The molding from early childhood is familiar to everyone, because its unlimited potential for the child is indispensable. The lesson develops imagination and spatial thinking, fine motor skills, helps to understand the color and shape of objects, makes you show imagination. But when to begin to acquaint the baby with the types of sculpting, applications from plasticine, how to deal with and on what materials? The answers to these and other questions interest many parents.
Modeling and its benefits
The art of shaping plastic material is considered unusually lively and, importantly, tangible. Modeling rightfully takes the place of one of the most emotional types of visual activity. Even a child of early preschool age creates a real or fictional image that you can touch, and not just imagine or see.
Modeling opportunities are widely used for the development of children. With her help, the child is able to:
- diversify your sensory experience, getting an idea of the material, its structure, plasticity, shape and color;
- create voluminous crafts;
- develop fine motor skills and coordinate the work of both hands at the same time;
- receive aesthetic education.
This is the case when not only the process is important, but also the result. The kid is interested in observing how a shapeless lump takes on the shape of a familiar object. It transforms countless times until the result is satisfied.
Materials What are they like?
Visual activity in the preschool educational institution necessarily includes traditional techniques and types: application, drawing, modeling and design. Of great importance is the age of the baby. It is important not only for the tasks that the child has to set, but also for the correct choice of material. Clay and classic clay are especially widely used both at home and in kindergarten. The latter can also be waxy, floating, with sparkles, magnetic, fluorescent, pearlescent.
What other materials are there? It is worth stopping at the most popular.
Bright dough for modeling is malleable and soft. It is easy to work with it from the first minutes, but the finished craft will not keep its shape for a long time and not all details can be fastened together. As part of the manufacturer, harmless components are declared, therefore it is suitable for babies starting to sculpt.
Ball clay often arouses the curiosity of a child who is attracted to saturated colors and unusual texture. It happens of various types:
- Non-drying can be played for a long time, it is only important not to mix colors.
- Drying has other properties: at room temperature it becomes hard, but brittle. Therefore, they are better off decorating figures or forms. For example, you can make a pretty vase. To do this, cut off the bottom of the plastic bottle, and then decorate it with the outer material from the outside. Offer children from 3 years. Play in the presence of parents.
The assortment is large and constantly new options are appearing. You can sculpt with modeling paste, soft mass, from salt dough, ordinary wet or kinetic sand, polymer clay, snow.
Clay and plasticine: a comparison of properties
Studying the types of sculpting, two types of material are used in the classroom. Both are plastic, affordable and have their own characteristics.
Clay is considered the most valuable and environmentally friendly material. It has a special expressiveness, not for nothing that from ancient times it was used for the construction and manufacture of dishes. Unusual properties made it the main material for children:
- neutral color;
- ability to keep fit perfectly;
- the ability to choose a piece of any size;
- the presence of a homogeneous texture;
- makes it possible to understand the integrity of the form without being distracted by the details;
- products can be dried, and then continue to work (paint, create sculptural compositions, use for decoration).
The disadvantages include the features of drying, which takes time. A young child may lose interest in the result. It is recommended to preserve clay in a cool, damp room in a plastic container under a damp cloth.
Plasticine is a material that requires special preparation before use. Its features are also actively used for teaching types of sculpting in kindergarten:
- strong enough material;
- details are easily fastened;
- color brings diversity to the work, but can distract from a holistic perception of form.
Of the minuses of plasticine:
- not suitable for babies due to composition;
- before sculpting, it will have to be kneaded or heated to make it malleable, so it is suitable for children over 3 years old.
When and where to start
Adults will have to be near the baby during classes.
Firstly, it’s safer, because the baby is able to try the material on the tooth.
Secondly, it is necessary to help the child master the basics of this type of fine art: show materials, introduce them to their properties, basic techniques and types of sculpting.
Listening to a parent or teacher, the kid is actively replenishing the vocabulary and learning to conduct dialogue. Assignments must be age appropriate. If the senior preschooler is able to create an animal figurine or beautiful clay sculpture alone, then the crumbs in the best case will be able to master only the simplest modeling techniques.
You can start at the age of about 9-12 months. Of course, it is difficult for the baby to sit in one place, but this is not necessary. It is enough that he receives new tactile sensations and realizes that in his small pens the material can take a different shape. It is important not to force the child to do what he does not want at the moment, but to offer it later.
Sculpting techniques
At the very beginning, they are simple:
- pinching - separation of the small piece from one large one with the thumb and forefinger;
- kneading - pressing with fingers or hand;
- flattening - compression of the material and giving it a flat shape.
Later, techniques are complicated and the child masters new ones:
- rolling - creating the shape of a ball in circular motions of the palm;
- rolling - the formation of "sausages" with your palms;
- smoothing - giving roundness to the form;
- indentation - a depression is made by pressing the thumb or index finger;
- sharpening - giving a sharp end by pressing with fingers from all sides;
- pinching - pulling and sharpening one edge;
- connection - fastening parts together.
