An Inch Of Beauty

Our puzzle BEFORE.

 In this class, we spent time reflecting upon the concepts of "beauty" and "creativity." What do we mean when we tell a child to be more creative? How does it effect that child? What is a "beautiful" picture?We discovered is how closely beauty is connected to our emotions and perceptions.

Creativity is personal; it is highly subjective. It changes in definition depending upon culture, society, personal understanding, information, personal experience and association.

We spent some time sharing our personal "inch of beauty" images and objects (brought from home).

Next, each member of the class conveyed their sense of beauty on one of the puzzle pieces.This was a soothing and reflective activity following a long day in our field experience classrooms.


Each of us used different art supplies - crayons, markers, colored pencils, paint,  etc. Some of my classmates saw beauty in abstract ways - just colored with bright colors. Others made recognizable pictures or specific designs.

Here is our finished puzzle. My contribution is in the lower left-hand corner.

Our finished pieces were placed back together to create a beautiful puzzle...a montage of beauty from multiple perspectives. 

This would be a great activity for any elementary classroom during the first week of classes - what a great way to open conversations on diversity, respect, and individual perspectives!