Can Kids Do Art with Blocks and Toys?
Paper and crayons or paint aren’t the only way for kids to make art; art play with blocks and construction toys happens even when adults don’t notice. Kids themselves may discover that they have created wonderful art as they play with blocks, Lego, and other construction toys. Kids are not as programmed as adults about what can be considered art, so their drawings in the mud, their block patterns, their play dough sculptures, and the ketchup smears on their plate can all be art.
Some of the elements of art are line, shape, and color. When playing with blocks, kids are building lines in all directions, finding out what shapes fit where and using different colors. The blocks in the photo have been placed in the shape of the circle, with some more placed on top of each other all the way around. This was created by preschool-aged kidlets after looking at some pictures of mandalas. This is a gorgeous work of art resulting from combining blocks in a variety of ways.
Here is another work of art of house and garden ‘painted’ by a 4 year old with lego bricks. Not art? Well, it might not be Mona Lisa, or The Scream. Of course, these were done by adults based on famous works of art. The other one is an abstract. Perhaps it’s called “Variations on a Square.” It’s often repeated by kids everywhere.
Patterns are not considered to be one of the elements of art, but shapes, and lines, and color can be combined in amazing and artistic ways. We can see the art of the pattern in these mosaic blocks. The child artist has invested tremendous time, energy, and focus just like an adult artist. It’s creative and visually appealing.
Yes, art play with blocks and construction toys can certainly happen, but maybe instead of calling them ‘works of art’ we could say ‘plays of art’?