Making Art Is Just Something Humans Do: Process Art

The way children and adults understand art-making is different. While for children, art is all about the process, adults focus more on the outcome. In this blog, you will discover the benefits of process art and why it might be the best way to do art: enjoying the creative process as a human expression, rather than trying to reach perfection, or anything at all.

Princess Snow White from our Heights Preschool location engaging in sensory exploration and fully enjoying the process of creating!

Have you ever given a child art supplies and fully let them take the lead? Completely allowed them to use things in their unintended ways, “mess up” what they make or even entirely destroy it at the end? This might be hard for an average adult to watch quietly. Making art has become overly intellectualized and something we either want to be perfect at or just not do at all. We subconsciously pass this belief onto our kids when we correct their “mistakes” as they make art  or try to make it look a certain way. As a society, we have completely forgotten that art isn’t this sophisticated thing only artists do. Art is something humans do, just like birds sing and spiders make webs. Art is something humans have done since the beginning of time and comes to all humans naturally. Watching a kid enthralled in making open-ended art with the only goal of creative expression, reminds one of that. 

Process art vs product art

Let’s talk about process art and product art, what they are and how one is more in tune with how children understand art, as well as the notion of art as a human experience.  

• Product art has a goal, instructions and maybe even a sample. There is a right or wrong way to do it and everyone that participates is expected to have similar results. It can however be a great tool for developing certain skills. 

• Process art has no goals and no instructions. There can be support if a kid asks for it but it’s not necessarily there to begin with. There is no right or wrong way to do it and everyone comes up with different results. The goal here is pure creative expression. 

As a nature preschool teacher, having given children both result-focused and open-ended art projects, here is what I have observed. Every time we have a goal when making art, it comes to an end very quickly. When the goal is to make a butterfly, children almost rush to make the butterfly, show it to me and be done with it. But when I give them watercolor, crayons, scissors, glue and some natural objects found from all around us and not say anything, the art process seems to never end. This is because the process of making art is the most fun part and when kids don’t feel like they need to rush this process to reach the goal you have set for them, they just explore, take their time and create. 

Benefits process art has that product art simply lacks

Product art does have its own time and place. It can help develop fine motor skills and give an opportunity to practice following directions. But process art offers a huge value and often gets overlooked in our overachieving, perfectionistic society. Let’s talk about it and some of the benefits it offers, other than pure joy!

• Creativity and individuality – Process art has no expectations or instructions, and that alone opens up space for endless opportunities. Children think outside the box, explore the materials they are offered and come up with unique and original art.  

• Confidence – There is right or wrong, no templates and end product isn’t the emphasis. This gives children a chance to express themselves without comparison, enjoying the creative process and gaining confidence through that process. 

• Problem-solving – Process art encourages children to experiment, troubleshoot, and find solutions to challenges they might be encountering in the creative process. They’re not so quick to ask for help from adults, when the idea for the art was their own.

Ways to encourage process art 

Now that we have a better understanding of why process art is important, let’s talk about some ways we can make space for it in our children’s lives (and ours too, cause why not). 

• Have a designated space for it - I personally think outdoors is the best place to allow the mess without worrying about anything else, but you can definitely do it indoors too. Be ready for some messy art, finger/hand paining, tiny cut up pieces of things and all. 

• Offer a variety of materials – We want to encourage experimentation and exploration, so give them things they can get creative with. It can include things for different purposes, like paint, glue and scissors, different things for the same purpose, like pencils, crayons and paint, or different textures that can be used for various purposes, like air-dry clay and play doh.

• Don’t rush the process – Given the freedom to create without expectations is such an enjoyable thing to do that it can go on for a long time, especially if all you have to compare it to is product focused art. Let them take their time and fully immerse themselves in the process. 

Let’s remember the joy of creation without pressure and worrying about the next steps and end results. Children live in the moment and enjoy the process. Us, adults, have a lot to learn from them. Let’s allow their innate wisdom to emerge and use it as a lesson for ourselves. Art was always supposed to be rooted in self-expression and exploration. Let’s not let our children forget that. 

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by Viktorya Avetisyan