CREATIVITY IN THE MONTESSORI METHOD:
Maria Montessori was a proponent of the idea that creativity exists as the design of new initial intellectual material gathered in the environment through the refinement of the senses and the development of hand motor skills.
It should be noted that already at the age of 1.5-3 years, studying the properties of surrounding objects, a child makes the first discovery – it can leave a mark from materials. Children draw sticks in the snow, and in the sand they leave footprints with feet and hands, covering with spots and creating spots on sheets of paper, wallpaper, walls. This period can be called an achievement in the child’s work. It is important to place materials in the environment of the group or room so that there is a study of the properties of paints, glue, paper, cardboard, and at the same time show the child how to pour glue, wipe or spill paint, how to remove doodles from wallpaper or a wall.
The period up to 3 years is called another period of chaotic and rhythmic doodles. The child learns the line, accumulates the idea of shapes: straight, arced, oval, wavy… Scribbles are gradually organized and improved, the hand increasingly obeys the will of the drawing. A child’s environment helps him develop and coordinate his hand. Graphic materials needed: good quality colored pencils, plasticine, wax pencils, simple pencils, markers. Paper and cardboard of different formats and quality in class 3-6 are placed on a separate rack.
After 3-4 years, the associative drawing is born from the chaos and rhythm of scribbles and colorful color spots into a real masterpiece. The child begins to guess in random combinations of lines and forms real objects.
This is why the creativity zone is important in the Montessori environment.
“The artist’s creativity is actually the fruit of mental work, which has its roots in the observations of the real world. The artist and sculptor has the highest form of visual perception of the forms and colors of the surrounding world, is able to feel both harmony and contrast. By developing the ability to observe, the artist improves and improves the creation of an exemplary work, a masterpiece. Maria Montessori.