Why am I posting a picture of what you know most be one of zillions of Benji’s art projects? Well, first, you’d be right if you guessed that we get rather snowed under with art. However, this one stands out for a few reasons:
- Benji instigated it entirely himself. Normally, I have to set aside time and cajole him into scribbling randomly for like 5 minutes, after which he wants to go back to playing trains. This time, he pulled out most of the supplies himself and started on his own, only bringing me in when adult help was required.
- The ideas were almost entirely his own. The design is entirely his-a solar system, not surprisingly-and I merely made suggestions for what materials to use (I supplied all the different tapes and the glitter glue). Previously, I’ve always told him what our project will be. This time the creativity came from himself.
- He wanted to use art to represent something, and figured out a way to do it using the materials at hand. And stuck with it with good focus the entire time, no getting distracted.
I’m not sure if this is because of his new preschool, which has an art center area that’s kind of a new concept to him; or if playing with Legos has anything to do with the increasing creativity; or if watching big-boy Colin build Legos creatively (and Benji’s preschool peers, for that matter, but he really admires and respects Colin); or if we’re just passing some kind of milestone. But whatever the case, this art project represents a moment I want to remember.
