Artistic Expression
Week 54
We can use our imagination to create poetry or stories
Artistic expression is the use of the imagination in the production of objects intended to be thought of or appreciated as beautiful, as in the arrangement of color, forms, sounds, or words. Only man was created by God with the ability to imagine and then express his thoughts in various creative ways. In this block we will discover along with the children some of the ways that we can express ourselves artistically. (Drawing, painting, music, sewing, etc.) Artistic expression is a part of the preciousness of our humanity.
On the other hand, animals are not capable of imagining or creating based on forethought. It is possible to get some animals to make a picture, but only after they have been trained to make certain strokes using certain colors. Any form of art is not inherent in the animal kingdom. You do not see them creating art in their own environment.
Point to emphasize
We are able to use our imagination to write stories or poems.
Sample content and conversation with children
- Today we are going to talk about how we can be creative with words and use our imagination to tell stories.
- We all know that God made us so that we can talk and that we can also be creative with our words. Who knows what it means when words rhyme? [Let children reply.] That’s right, it means that two or more words sound like each other. So, for instance, the word car rhymes with Let’s practice rhyming. [Hold up or draw a picture of something that the children could easily think of rhyming words. For instance, draw a cat or show a picture of one, and ask the children to name some words that rhyme with the word cat – hat, rat, sat, mat. Other simple word options: book – look, took, cook, or tree – bee, me, free, tea, or ball – call, doll, hall]
- Very good! People often use rhyming words in a special way of writing called poetry or poems. Not all poems rhyme, but many do. Writing poems is artistic! I’ve written a couple short poems, let’s see if we can guess the rhyming words. [Have some couplets written out and cover the rhyming words on the end of each line for the children to guess. Give them clues about what the covered word is.]
Examples:
My cat found a small mouse.
Oh my! It was in the house.
My brother loves his ball.
My sister loves her doll.
- God made us in such a wonderful way that we can be creative with words. We can also use our imaginations to use our words to tell stories. Let’s tell a story together!
- [Have a fill-in-the-blank style short story written on a dry erase or poster board (prepare this in advance so they don’t need to wait for you to write the main portion). A few sentences should be enough. Eg If I had a pet turkey, I would name it __________________. Its feathers would be ____________ and ____________. For breakfast it would eat ____________. We would play _____________ at the park. It would sleep in _________________. My favorite thing to do with my pet turkey would be ______________. Have the children suggest words to tell the story. You may need to help and prompt them. Encourage the parents to help the children think of words to add to the story. Continue until the whole story is filled in. At the end, read the whole story.]
- God is so good! He has created you with the ability to rhyme and tell original stories. This is one form of art—to express yourself in words.
- But a parrot can’t do that. Someone can train a parrot to copy certain sounds, but while they sound as though they are talking and may even sound like they are saying words, they are not. Parrots can only imitate or repeat sounds that they were trained to make. They could never be creative to rhyme the sounds or put the sounds together to tell a story.
- We do not just copy the sounds we hear. God created us so that we can use words creatively.
- As you grow up and read the Bible you will see how God used words to tell His story. This is marvelous!
NOTE TO TELL THE CHILDREN: During this next week I would like you to make something out of clay. It can be anything—a bowl, a dog, a worm. Ask your parents to help you get clay or make some playdough and make something to bring next week when we meet. Also, you will need clay or playdough for our next session. [Serving ones—please remind the parents before the next time.]
Songs
God Cares for Me
He, He, He, He Cares for Me
In the Beginning God Created
Suggested activities
- Fingerprint bird paintings (pictures for this activity are below.)
- Copy cat: One person does something like winking or jumping on one foot and everyone else must watch and then copy it.
Pictures
#1: Fingerprint bird paintings activity (1)
#2: Fingerprint bird paintings activity (2)
#3: Fingerprint bird paintings activity (3)
#4: Fingerprint bird paintings activity (4)
#5: Fingerprint bird paintings activity (5)
