Art(ing)
Your child approaches you wanting to make some art, great you think and you get out the art supplies. Even in childcare centres, most of the time that means felt tip pens and scrap paper. If they’re lucky you might have some sharpened coloured pencils or crayons. Whatever it is, you lay it out for your child and they start to draw. Simple to set up, easy to pack away, its great, but here’s the debate you never knew existed.
In early childhood, we go through phases, every fifteen years or so we decide that children need colouring in sheets to colour as they choose as a way to express themselves though whatever cartoons, flowers and shapes are popular with children at the time. The children get all excited that there is bluey to colour and may even just find the closest colour to what was there to begin with, not being creative at all. The children coming though the early education system at the time should have learnt how to colour with lines just fine but they have never learnt how to draw.
Whenever we remember that children can’t actually draw to save themselves, we reinvent the idea that children need blank paper and the same felt tip pens to, something along the lines of, expressing their creativity and bring out said, blank paper. Colouring in sheets are suddenly frowned upon and are rarely if ever used. Children are increasingly encouraged to learn to draw on there own, the catch. We, the educators, have a tendency to make their art into what ever we want, and there not learning how to colour within the lines. A skill that is more important than you think.
We see the issue right? Because we focus so heavily on one thing and not at all on the other we end up in a state of unbalance. The theory is that children need to do one or the other but we still expect them to be able to do both. In other words we can’t have it both ways and the idea that we could is laughable with the theories that govern the actives that we provide children in the sector, yet I ask. Is there a mix of the two that work so that a child gains the advantages of both. I think there is, but I don’t know where the split is for your child and that’s on you to work out. I think it needs to depend on what each child is interested in, when they want to colour, let them colour, when they want to draw, let then draw. Your child will always know what they need.
Another point is that children do not develop the skill to hold a pen ‘properly’ until they are 5 at the earliest. Most children over the age of one will form a fist around the pen to grip it in order to draw, which is perfectly normal. Your child doesn’t have the muscle strength or hand eye co-ordination before the age of 5 to hold a pen any other way, so you can’t expect to happen. Some children don’t learn how to write with a pen or pencil efficiently before their seven. One of the ways you can encourage them to build what they need to use ‘correct’ pencil grip is to allow them to draw or colure early on. You use the same grip with paintbrushes or chalk too, just for something different occasionally.
Ok one last point, allow your child to explore different media. Media is the art worlds term for whichever resources used to create an artwork. So whilst yes, your pens and paper is one option consider using others. Look at textures like air drying clay. Use scissors and glue to create some collage, paint, Pastels of some kind. Crush up some chalk in water and glue and get them to paint with it. Anything to do something different every now and again.
activity of the week. Salt dough.
You will need
1 part water
1 part salt
2 parts flour
Mix flour and salt in a large bowl, add the water and and combine. Allow your children to roll out, cut out and shape the dough. Place you finished items on a lined baking sheet and bake on your oven’s lowest setting for 3 hours or until the salt dough is fully dry. Allow to cool and paint.