Mindfulness through art

by Aisling O’Shea, Nursery Manager at our Felix Road nursery

Teaching children art is a friend to turn to in times of need and joy.

During the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns I had time to reflect on what ‘art’ means to me. Through this reflection I came to many realisations including the importance art has in my life on my own wellbeing, hours spent drawing are ‘timeless hours.’ Having this sensation of being ‘outside of time’ is described by Dr. Stuart Brown in the podcast ‘Play, Spirit and Character’ as a ‘play state of being’ that is integral to the wellbeing of both children and adults. He suggests that whilst we are in the throngs of play we are totally unaware of time and this is where both children and adults find the most satisfaction in life. To this effect, I want the children to feel like time spent creating art is ‘timeless’; undirected, free from constraints and a time to just play.

I have spent a great deal of time over the past couple of years reflecting about how the lockdowns and pandemic may have affected the children in our community, especially as we re-emerged back to our new ‘normal.’  Have the children found it difficult to be back in nursery after spending so long with only their parents and siblings? Have they been feeling anxious about germs and being so close to other people? Has it been over stimulating and exciting to be back? And most of all how have I been able to help the children cope with the changes? 

As it is my intention to introduce children to the idea of art as a friend they can turn to in times of need and joy. I want to help them to see art as a tool for expressing themselves when they have no other way to express it. 

Art can be a way for children to express how they feel without using words.

It dawned on me that in this current world with the necessity for face masks, children can miss out on very important emotional cues through the facial expressions of others, and they themselves could be misread. I have been working alongside children to find ways to recognise and represent emotions through their creative languages. I want to make it clear that my intention is not to ‘teach’ children about the different feelings that exist; labelling emotions (out of context) can extend children’s vocabulary and might remind them of ways they may have felt at different times, however authentic teaching about emotions comes from our responses in the actual moments children are experiencing them. Instead, by providing the children with multiple opportunities to represent emotions in different media, the intention is to show them that art is a language that can be listened to. That art is a way of expressing how they feel without using words. 

I have worked with children to think about facial expressions, emotions in the eyes, colours, textures, movements and even music in relation to how we feel and so far the children have inspired me. For example, I invited the children to listen to music that portrays strong emotions; from sad opera songs, high energy classical tunes, movie entrance themes and even shamanic drumming. We talked about the paintbrushes wearing shoes, they could be sad, happy, excited, proud, embarrassed or any other emotion, shoes. The paintbrushes would then ‘dance’ to the music on the paper. It was interesting to hear the conflicting opinions of the children; where one child thought a song was happy, another thought it was sad. A song I was pretty sure was exciting, the children thought it was angry. It was a good reminder for me of how different the world looks/ sounds through the eyes and ears of a child. 

“How did that song make you feel?” 

“Like this.” (Pointing to picture.) 

“Can you tell me about it?” 

“This is the feeling that I felt when I heard that song, just like this.” 

What stood out to me in this conversation was how the child’s painting wasn’t representing an emotion - it WAS an emotion. This was a wonderful example of the power of painting as a language of its own. 

Hours spent making art are ‘timeless hours.’

I am a firm believer that creativity is innate in every single human being, unfortunately I hear so many adults say things like, “Oh I am not creative, I can’t even draw a stickman.” But creativity is so much more than art, creativity is problem solving, mathematics, writing, planning, building, designing and so much more. All we are trying to do through art is foster that creativity; this is why you don’t see premeditated ‘crafts’ or adult led art activities at RIB, there is no right or wrong way to be involved in creative expression.

“Art experiences in the nursery are designed to ‘listen’ to the children; to show them their ideas are valid and valuable as well as a tool for their very own self expression.”

Aisling joined us in November as the manager at our nursery in St Pauls – with over ten years experience in Early Childhood education she has an unfaltering passion for providing quality provision for young children. Aisling has worked in an array of Early Years settings across the UK and more recently a creative director in a Regio Emilia inspired environment in Singapore – we’ll be introducing you to Magaluzzi's Reggio Emilia philosophy on the Raised in Bristol Journal very soon (watch this space!). Aisling has a strong  belief that all children are competent, resilient, creative, and full of potential from the day they are born and endeavours for this to be reflected in any setting in which she works.

Aisling O’Shea – Nursery Manager, Raised in Bristol at Felix Road Adventure Playground.