It is totally possible to have a product-focused project while still maintaining a developmentally appropriate process-approach. This can come in handy at certain times of year (the holidays, for example) or when you want to work on projects that deepen your children's imaginative play.

Here are some tips for making that holiday project a bit more process focused:

• Give the project meaning. Who are they making it for? Why are they making it for that person?
• Encourage your kids to spend some time thinking about what they want to make before they start. Encouraging them to think about their goals will help them be intentional in their approach.
• Allow your kids to make decisions for themselves. Bring out a variety of materials they can use.
• Work on the project over multiple days-- how does it change as your kids build on it?
• Allow them to make multiple. This won't be possible for all projects depending on the materials, but sometimes kids just want to keep going and going and going. Let them and then have them select the favorite they want to use.
• Explain the differences between process and product art to your parents so they know what to expect.