Using ‘Collaborative Art’ to build inclusion of *all* play ideas
As children become older, many find themselves interested in engaging in group or collaborative play. Collaborative play occurs when children play together to build on and add to one play idea.
Because collaborative play means children are all contributing to the same play idea, it can be an intimidating process (and some children may prefer not to play collaboratively or in groups).
Some children have very strong ideas about what should or should not be included in play. If they are playing with other children who are happy to follow their direction - all is well.
In other instances, a child expresses fear or anxiety joining play because they feel their preferences or interests will not be included in the play ideas. As a result, they don’t share their unique thoughts and ideas for how they could contribute to the play process.
The ultimate goal for collaborative play is for all children interested in group play to be able to share and contribute their personal interests to the play scheme. Perhaps the play plan is to go grocery shopping and one child wants to include his pony in the play. He can ride his pony to the grocery store or have the pony push the cart while shopping.
How can Collaborative Art help?
Sharing your ideas and preferences for play is a form of self-advocacy. Children are advocating for how they want to play and elements they want included in the play scheme. That can feel like a big task - especially if we’re expecting children to dive into advocating unsupported! We find it’s more calming to first introduce this idea in more structured settings and when the personal investment is low (i.e., not during highly preferred play activities!).
Collaborative Art is the creation of artwork with the help of someone else - a ‘buddy’. To start, two people work together to come up with a general idea for the art project. Each person then takes turns adding elements that are somehow connected to the general plan. The ultimate goal is for children to find ways to somehow relate two completely unrelated ideas in the same picture.
With ‘buddy art’ there is not ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answer or inclusion. This is a collaborative project so all ideas get to be added. The goal is to find ways to connect all desired ideas - promoting flexibility and creative thinking from all involved (including the grownups!).
“Practicing adding thoughts and ideas together collaboratively gives children an opportunity to experience success”
Step by step guide for using Collaborative Art at home or school
What you’ll need:
Paper (access our Collaborative Art paper here)
Art materials
Your imagination
How to Start:
Start by introducing the topic ;-). We’ve provided the general script we use below:
Today we’re going to make some Collaborative Art. Collaborative Art means that you will be making some art with another person - more than one person will be adding their thoughts and ideas to the same piece of paper.
Introduce the Collaborative Art paper and based on the level (see below), pick what color each person will be using. Notice who will be adding their thoughts and ideas to the paper and also who is ‘in charge’ of each idea added:
Johnny will be adding ‘Johnny thoughts’ and Susie will be adding ‘Susie thoughts’. Johnny is in charge of Johnny thoughts. That means Johnny will be able to put whatever he wants on the paper. Susie is in charge of Susie thoughts. That means Susie will be able to put whatever she wants on the paper.
This step is the big ‘advocacy’ piece and a big reason why it’s important for everyone on board to want to be doing collaborative art (consent is key). Whatever a child wants to add to the art is what that child ‘gets to’ add to the art. It doesn’t matter how ‘different’ or ‘unrelated’ it seems. As the facilitating adult, your job is to help the group brainstorm ways that these ideas could be connected together. Having done many collaborative art projects over the years, I can tell you that there’s *always* a way to connect two preferred ideas - it just might take some creative thinking ;-).
share your ideas:
Work together to pick the general concept. For this step, you’ll adjust based on the level of challenge you’ve selected for this instance of collaborative art. We’ve outlined how we brainstorm connecting two separate ideas to create one general art idea:
Each person shares his or her thoughts and ideas. Work as a group to add those ideas together to create a cohesive plan (that again, adds both thoughts and ideas together).
Johnny wants to draw an airplane and Susie wants to draw a train station. I know that sometimes airplanes fly over train stations. We could add our thoughts and ideas together to draw a picture of a train station with an airplane flying in the sky.
or
Jose wants to draw a farm and Lily wants to draw wiring. We know that farmhouses have electrical wiring as do stables. Jose can draw the structures and Lily can add the wiring.
Start Drawing:
Outline the different thoughts and ideas in the provided thinking bubbles. While drawing, continue to highlight and notice how the ideas are being added together to create a larger picture.
I noticed that Susie left some space for Johnny’s plane to fly over the top of the train station. We’re adding our ideas together to make a group picture.
Showcase the finished work of art:
Have the artists each sign their work of art. Celebrate the collaboration needed to create this piece of group art by displaying it proudly on the fridge, around the classroom, or on the bulletin boards.
Adjust the Challenge Level:
With Buddy Art, there are multiple ways to adjust the challenge level to meet individual needs. The level of difficulty can be changed based on the people, the topic, and who draws what.
People: Generally speaking, it’s easier for a child to first engage in Collaborative Art with a trusted adult. It’s also important to keep in mind that this type of project might not be for all children. Some children have strong feelings about their art and prefer for their work to look a certain way. Some children will like this activity and others won’t. Respect individual differences and preferences.
Art topic: It’s easier for children to draw individual thoughts and ideas that relate to a general topic. It’s easier for a child to contribute to a drawing that is somewhat interesting. It is more challenging for children to work on adding attributes to the same picture (ex: creating one monster truck with everyone adding elements or creating one monster with each person adding different details). The ultimate challenge is finding ways to connect two completely different thoughts and ideas to create one item/picture (ex: creating a unicorn airplane or having dolphins driving monster trucks).
Who draws what: all people tend to like to draw their preferred items. When starting out, it’s easiest for children to draw their own ideas. Over time, you can suggest the challenge of each person drawing the other person’s idea. Talk about also targeting some perspective taking!
Take it Further:
Collaborative Art pairs beautifully with Hannah Cumming’s book, The Cloud. In this story, a girl enters art class and she seems to have a ‘black cloud’ hanging over her head. Another child attempts to become her friend through sharing art. In her initial attempts, the drawings shared by each child are not related - they do not go together. As a result, they’re not very successful. Over time, things begin to change. While there continues to be a ‘black cloud’ drawn on the pictures (remember, we’re respective personal interests and preferences), the cloud is incorporated into other objects. Other children in the class decide this looks like fun and so they also pair up to try some Collaborative Art of their own! Notice how the art is created and how children manage to combine seemingly unrelated ideas (the front of an elephant and the back of a bee?!?) to create works of Collaborative Art.
Don’t forget to access our free Collaborative Art paper to help your children organize their thoughts and ideas while also reminding everyone they are working to add their ideas together!