Creativity, Collaboration and a Little Bit of Graffiti Magic

There has been a real buzz of creativity at nursery as we welcomed graffiti artist Vicky Hill (Vyx) for a special two day artist residency, working alongside our class of 3 and 4 year olds.

For us, inviting an artist into nursery is about much more than creating a beautiful finished piece. It is about giving children the opportunity to encounter someone who thinks, experiments and communicates through materials. It creates a space where children and adults can work alongside one another, sharing ideas, responding to discoveries and seeing where the creative process takes them.

This sits beautifully within our Reggio Emilia inspired approach and our belief in the hundred languages of children.

A Language of Materials

The idea of the hundred languages reminds us that children communicate and make meaning in many more ways than through spoken words. A mark, a movement, a colour choice, a construction, a pattern or the way two materials are brought together can all become ways for a child to express an idea.

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During the first morning with Vyx, there was no expectation for every child to create the same thing or follow a predetermined set of steps. Instead, the children began by exploring the natural environment that our nursery is nestled within, collecting a range of treasures that caught their eye on their walk.

Alongside Vyx, our Oaks started to build the background for a collaborative mural, layering different media, experimenting with colour and texture and trying out a range of techniques.

What happens if we put this on top of that?

What kind of mark does this tool make?

What happens when these colours meet?

What could we add next?

Following the Children’s Thinking

As the morning developed, something began to capture the children’s attention: feathers.

This wasn’t part of a predetermined plan, it emerged naturally through the children’s exploration and conversation and gathering of resources.. and so we followed it.

Vyx took the children’s fascination with feathers, along with the colours, marks and ideas they had explored during the morning, into our afternoon forest session.... and then she worked her magic 🌿🪶🎨

Using the children’s morning work as her starting point, Vyx began bringing their collaborative mural to life through her distinctive graffiti style.

The children were able to watch an artist at work, but importantly, they weren’t positioned simply as spectators.

They were part of the process.

Their marks were already there.

Their choices had helped shape the background.

Their fascination with feathers had influenced what came next.

The artwork was becoming a conversation between the children and the artist.

Creating Alongside an Artist

While Vyx worked on the larger mural, the children also had the opportunity to develop their own mini murals, using photographs of the collabortive art piece and acetate to add their own 'graffiti' and bring their design to life.

There is something incredibly powerful about children being able to work alongside a practising artist in this way.

They see that artists experiment.

They see that ideas change.

They see layers being added, covered, altered and reconsidered.

They see that getting messy is okay, and sometimes part of the process.

They see that creating does not always mean knowing what something will look like before you begin.

And perhaps most importantly, they experience an adult artist who takes their ideas seriously!

Vyx is not there simply to demonstrate the "right" way to create something for our children to copy. Instead, her and our Oaks become co researchers, exploring the possibilities of materials together!

Valuing the Process, Not Just the Product

Through experiences like this residency, children are given time, space and beautiful possibilities for expressing their hundred languages. Paint, spray, texture, movement, music, nature, conversation and collaboration all become part of a shared language through which ideas can grow.

And when we truly listen to those languages, the direction the children take us in can be far more interesting than anything we could have planned in advance.

This is only part of Vyx’s residency with us, and we are already excited to see what emerges next.

For now, we have colourful hands, curious minds, feathers, graffiti, music and a mural filled with the marks and ideas of our children.

And we think that is something pretty special. 🎨✨