Engagement for Boys in Art

Here at Mairtown of late we have been finding that some of our boys' interests are providing us with fresh opportunities in regard to our choice of art provocations.  Art is a big focus here and its great to have some new ideas coming through to keep us thinking about what we are providing for our children in this subject area.

Ryan kick started this experience with his request to paint a tractor.  When he had finished his work he took the time to explain just how he went about creating his artwork.  This got me thinking about possible provocations that could further engage him in the art studio.

So, with paintings and photos of tractors being provided as provocations in the art studio, tractors became quite a hit.  Samuel produced a detailed series of works which we have displayed in pride of place on our centre wall.

Jaxon provided some new inspiration when he created a train world complete with plans that he drew himself
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When photos of model railways and visual artworks based on trains were set up as a provocation we got to see some fabulous results of the children's engagement.  Individuality was expressed so well, with each child's pictures revealing facets of their own interests and personalities.

Not everyone was impressed though.  William let us know that he preferred planes when he brought a book out to the table and began to use it as his chosen subject matter for drawing.

Lucas and his mum helped us out with more interesting ideas.  Lucas had been looking at some art books at home and told his mum that boys don't just like to paint cars but they also like to paint bridges, train stations, and animals.  Armed with some more great information to draw from, we extended our ideas by looking at some horse paintings by Franz Marc.

We have seen some beautiful and original works of art produced by our very talented children.  We have looked into what might engage boys in the art studio and look forward to continuing that investigation.  We have also learnt that boys also like to draw and paint butterflies and girls draw awesome dinosaurs.

By Rachel.