Giving Back Through Art in Pre-Primary

As the excitement builds for the Fête on April 29, parent volunteers and staff are busy making final preparations. But did you know that Lowell’s littlest leopards have also been hard at work to make this fundraising event unforgettable? Their contributions manifest as custom works of art, which will be on display in the silent auction on Saturday. 

Coordinated by Pre-Primary School Director and Art Teacher Nathalie, the Adventurers, Explorers, Pioneers, and Voyagers worked over several weeks to imagine and create the unique items. In keeping with the emergent curriculum model, Nathalie allowed the children’s interests to guide the art pieces, which include a painting, a mobile, a framed display, and a mounted violin. 

“All of the projects aligned with the lesson plan for art class,” said Nathalie. Students practiced fine and gross motor skills and strengthened their knowledge about primary and secondary colors and how to combine them into something new. They were also challenged to come up with their own ideas. For example, the Adventurers went through several concepts before landing on a final design. Recycled wooden spools were first painted with custom colors, then wrapped in yarn as the children learned about their historical use. Lastly, the class voted to either string them together or stack them into a patterned and framed piece. Can you tell how they voted?

The Pioneers used their ideas to select paint colors that they applied to a canvas with rolled balls guided by wooden spoons or their hands. Working in small groups, their colors combined into dynamic shapes reminiscent of splatter paintings. “The kids are really good at telling me when they’re done,” said Nathalie, noting the thoughtfulness and teamwork the Pioneers brought to the project. As an added bonus, the paint-covered spoons were strung together to make small mobiles that now brighten the Pre-Primary hallway.

Another mobile emerged from the minds of the Explorers. Students first learned what a mobile is and looked at examples by well-known artists like Alexander Calder. Some children had even seen his work in DC museums and enjoyed adding their observations to the conversation. Students brainstormed how to connect dyed styrofoam balls, inspired by space and the planets, so that air could play with them.

The Voyagers worked on an art object created from a broken violin. Initially, the concept of an instrument as an art piece was difficult for them. Some students had the instinct to fix the violin instead! Nathalie explained it would be their “canvas,” and friends agreed that the instrument should first be painted white like blank paper. They then used the themes of rainbows, flowers, hearts, and color to guide their designs and practiced on paper before transferring them to the violin. “It was very collaborative,” noticed Nathalie. “They were feeding off each other’s ideas.”

Knowing that their artwork will be a part of such an important event, many young friends are passing on their excitement by showing parents what they can bid on when they drop off at the Pre-Primary door. Check them out for yourself (plus art crafted by Mario and the Pre-Primary students and by Consuelo and the 5th grade) at LowellFete.org!