Using recycled materials in teaching and learning Fine Arts

Students of Nam Cat Tien Secondary School (Tan Phu District) participate in the activity of creating shapes from recycled materials. Photo: NVCC

This method not only helps solve the problem of material sources, saves costs, and contributes to environmental protection, but also helps students develop unlimited creativity.

Solving difficulties in teaching Fine Arts

Ms. Tuyet Anh said that when she first started teaching Fine Arts under the 2018 GeneralEducation Program, she encountered many difficulties and confusion. Because, if Fine Arts under the old program only focused on the genre of painting, the new program has higher practical requirements and is more applicable. Students have to design and create 3D products with many types, requiring the use of different types of raw materials. This leads to difficulties in materials and costs, especially for schools in remote areas.

From that reality, she guided students to use recycled materials for their lessons. To have useful recycled materials for use in learning Fine Arts, before each topic/learning project, teachers must have a plan to mobilize students to collect and guide students to classify used materials; guide them to handle and preserve them in a hygienic way; guide students to design creatively, ensuring aesthetics and suitability with raw materials.

Ms. TRAN THI TUYET ANH reported on a district-level topic "Developing creative and aesthetic abilities for students through Fine Arts".

Along with that, students are guided to utilize recycled materials to participate in extracurricular activities such as: STEM Festival, environmental protection propaganda, competitions, etc. Thanks to that, students have learned to collect and use recycled materials to create many useful and aesthetic products such as: vases, pencil boxes, pictures, etc. These products are used to decorate classrooms, beautify the school landscape, and are even ordered by parents to decorate their homes and workplaces.

Ms. Tuyet Anh said: “In the first year of implementing the new program, I was still confused and did not know how to use recycled materials in teaching. Students had many difficulties in creating shapes because they followed the suggested materials in the textbook. Since the second year, I have let students replace them with materials that can create corresponding shapes, expand the materials and create based on the found materials, mainly recycled materials.”

Thanks to that, students' creative products are diverse in genre, have high aesthetic and application. Thus, using recycled materials in Fine Arts not only solves the difficulty of raw materials, saves costs, but also educates students about environmental protection.

Classifying recycled materials for application in Fine Arts

For each art lesson, Ms. Tuyet Anh does not require fixed materials, but allows students to choose alternative materials, helping students to be more proactive and convenient in their preparation. The flexibility of different material sources is an opportunity to stimulate creative thinking for each student.

Ms. Tuyet Anh classifies the raw materials used in the Fine Arts subject into 3 groups: organic materials that can be dried, no longer retain water and can be preserved for a long time (rice, beans, corn, leaves, eggshells, etc.); inorganic materials that are hard, brittle, and easily broken (glass bottles, iron cans, metal bottle caps, etc.); inorganic materials that are soft and flexible (plastic bottles, beer cans, soft drink cans, plastic bottle caps, etc.)
nylon, plastic straws, plastic spoons, etc.). All materials after collection and classification must be washed and dried to ensure hygiene when reused.

According to Ms. Tuyet Anh, to avoid the situation of having too many excess materials, turning the classroom into a place to store recycled waste, spoiling the beauty of the classroom, teachers should specify the amount of materials just enough for each lesson topic. Teachers need to ask students to identify and not collect plastic and glass bottles containing toxic substances as recommended by the manufacturers.

Ha Vu Thao Nguyen, a 7A2 student at Nam Cat Tien Secondary School, said: “I feel very happy when using recycled materials to create art products. This not only helps me express my creativity and ingenuity, but also helps me practice patience and contribute to protecting the environment. I realize that seemingly discarded objects can still become unique and meaningful works of art.”

Ho Thi Thu Hang said: “At first, I found it very difficult to create shapes in the Fine Arts class, but when I worked with my friends and created beautiful products, I was very happy because from discarded items that could have an impact on the environment, we were able to create useful products. In addition to studying in class and at home, I also used plastic cans to make mini flower pots, used discarded cooking oil cans to make trash cans, and made night lights from plastic bottles…”

Hai Yen

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/xa-hoi/202504/tan-dung-vat-lieu-tai-che-trong-day-va-hoc-mon-my-thuat-c346352/