Commentary: Children’s art projects

When the next group holds an art fair or any festival in Des Moines that
attracts families with children, please have more interesting activities for
the younger attendees. I have seen far too many folding tables littered with
pieces of plain paper, crayons, and a token sign announcing the spot as a
youth activity area. About half the time there will also be a table just as
boringly decorated where some young adult is present to paint pictures on
children’s faces.

First off, add some color to the booths, appropriate to the season and
possibly with seasonal decorations. That doesn’t have to mean holiday
seasonal. It could be big leaves cut out of construction paper and put on
the edges of the table cloth. It could be a robin pulling up a worm as long
as the canopy’s pole is tall or a bouquet of flowers springing from the
edges of the tent. It could be a colt or a winter squash, but maybe
brightened with a bit of creative coloring.

Place some objects with simple shapes, such as a tree, a building, and an
orange on the table. I’m thinking in terms of toys and models, not the real
items. Have a sign that asks the youngsters to draw what they see when
looking at a triangle, a rectangle, or a circle.

Construct a large color wheel and ask the youth to experiment with placing
different colors side-by-side. Have colored blocks on the table and ask what
color a child likes. Turn the block around to show that color in a piece of
abstract art.

Would it be too difficult to arrange for examples of the musical arts? Put
out a toy tambourine, some inexpensive drums, and other instruments such
that a conveniently-placed bottle of hand sanitizer will encourage parents
to let their children explore the wonders of sound. Ask youth to listen to
the steps of the scales as a xylophone is played. Surely there are creative
people in Des Moines who could create a device that plays middle C when
activated but then turns it into a sharp or a flat depending upon the
direction a lever is switched. The colorful table top at this booth could be
a staff with various notes, perhaps showing a song played with a tape
player. (Remember tape players? It’s easy to control the volume so several
people can hear it at the same time without disturbing other people standing
nearby.)

A bonus to be found in these wider, more interesting activities is that
adults who failed to receive training in the arts could also have the
opportunity to learn. The bottom line is that the philanthropists who and
the corporations which underwrite many of these festivals certainly can
spare $100 for a few pieces of construction paper and the time of someone to
decorate a booth and to put together an interesting presentation, or have we
already passed irreversibly into the clipart world of ready-made
visualization?

Guest Writer: M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa.