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Process art and project art are both great ways for preschoolers to create in our homeschool. We all love those cute little crafts that preschoolers make.
But do we know the difference between process art and project art? Each of these types of art has a place in our homeschool.
Process art is all about the process of making the art. Think painting with anything but a paintbrush! Project art has a final product. But remember, with preschoolers, it may not look perfect.
What is process art and project art?
Process art is all about the process of making a piece of art. One of my favorite things is to explore painting with objects you normally wouldn’t paint with.
My boys loved painting with cars. We would build a small ramp and launch the cars down it. The cars would roll onto the paper, leaving a trail of paint behind them!
There wasn’t a specific picture they were trying to make. The fun was in exploring the paint, the cars, and what happened when they put them together. That is what process art is all about.
Project art, on the other hand, is about following directions to make a specific product. This can be a handprint turkey or even something as simple as a smiley face.
The adult gives the child directions to follow to make something. There is a goal for what the finished piece of art will look like. Of course, with preschoolers, the finished product might not look exactly like the example!
Why do preschoolers need both process art and project art?
There is good in both process art and project art for preschoolers. Kids need to be able to explore on their own without limits. This can lead to some beautiful art and is a great way to bring sensory play into art as well.
But kids also need to learn how to follow directions to make something specific. They need to learn where to put the eyes when making a smiley face. These simple skills can lead to learning more specific art techniques later.
If everything is “explore on your own,” they might never learn how to make a shadow in a drawing. They may not learn how to draw mountains in the background or use other techniques that make their artwork more detailed.
But if they are always told exactly what to do, they don’t get the chance to explore on their own. Kids need opportunities to make their own choices and see what happens. They might mix colors, try a new material, or come up with something completely different than we expected.
This freedom gives them a chance to be creative and figure things out for themselves. There doesn’t always have to be a right or wrong way to make art. Just like with everything else, moderation is key!
I do a good bit of both types of artwork with my own kiddos. They do a lot of exploration with painting, like when we paint the rainbow in my Bible Curriculum. They also follow directions with the letter crafts in my Letter of the Week Curriculum.
Choosing Art for your Homeschool
You can choose all different types of art for your homeschool, but I suggest using a mixture of process art and project art. The easiest way to determine which type you need is to think about the goal or objective of the lesson.
Is the goal to make a letter animal? Is the goal to understand an abstract concept? Is the goal to explore mixing colors? Or is the goal to discover what it feels like to finger paint?
These are all valid types of activities, but you need to decide on the objective first. Then you can decide if you want a craft with a specific outcome (project art) or an open-ended activity (process art).
But don’t forget, preschool shouldn’t be complicated. If you are spending too much time trying to decide which type of art to use, just go with your gut and move on! Your preschooler will be learning and creating either way.
If you want to read more about process art, you can click here as I have a detailed post about it!
If you want to read more about project art, you can click here as I have a detailed post about it!
