A number of studies have found that art activities contribute to the development of different skills. There are fewer studies that empirically test and prove this kind of progression, which is one of the reasons I decided to investigate it. The variety of art activities is linked to different types of skills, so I have limited my research to one of the most commonly used materials in the preschool period, i.e. paper. Children in kindergarten encounter and handle paper on a daily basis. As children develop fine motor skills, they acquire the finger skills necessary for working with paper: creasing, folding, tearing and the use of paper tools (scissors and a jig or ruler) (Kindergarten Curriculum, 1999). A little later, cutting and shaping small pieces of paper also contributes to the development of fine motor skills (Curriculum for Kindergarten, 1999). Experience and practice play an important role here. The latter is most effective if it is designed in the form of a game.
Paper was made from plant fibres by the ancient Chinese and has been known in Europe since the 9th century. Paper is mainly made from plant fibres, which are stripped of their non-cellulosic components.
The use of paper in fine art is more versatile than we might think (Čadež-Lapanje, 1983). Each artistic technique needs a suitable type of paper. Of course, several properties are important, from absorbency, grammage, to appearance and texture. Before using it, it is important to know the basic characteristics of the paper. In some fine art techniques, the fibre course also plays an important role. This influences folding, tearing, cutting and even curling (Brodek, 2013). Watercolour paper, recycled paper, origami paper and transparency paper are just some of the types of paper that differ considerably from each other.
In kindergarten, simple papermaking techniques are more prevalent at first, which helps us develop related skills such as creasing, tearing, folding and creasing. Later, we develop cutting, gluing and even punching, hole-punching and stapling.Cutting, gluing, punching and stapling require tools, while the other techniques are carried out without tools. In kindergarten, children's scissors, pattern scissors, hole punch, stapler and various rulers or stencils are most commonly used (Milčinovič, 1997). Children's scissors vary in size, shape of handle, colour, length and shape of blades (they have a rounded blade). They can be right-handed or left-handed, and some have a scissor opening aid to make them easier to use. Rulers are less frequently used by children in kindergarten. Beside classic ruler, we also know triangular rulers and curved rulers for drawing curved lines. If rulers have blank spaces on the base for drawing different shapes and figures, they are called stencils. When drawing lines with a ruler, it is important to hold the tip of the pencil right against the side of the ruler. This should be inclined in the direction where the line is drawn (Fošnarič, Slukan, Virtič, Puncer 2004). Using a hole punch helps us to cut an opening in paper materials. There are punches that use a hammer to punch a hole in a hard substrate and those that are automatic (ibid.). The choice of stapler depends on the number of sheets of paper to be stapled at one time. Desktop office staplers can staple from 2 to 50 sheets. Manual staplers or staplers can also staple from 2 to 40 sheets. Electric staplers can staple more sheets. Paper clip remover are used to remove staples from stapled material.
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