Fredbear Posted October 13, 2011 Posted October 13, 2011 (edited) Sorry just feel the need for a little rant and apologise profusely in advance. So picture this. The children have had the opportunity to take part in an Art Project. They have been exploring colours, making choices and painting hands/ feet and taking prints. These will then be made into lovely items for parents to purchase if they wish.[No obligation or pressure is put on them to do so]. So a parent asks me today could their child do another one today as his was splodged and not picture perfect in her eyes. I explained that the child had chosen the colour, whether he wanted to choose his hands or feet and that it was entirely his own creation. She then asked another member of staff, yet again could he do another one and could it be yellow paint. Despair comes to mind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Has anyone else ever encountered this type of scenario, and more importantly how did you deal with it. Edited October 13, 2011 by bridger Quote
Upsy Daisy Posted October 13, 2011 Posted October 13, 2011 I'd suggest that if she wants a perfect print of his feet she should buy one of the clay kits on the internet and take an imprint. Agree that it's lovely to have permanent reminders of their little hands and feet but that wasn't the point of the art project. Could you annotate future creations with comments the children made about the sensory and creative experiences they were having making them just to reinforce the point of the activity? Quote
Fredbear Posted October 13, 2011 Author Posted October 13, 2011 I think thats why i feel despair. As the objective and exploration of this activity had all ready been explained to all parent/carers on our learning sheets sent home to all parents, i had also had a verbal conversation too. Must say i am also slightly flabbergasted as it was a parent i least expected to make that type of comment or have that reaction at all. But what do i know. Quote
finleysmaid Posted October 14, 2011 Posted October 14, 2011 from another perspective if you are selling these artworks then the parents will have a different view of them. The parent in question may be a bit competitive or very house proud and so is happy to display in a prominent position but would like it to be more 'perfect'...i'm not saying this is right just maybe something that you need to accept...she obviously wants to put this up on her wall and so she wants to be able to say to her friends...loook what John's made isn't it fab!...or she may want it as a present for a relative...who may not understand the eyfs!...perhaps take comfort that she is appreciating it at all and not just throwing it in the bin in front of the child! Quote
louby loo Posted October 14, 2011 Posted October 14, 2011 I must admit I'm a bit on finleysmaid's side on this one. If it what I'm thinking of - when you can get hand/foot/whatever, printed onto t-shirts, bags, mugs etc, I can understand the parents perspective. We did this a few years ago, and many parents wanted 'perfect' prints to send as Christmas gifts - many to distant relatives. In our case we gave the parents the opportunity to do them at home and bring them in and we just added to our main order...........and this worked in our favour- as many siblings and cousins were added!!! However if it's not that kind of thing- I can understand your view point too!!!! Last year we did 'free art' on those white canvas block boards and they went down really well as modern art. Mind you one parent did joke that she wished we'd asked for 'colour schemes' as her one wouldn'd matche her decor!! ( at least I THINK she was joking!) Quote
Fredbear Posted October 14, 2011 Author Posted October 14, 2011 Thank you for your comments. I do accept that some people are very houseproud, colour co-ordinated etc etc etc, but come on this is a just three year having fun painting. If they really felt they were not up to their expectations then don't purchase them. [As i previously said there really was no pressure to purchase them at all]. It has really made me consider whether we should be doing them. More importantly what does that say to the child when the parent is not happy with their first creations and wants them to do another one, even requesting what colour. Oh well you can't please all of them all of the time. Quote
Devondaisy Posted October 14, 2011 Posted October 14, 2011 We're doing Christmas cards at the moment - collages which the children do and are then sent away to be scanned and made into packs of cards for the parents to buy. I have had more than one parent ask me to get their child to add a bit more here and there before they will buy the cards.Such a shame as originally they were all their own work, but I have to admit I have respected the parent's wishes on this one! Quote
Panders Posted October 14, 2011 Posted October 14, 2011 Thank you for your comments.I do accept that some people are very houseproud, colour co-ordinated etc etc etc, but come on this is a just three year having fun painting. If they really felt they were not up to their expectations then don't purchase them. [As i previously said there really was no pressure to purchase them at all]. It has really made me consider whether we should be doing them. More importantly what does that say to the child when the parent is not happy with their first creations and wants them to do another one, even requesting what colour. Oh well you can't please all of them all of the time. Oh Bridger, perhaps you could persuade parent to say, that is so goooooood, we want another one! Yes 3 year olds having fun, you having explained the premise behind the art work to parents previously, no pressure to buy, all makes sense to us doesn't it! As you say, you can't please them all the time. I had one parent some while ago who rejected all photographs taken of her son which to her mind were not perfect - I tried to explain that they were taken in the moment to illustrate what he was doing for his learning journey folder .............. it took some time let us say! Quote
Fredbear Posted October 14, 2011 Author Posted October 14, 2011 Okay so my rants over now just sometimes you get very exasperated and frustrated whatever you try to do. Have a great weekend one and all. Quote
Beau Posted October 15, 2011 Posted October 15, 2011 It is very frustrating but I guess you can only do so much to try to educate parents in the ethos. Glad that you've got it off your chest and hope you enjoy your weekend! I'm moving this into the 'lounge' so if anyone else feels the need to rant a bit they can do so in privacy Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.