**This
article reprinted with permission from author.**
***Ruth B. Roufberg is
a toy consultant. This article is based on her research
in early childhood art development.***
Picture this: a mother enters an art supply store with
her youngster in tow and asks where the coloring books
are.
"We don't carry coloring books," the salesclerk replies.
"They are not really art, you know." She suggests a pad
of newsprint paper and a box of crayons stead.
The mother looks puzzled. "But my son doesn't know how
to draw yet. How can he learn if he doesn't have a
coloring book?"
Alas, the mother was
wrong on two counts. The simple truth is that 1)
coloring books don't teach drawing, and 2) a child does
not need to be taught how to draw; the ability develops
as naturally as walking and talking.
Rhoda Kellogg, a foremost
investigator of children's art, examined more than a
million drawings produced over a period of twenty years
by children of all economic and social groups in many
parts of the world, and found a universal developmental
sequence from scribbles to realism.
Developmental
Stages-Drawing
1. A child can be given a pencil, crayon, or marker as
soon as she no longer puts everything in her mouth. Her
first markings are random scribbles, which she keeps
repeating in an effort to master them. Watching the
marks appear gives her pleasure.
2. One day (perhaps in her third year) she will make the
breakthrough discovery that a particular scribble
reminds her of something she knows. She may then give it
a name and make it part of her repertoire by drawing the
image deliberately over and over again. (Familiar
examples are the round "face" or "sun" and the square
"house.")
3. As the child becomes more skillful, she will not have
to wait until the drawing is finished to discover what
it is, but she will decide in advance what she wants to
draw. Once a child's interest shifts from the physical
activity to the picture she produces, scribbling usually
ends.
4. A kindergartner can usually draw people and objects
that are recognizable to adults, even though they may
not be visually accurate. She begins to organize space
with a base line on bottom (perhaps a green swath for
grass) across which objects march in an orderly fashion.
5. The heyday of spontaneous explorations and
discoveries will fade as the child strives for greater
realism and works at refining her techniques.
Developmental
Stages-Painting
1. Tentative strokes, usually unmixed and separated from
each other.
2. Big patches of one or more colors.
3. Painting colors over one another, eventually ending
in a brown mass that parents find ugly, but which is a
forward step in the child's development.
4. Colors next to each other, then linear shapes,
sometimes with solid color within shapes. When a shape
reminds the child of something, she may develop it into
a representational painting.
How Parents Can Help
Art educators recommend home art activities that
encourage children to experiment with the qualities of
each new material. They discourage copying, tracing, and
using kits that require executing someone else's design.
The best thing parents
can do is provide good materials, an orderly workplace,
and supportive interest.
Muriel Silberstein-Storfer,
who has been conducting parent-child workshops at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York since 1972,
describes in her book "Doing Art Together" (1996
edition, Harry N. Abrams, at bookstores, or phone
1-800-345-1359 to order) how to set up a home workshop
and choose appropriate materials and activities. She
suggests:
1. Beginners should paint while seated at a flat table
rather than standing at an easel. The reasons are a) it
is difficult to control drips on an easel, and b)
children who are standing are likely to become
distracted and wander off.
2. Red, yellow, blue, black, and white are the only
necessary colors. All other colors can be mixed from
those. Starting out with a lot of ready-mixed colors
deprives beginners of the basic experience of
color-mixing.
Do's and Don'ts
Here are recommendations from other authorities:
- As long as the child
is satisfied with his work, do not interfere.
- Don't criticize his
color choices or point out the correct colors; let
him make his own discoveries.
- Never do anything to
the child's work to help make it "better" because
that frustrates a child and makes him doubt his own
ability.
- Don't measure the
value of a painting experience by its duration.
- Neither interrupt a
scribble or painting in order to save it, nor urge
the child to work on it longer. Let him decided when
the picture is completed.
- If you do want to
extend your child's working time, researchers have
found that children spend nearly twice as long at
drawing or painting when an adult is present and
makes an occasional comment. "What is that supposed
to be?" is not a helpful comment. It is better to
show interest by talking about the colors or shapes
or by asking for information, such as "How did you
do that part?"
Recommended Art
Materials
Unless otherwise indicated the following products are
available at art supply stores and catalogs that
specialize in art materials for schools.
CRAYONS: Crayon
quality is determined by how much wax can be scratched
off the paper-the more wax, the poorer the crayon. The
child will have to press so hard to get a good color
that his fingers (and the resulting drawings) will
become cramped. The smaller the child, the larger the
crayons should be. Many authorities recommend pelling
the paper and breaking every crayon to free the child
from the inhibitions that result from trying to keep
crayons new-looking.
These two brands require
only a light touch. Prang Kantroll pressed crayons are
flattened on one side to prevent rolling. Available for
$3 from
Dixon
Ticonderoga online. Painting Wax Crayons produce the
smoothest, richest color imaginable (Galt,
1-800-899-4258, about $5 at specialty toy stores). Older
children can dip them in water and use them as paint
sticks.
PAINT: Liquid
tempera in 16-ounce squeeze bottles is available from
school supply catalogs, teacher stores, and art stores.
Some parents prefer powdered tempera because it can be
mixed with water to the desired consistency (very thick
for beginners) and last indefinitely. Either liquid or
powder tempera can be mixed with a small amount of
liquid dish soap to make clean up easy.
Other supplies needed are
brushes (one-inch and two-inch short-bristled "brights");
cups to hold small amounts to paint; and newsprint or
white paper, 18x24 inches.
Some Final Thoughts
Children's drawings express what they feel, not what
they see; they should not be judged by adult standards.
Things that adults consider "wrong" in children's art
have been used effectively by great artists: wrong
proportions (Modigliani, El Greco), lack of perspective
(medieval artists), and lack of spatial orientation
(Chagall).
The most important part
of a child's artistic growth occurs during the process
of creating. As Dr. Thomas A. Hatfield, Executive
Director of the National Art Education Association, puts
it, "Children need to experience art by exploring,
making decisions, and solving problems. 'Canned stuff'
designed by adults takes away the exploratory process
and removes the creative experience." |
