When ArtiCulture, a family-oriented arts organization based in South Minneapolis, told me they offered classes for kids as young as 1 year old, I chuckled. I pictured teachers whose main qualification would have to be knowing the Heimlich maneuver because more crayons were going to be ingested than masterpieces created.
And then my barely-1-year-old picked up a marker. I had worked so hard to keep his big sister's precious art supplies away from him. Let him keep stacking his blocks until he could understand the difference between a piece of paper and the couch and the difference between his Cheerios and her stickers.
But I was so wrong. The joy in his eyes when he saw the connection between the motion of his fat fist and the growing line on the paper! The power! Now he stands at the chalkboard easel for minutes - the baby equivalent of hours on end - and will even forget that his wobbly little legs can't quite hold him upright yet.
Man, was I wrong. Kids - humans - are hardwired to create. Let's surround them with opportunities to do so.