The child gradually succeeds in increasingly complex actions with the material. The result is a finished composition.
The main types of sculpting
From an adult, a child receives information about visual activity, and based on his own experience, he tries to complete the tasks on his own. Over time, their decision grows into creativity, and the material becomes more diverse.
It is important to gradually switch from simple to complex so that the child does not become disappointed in failure. First, individual techniques are studied. Knowledge is secured, honed. Later, all new tasks are proposed, for which it is necessary to choose the right method from different types of sculpting. All of them have their own characteristics:
- Sculptural is that the product is molded from a single piece. This method is considered to be more complicated, since an idea of proportions and shape is necessary. To create a craft, children use such techniques as pulling, lengthening, pinching, smoothing.
- Constructive when work is created from separate parts. Children start with the largest, gradually making smaller ones. When all the details are prepared, it remains to connect them together. Due to the constructive appearance of sculpting, one can easily compare elements in shape and size, for example, the body of the animal is larger and the tail is much smaller.
- Combined includes both of the above methods. Part of the figure is molded from a whole piece, for example, the legs and torso of a person. The remaining parts are created separately and attached to the base.
You can add embossed sculpting elements for volume and naturalness. For example, to make bird feathers, you need to impose individual small pieces and, using various techniques, give them the desired shape.
What other types of sculpting exist
There is another classification - from the point of view of the plot:
- Object modeling is used to depict individual objects: animals, people, furniture, etc. Children learn to give the final form to the material, using all sorts of tricks that they own.
- Scene modeling is necessary for the development of a child’s imagination and spatial thinking. This method involves the creation of not just one thing, but a whole story. All figures are mounted on a stand and united by a common plot. The process is quite lengthy, requiring time and effort, but this is no less exciting.
- Decorative modeling introduces folk arts and crafts. In addition, she teaches to think in advance about the future crafts: sketch, ornament, shape and painting. For example, the child decided to create a flower vase and decorate it with floral ornaments. It also offers a choice: you can scratch it with a sharp object or make it from small parts. In this way jewelry, figurines, vessels, table plates are created.
Modeling in kindergarten
In the classroom, teachers pay special attention to the art of shaping plastic material. The smallest begin to acquaint with the basic methods and techniques of modeling. Crumbs learn to pinch off pieces, roll balls and sausages.
Gradually, the tasks become more complicated. It becomes important individual work in a group. For example, the teacher shows how to depict the texture of animal hair or grass on the ground. The explanation is done for the whole group, but after the teacher can help each child learn the skill separately.
In giving the assignment, the teacher is temporarily eliminated to give the children an opportunity to try their strength, using their own knowledge and creative abilities.
What you need to know and be able to
Of course, the kids only get acquainted with the types of sculpting, materials in the preschool educational institution, try new tactile sensations. In older preschool age, you need to know and be able to do much more so that modeling is a pleasure:
- To form a visual perception, first, children examine images or figures of animals, people, objects. Observing, highlight the main forms or individual features. Having understood the characteristic features, it will be easier to create an image. For example, when sculpting an elephant, its expressive signs are used: a long trunk, a massive trunk and a large head.
- Expanding horizons and looking at various images of familiar objects, the child accumulates visual images that will come in handy later. For example, imagining a cat jumping, flying a bird, walking a person, he will be able to blind them or draw.
- When sculpting from nature, children compare their work with an example. To do this, you will first have to consider it and discuss the characteristic features.
- If you are tasked with creating your own craft according to your presentation, you will have to show independence in solving the image. Game situations will be of great help. For example, the teacher tells in advance that the children will sculpt forest animals for Santa Claus, whom he will invite to the festive carnival.
Plasticine paintings
In addition to three-dimensional figures made using various types of children's sculpting, applications can be made. Their advantage is that much less material will be needed for such a picture, and the process and result will please no less.
The technique, the principle of which is to create a picture of plasticine, is called plasticine. The image is semi-voluminous and bright.
You can perform on any surface: glass, cardboard, computer disk or wooden board. In addition, for work you will need multi-colored plasticine. The plot will be a finished drawing (coloring). You can fill the white space with colorful balls, flagella or whole parts, using the smearing technique.
Conclusion
Modeling has become an important activity, developing imagination, thinking, fine motor skills. Creating children even the simplest crafts from clay or plasticine is an interesting creative process. From a shapeless lump a miniature image, a painting or a sculptural group is obtained. It is almost magic!
Using the main types of sculpting, the child learns to turn his visual image into reality. Learning the many tricks, children with their own hands can create amazing story sculptures, clay sculptures, mosaic paintings or decor elements.