One of the greatest joys of working with children is witnessing first-hand as their individual talents and passions bloom. PLASP programs provide an opportunity for children to take part in a variety of activities, including arts and crafts.

Recently PLASP children were asked to create drawings to be framed and displayed at PLASP’s Head Office. Mailbags full of beautiful artwork were received from the children in program, all of which was truly a pleasure to see.

Art created by PLASP children.

One drawing in particular caught the attention of many PLASP staff members - not only because it was so skillfully drawn, but also because the artist had incorporated all of her PLASP peer’s interests into the picture as well.

Twelve-year-old Zarina is the artist who created the below drawing. She asked her PLASP friends to doodle something that they like beside each of their pictures. Zarina shared that although she hopes to one day study medicine, drawing is something that she does for fun, and as a form of self-expression.

Drawing by twelve-year-old Zarina, in which she drew all her PLASP program peers and staff. 

Zarina displaying her sketches with PLASP Program Director, Janet.

PLASP programs follow the Ministry of Education’s How Does Learning Happen? Ontario’s pedagogy for the early years, part of which is to provide children with experiences and an environment in which they can be engaged and creative. PLASP staff are continuously coming up with ways to enable children to tap into their artistic side, such as offering open ended art materials that allow children to create something unique to themselves.

“At PLASP, we encourage child-directed artistic expression where each child’s unique interpretation of their experiences and their world come to life through a variety of mediums. We support and foster their creativity.” – Diane Phu, PLASP Curriculum Manager

One PLASP program recently created snowmen made out of cloth bags filled with rice, and then decorated them with sock hats, buttons and googly eyes. In another program, the children and staff set up an art gallery of their framed work, and then invited parents to come take a look.  

Arts and crafts created by PLASP children. 

"I love it when the children come to me with ideas for arts and crafts projects that they’d like to try.” Says Program Director, Latha Chandrakumar. “It gives children the chance to work with different materials, use their imaginations, and even problem solve. Sometimes a craft doesn’t turn out exactly as planned and that’s okay! It’s all part of the fun, and sometimes you end up making something even better than you expected.”