Today, the Oak friends created their second self portraits of the school year. The children create self portraits monthly. The creation of self portraits is a common and valuable activity in a Reggio-inspired classroom. Celebrating what makes us unique, as well as what makes us the same allows for many learning opportunities and a focus on strong relationships within our classroom.
Ann Pelo, author of The Language of Art: Inquiry-Based Studio Practices in Early Childhood Settings, states, “When we invite children to create self-portraits, we offer them mirrors and encourage long, sustained study of their faces from this unfamiliar perspective…A self-portrait is an intimate, bold declaration of identity. In her self-portrait, a child offers herself as both subject and artist. When we look at her self-portrait, we see a child as she sees herself. The story of self-portrait work is a tender story to tell.”
The children completed a three step process to create this month's self portrait. They began by thinking of words to describe themselves. After thinking of their words, each child copied the words. Next, they drew their self portrait using a black sharpie. The last step was to create a background for the self portrait. Tempera sticks were used to create the backgrounds.
After drawing their self portraits, the activity was extended by having the children create self portraits using loose parts.
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