has a strong architectural quality to it, creating an immersive and sensory-driven play space for children. Toshiko Horiuchi MacAdam’s crochet play sculpture ‘Knitted Wonder Space 2’ at Hakone Open Air Museum On the afternoon that I visited, there was a tribe of toddlers and elementary-aged kids climbing, jumping, rolling, somersaulting, dangling and swinging their way through it. As the children played in the net, it moved and swayed with them, igniting squeals of delight and even more physical play. Creating the crochet sculpture…

Keep Reading
Children's creative spaces

teamLab’s digital art from the future

This post features a review of the teamLab Borderless exhibition at the MORI Building’s DIGITAL ART MUSEUM, Tokyo. You might not have heard of teamLab but you will probably recognise their work from your hipster friend’s Instagram account. The Tokyo-based digital art collective has been making immersive art installations since 2001. During this time they have exhibited their work around the globe including at London’s Pace Gallery, the National Museum of Singapore and at Australia’s National Gallery of Victoria’s 2018 Triennial. Inspired to use digital technologies to expand the connection between art and people, teamLab’s work sits at the intersection of science, art and technology. Image credit: teamLab, Exhibition view, MORI Building DIGITAL ART MUSEUM: teamLab Borderless, 2018, Odaiba, Tokyo © teamLab In March of this year, I visited the MORI Building’s DIGITAL ART MUSEUM in Tokyo where teamlab’s ‘Borderless’ exhibition is on permanent display. The exhibition consists of 60 digital artworks spread across 10,000m² of gallery…

Keep Reading
Free downloads

Free printable: Make a Collage

So happy to share my new ‘Make a Collage’ activity for families! This 5-page print out features colorful images that kids can print out, cut up, and make new crazy compositions from. Collages were made famous by Surrealist artists like Max Ernst, Marcel Duchamp, and Man Ray. I love them because they encourage children to use their imagination to create original and creative artworks. They are also a great way for young children to practice their cutting and pasting fine motor skills! Download the activity hereDownload I would LOVE to see the creations your family makes so please add the hashtag #ArtPlayChildrenLearning to any social media pics you upload so I can cheer you along. You may like to also check out the work of Anna Bu Kliewer and Jazz Grant for inspiration! Happy making! Louisa Related Posts Free ebook! Making art with repurposed materials Free printable quotes on art and education Free printable for…

Keep Reading
Art

Make a marble run

A marble run for toddlers using recycled materials

Marble runs are a classic kid’s activity, you may even remember making them yourself at preschool using pre-constructed wooden tracks! I love marble runs because kids can use their imagination, and problem-solve while unknowingly learning about concepts such as motion, gravity and force. This blog post shares how you can make your own marble run at home using recycled materials! Age range: 18 months + please note that marbles can be choking hazards for little kids Preparation time: 10 minutes What you need Cardboard rolls (toilet paper rolls work great)Recycled materials such as fruit packaging and yogurt containersMasking or painter’s tapeScissorsBowl or basket Marbles or marble alternatives such as cotton balls, pasta shells, felt balls or polystyrene ballsA blank wall or window Setting up the activity A marble run aims to keep the marble in motion for as long as possible. To start, use the tape to stick the first…

Keep Reading
Art

Make a cardboard construction

Cardboard art activity for kids

Recycled cardboard is one of my favourite materials for children’s art activities. I like it because it is: Easily available to everyoneCheap or free to get. This means that parents or teachers that don’t have a budget for materials can still use itEncourages the reuse of something that would otherwise be thrown away In this post, I share an art activity that can do be done using recycled cardboard. It is best suited to kids aged 2 to 10 years old but can be adapted to any age. The activity is perfect to do at home or in the classroom! Image credit: Paigen Muller Designing the art activity When I am putting together a children’s art activity, I always start off brainstorming the following three questions: What materials do I have available or what I can afford to buy?What are the interests of the kids I am working with?How have…

Keep Reading
Children's creative spaces

Reggio Emilia’s art studio ‘ateliers’ for children

The Ray of Light atelier at the Loris Malaguzzi Centre in Reggio Emilia www.louisapenfold.com

Earlier this month I was fortunate enough to visit the Loris Malaguzzi centre in Reggio Emilia. I was interested in learning more about the early childhood philosophy’s approach to children’s creativity, art and learning with materials. This post shares key ideas around the role of the ‘atelier’ in the Reggio Emilia approach. I also discuss my reflections on the Ray of Light atelier space at the centre. “Tools and materials make it possible for children to have experiences in which their thinking takes on different forms” (Dahlberg & Moss, 2010) The Atelier – a space for children’s creative experimentation Educators from Reggio Emilia often talk about the unpredictable nature of learning in which knowledge is formed through unexpected relationships and new connections. This understanding challenges the idea that education is a linear process of development. In Reggio Emilia preschools, the atelier is a creative studio for young children’s imagination, expression and experimentation that…

Keep Reading
Load More