An age gap of a half-century or more didn’t dim enthusiasm during a special art program at a recent Arlington preschool program.
The intergenerational program, held June 15, brought together members of Arlington’s 55+ program to support and paint with the 3-to-5-year-olds in the Creative Preschoolers program at Lubber Run Community Center.
Fourteen preschoolers joined a number of seniors for the half-hour program. It was “another opportunity to learn and explore,” said Carly Moser, the early-childhood unit manager for the Department of Parks and Recreation, which operates the preschool.
“At this age, they have no inhibitions,” Moser said of the youth in attendance.
Intergenerational canvas painting is a new effort for the 55+ program, but seniors regularly support the preschool in other ways.
“Most of what they do is reading buddies,” Moser said.
A sign advising “Dress for a Mess — That’s Our Motto” welcomes visitors to the preschool room. But in many cases, the young artists were incredibly disciplined, focusing on their work with focus and tidiness.
They had been prepared for the day by classroom teacher Amanda Barnes.
“Are we reading”? she asked as the visitors entered.
“No!” the preschoolers replied.
“What are we doing?” Barnes asked.
“Painting!” they replied in unison.
Adults and youth were provided with green, blue, purple, black, white, red, orange and yellow paint plus cups of water to clean brushes. The results of their work ranged from realistic scenes to more impressionistic works.
Dinosaurs, hearts, flowers, sunsets and watermelons emerged from their creative juices, along with a few paintings that required some clarifications from the young artists.
“It’s a monster machine,” one of the preschoolers said of his work.
“It’s a cat with ears — a crazy cat,” another said of hers.
One of the adults participating in the event, who went by Miss Jennifer, said she enjoyed visiting with the students.
“I like working with kids,” she told ARLnow.
Miss Jennifer downplayed her own artistic ability, saying her daughter had that talent in the family. But she labored over her own artwork with enthusiasm.
After about 20 minutes, the attention span of some of the youth began to drift. They cleaned up their spaces and themselves, and moved on to a block-building activity.
Others, however, spent extra time putting finishing touches on their artwork.
“Ta-da!” said one in wrapping up.
