In the Classroom: The Peanuts
Welcome to the PMA – Peanut Museum of Art
As our recent unit on building, construction, and tools was coming to an end, the Peanut teachers began planning what the class might focus on next. We began to notice a subtle change in how the Peanuts approached their building projects.
Throughout our construction theme (which arose from our search for something everyone could do in their own way and at their own developmental level), the Peanuts became expert architects as they experimented with connecting and balancing different materials, creating unique tools to use on the work site, and played around with demolition in equal measure to construction.
We noticed that as the Peanuts gained newfound expertise, their interest shifted from the desire to building to the need to showcase what it was they had created. Suddenly preserving what they had built became the prime directive and we decided to honor this in our next exploration.
The shelves around our room easily become display space and we opened the one and only PMA – Peanut Museum of Art.
We visited the University City Arts League gallery to get a feel for what a gallery space looked and felt like, and also got busy supplying art implements galore and offering creative questions and ideas about colors, lines, pretend worlds, shapes, rhymes, and more.
Soon enough, the Peanuts were at the helm enthusiastically filling up their gallery. The first installation was a multi-media project that involved taking a silly question from lunch time and working to make it something the Peanuts wanted to present in the PMA. We asked everyone “What if you were stuck inside of an orange?”
Answers ranged from serious responses about being too big to fit in an orange to pretend worlds in which special machines are needed to escape! We illustrated this wild idea and wrote up Peanut responses before placing them in a place of honor above our library where we can admire and discuss them whenever we like.
As this art and artists focus has moved forward we’ve explored many ways of creating art such as sculpture, print making, and water colors, while simultaneously answering burning questions such as: Where do colors come from? Does art have to be beautiful to everyone? What can art do to the places we spend time?
Come to the PMA as this exciting emergent focus continues to unfold. We promise you a warm welcome so long as you buy a day pass or membership!
Classrooms