Montessori Inspired Art Appreciation Activities

Art activities play a crucial role in the development and education of young children, especially those in preschool. The Montessori method, known for its child-centered approach to learning, offers several benefits when it comes to incorporating art into a child’s early education. This blog post explores the significance of Montessori-inspired art activities in fostering creativity, imagination, and overall cognitive development in preschool students.

Encouraging Creativity and Self-Expression

In Montessori-inspired art activities, preschoolers are provided with various materials and tools to explore their own creativity and express themselves freely. By allowing children to make choices based on their interests and preferences, this approach empowers them to create artwork that is unique to their individuality. Such self-expression through art helps preschoolers develop a sense of identity and boosts their self-confidence, fostering a lifelong love for creativity.

Developing Fine Motor Skills

Engaging in art activities promotes the development of fine motor skills in preschool students. Whether they are using paintbrushes, scissors, or simply manipulating clay, the Montessori method encourages children to refine their hand-eye coordination and control their hand movements. These skills are crucial for later tasks such as writing, tying shoelaces, or using cutlery.

animals that hibernate montessori nature free printables pegs cards tracing print fall winter

Stimulating Imagination and Problem-Solving Abilities

Art plays a vital role in stimulating a child’s imagination. Through Montessori-inspired art activities, preschoolers are encouraged to think outside the box, explore different textures, colors, and shapes, and create artwork that represents their imagination. By engaging in open-ended art projects, children learn to find multiple solutions to a problem, fostering their problem-solving and critical-thinking abilities.

Developing Cognitive Skills

Art activities provide numerous opportunities for preschoolers to develop cognitive skills that are essential for their overall growth. While creating art, children observe, compare, and analyze various elements such as colors, shapes, and patterns. This process enhances their ability to categorize and identify similarities and differences, which are fundamental cognitive abilities.

Moreover, engaging in collaborative art projects nurtures social skills, as children learn to share materials, take turns, and engage in discussions about their artwork. Montessori-inspired art activities, often carried out in small groups, facilitate teamwork and improve communication and sharing skills.

Cultivating Appreciation for Art and Culture

Alongside hands-on art experiences, the Montessori method also introduces preschoolers to various forms of art, thereby fostering an appreciation for art and culture from a young age. By exploring a diverse range of artistic styles, techniques, and artists, children not only expand their knowledge but also develop an ability to appreciate and value art in its various forms.

Incorporating Montessori-inspired art activities into a preschool curriculum provides countless benefits for children’s development. This child-centered approach nurtures creativity, fosters self-expression, develops fine motor skills, stimulates imagination and problem-solving abilities, cultivates cognitive skills, and promotes appreciation for art and culture. By embracing the Montessori method’s philosophy, educators can create a vibrant and inspiring artistic environment that will facilitate growth and learning in preschool students for years to come.

montessori inspired art activities preschool children montessori nature about montessori mom company (1)

Without much preparation, planning, or intention, Art as we know it, feeling it, experiencing it, and experimenting with it play a huge part in our everyday lives. We started Days of Creativity and Art to help navigate our homeschooling toward the creative side of learning and I do not think we will ever stop. Whatever it is – learning poems, listening to classical music, creating mosaics with leaves outside, looking for funny cloud shapes in the sky, painting on a mirror – it all provided a new perspective, and simple fun, discovering life and expressing creativity in a new way every day.

With a 3-year-old preschooler and a new baby, time was becoming an issue. Planning, setting up activities, and preparing printables all became a bit too much to handle. As often it happens in life, help arrived when I needed it the most. I received Art Appreciation Toolbox from a brilliant company Montessori By Mom. It is a great concept and long-awaited help for parents who wish to use the Montessori method with their children at home, however, they struggle to find time to create resources and do endless research. Teresa and Nathan – creators of Montessori By Mom – thoroughly thought through and assembled together a set of activities and toolboxes to make your life easier and enhance the learning of your children by assembling together resources, videos, printables, high-quality materials, and explicit instructions. I am very passionate to tell you all about it. Let me tell you, there wasn’t one day since we got it when my daughter A. would not choose their work from her Montessori shelves. Just yesterday I heard her call: “Mom, I found Kandinsky! I want to make a picture inspired by Kandinsky”.

Montessori Inspired Art Appreciation Toolbox included:

*(our favourite) set of picture masterpieces
* two canvas masterpieces prints
* poster with arts names and pictures for matching,
* make your own paint kit ( cool, eh?)
* painting supplies set
* Montessori Shape Workbook
* Instructions and videos

This equipped me and my child with many opportunities to explore different Art styles, make science experiments using a DIY paint kit, learn about shapes we see in our environment and create A’s own masterpieces.

“If we try to think back to the dim and distant past… what is it that helps us reconstruct those times, and to picture the lives of those who lived in them? It is their art… It is thanks to the hand, the companion of the mind, that civilization has arisen.” —Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind

As you probably know in a Montessori environment children are surrounded by beauty, they work on something when they are inspired to do so, children learn to appreciate the process of creating over the final result and their work resembles an experience they would have in real life.

Paintings included in Mini Masterpiece Set intrigued A and gave a great scope of various amazing artists. The size of the cards was perfect and must felt great in the child’s hands. These are fabulous for the initial introduction to the world of famous art creations. With the help of these cards, A could observe the way artists used space, colors, and shapes in their work. She learned to differentiate between realistic and non-realistic paintings. A seemed to be totally absorbed by the masterpieces.

Later she enjoyed matching pictures to the back and white copy, which required a great deal of concentration.

After she gets more familiar with these masterpieces we will continue using this material to learn about the artists behind the masterpieces.

The next day it was time to make her own masterpiece using chemical-free powder to make watercolours. Montessori By Mom had a clever idea for children to create watercolors for painting using mortar and pestle.

There are so many great advantages and learning opportunities that came in place:

– motor exercise
– learning about the science behind mixing two colours to receive third
– learning to follow the process of creating A’s watercolours.
– practicing cleaning up and tidying A’s art space

Once it is time for us to learn about Africa we will use mortar and pestle to create paint using berries and curry powder as suggested in the instructional video.

After experimenting with mortar and pestle we decided to use Q-tips to create watercolours straight in the palette. I found that my 3-year-old daughter did not have enough patience to make each colour separately for painting using mortar and pestle.
I have to say in the end paintings looked fresh and the colours came out very natural and vibrant. There are so many other art projects that I plan to do with A using Montessori by Mom’s DIY painting kit.

On another day, as a part of the 30 Days of Creativity and Art Series that we started a while ago, we decided to look into the way artists used shapes in their paintings. Montessori Shape Workbook – a part of the Art Appreciation Toolbox – was a great resource for learning to identify shapes in real life. Kandinsky’s painting was a wonderful inspiration for A to create her own using different shapes. You can read more about it in this post.

As you can see my darling had lots of fun!
Montessori by Mom toolboxes are curated by AMS-accredited Montessori teachers. With a subscription, you will receive access to videos and printables, explicit instructions and information along with access to an online community where you can join discussions and receive the necessary support.

With this coupon code: AFFMONA new subscribers receive a $10 discount.

Get your Art Appreciation Toolbox HERE.

(This is not a sponsored post. No monetary compensation was offered or received. All opinions are my own. Montessori By Mom did provide Art Appreciation Toolbox for review purposes.)