Organizing, Sorting, & Categorizing

Last week I was working with a student and was reminded of something: That young children love to categorize, organize, and sort things. When I was teaching Art in the schools students would come into the Art Room during lunch to ask me if they could organize materials…Amazing! What was even more amazing than the fact that these students were helping me organize my classroom was that that they were seeking out ways to learn and practice some pretty important life skills in their free time. It turns out that organizing and sorting are very important. They are foundational math skills. Sorting helps children discover patterns, develop number sense, and practice problem solving skills.

***

So…back to last week’s class. This student had just divided her paper into sections and was getting ready to add watercolor to each section. She’d decided that some sections would be red, others would be purple. She looked at me, handed me the box of oil pastels from the supply drawers, and asked me to find all the purple oil pastels. “I’ll find all the red ones”. I knew she had a plan so I obliged. She then began to map out her painting journey by laying the pastels in each section of her paper. Red pastels marked where the red paint would go and purple pastels marked where the purple paint would go.

***

To some this may look like a way for students to avoid work…as a way to distract the teacher or parent. But try to remember when your child has a creative task in front of them that sometimes part of the creative or art making process doesn’t involve working on the piece directly. It can involve getting into the right headspace or getting yourself ready to create…setting yourself up for success. When I told this particular student’s mother about it she said, “I love this so much, I think it’s so soothing for our brains when things feel out of control to control what we can.” Well said! I hadn’t even thought of it like that but Lisa Howe, MSW, an amazing Peaceful Parenting Coach and Founder of Becoming Peaceful, hit on something really important. Sometimes a sense of control can soothe us.

***

This young artist was also using a very sophisticated planning technique that many artists use before they dive into a complex piece. It is a sort of “mapping out” so the artist knows where they are going and can attack their work full throttle without being interrupted by having to remember what their plan was or what color was supposed to go where.

***

Sooooo…let your child organize. Here are some fun color coding boxes from Oriental Trading. Or, even better, have your child make their own color coding boxes! These can simply serve as a game anytime or you can encourage your child to do some soothing organization of art materials before working on a piece of art. Added benefit? These just might be an incentive for your child to help you tidy up the house!