When it comes to talk about your child’s art most of us stick with the usual; This is nice / I like it / What is it? Then we turn around and do something else. Talking about art and effective communication is important when it comes to child development. Children seek adult approval. Your first instinct is to compliment your child’s work. There is nothing wrong with it, but one must take care in responding to a child’s art. How you respond may interfere with the valuable lesson he or she is gaining.
For young children art is an adventure. It’s a story. It can be an expression of feelings, a science experiment on mixing colours. As they create, they don’t care about if they draw on top of an already existing drawing on the same paper… For them the experience that counts. Often, when you see the end result it’s just a brown mess. It looks like a rock to you… I know, it’s hard to get enthusiastic about a rock, but bear with me! If you only comment on the recognisable part that your child has intentionally or accidentally produced, it may become the child’s future work. Children want to please us. Next time you child might try to reproduce the same looking thing in order to please you, instead of creating their own art. Can you see how a small comment can effect them?
Let’s not forget that there is value in the experience of artistic expression beyond that of the production of a certain product.
There is a lot of learning happening during the process of creating. There is learning about colours (hue, value, intensity), line, form, shape, space, and design (symmetry, repetition, variation); about inventing symbols and visualising solutions; about editing and refining.
When communicating about art, it’s important to also talk about the process.
Here is a quick guide on how to do that:
Start by saying nothing. Look. Be interested and observe. Children will often share what they are doing or describe their work without any verbal prompting.
How you touch a child’s art tells about how you value his/her imagination. Handle the art as if it’s precious. It is.
Describe what you see. Start with colours, lines, shapes, textures. Rather than identify (the house has a blue roof), describe elements (look at how the yellow is mixing with the blue on the roof).
Describe how the materials were used. (You let the red paint spread out here)
It’s natural to want to draw connections between your child’s art and your child’s life. Still, you might want to avoid asking “why”. Yes, the work may correspond in a direct way to people, place, and events – but the artistic process in intuitive and complex.
When you ask “why” – you expect a “because”. Your child may not know why. OR your child may have had many reasons.
If you’re curious about an element in your child’s drawing, try expressing curiosity: “I’m curious about this house”
Evaluate! How might the process of art-making become part of your evaluation? By placing value on the process as well as the product, you are encouraging experimentation. Let the evaluation become a discussion.
If a child asks “do you like my picture?” try to re-direct your response “it looks like you are very proud of your picture.” Or “do you like your picture?” or even “wow, you really must want to share your picture with me.”
Demonstrate that you value the work by displaying it in a place of honor.
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