Visual art does not have boundaries. It enables people to play with materials, to express their thinking, to problem solve and make sense of emotions," Dr Lindsay says.
It can be about the job of immersing yourself in the art-making process as much as it is about cognitive development and problem-solving. Often that is because they've been told that they're doing it wrong or the adult takes over the experience for the child. Around the age of six, children start to look very critically at their own work and their own drawings, and that is the age at which many stop enjoying the experience of visual arts. For example, think of that aforementioned house and flower.
Dr Lindsay explains that these are a schema, a symbol for our understanding of the words 'house' and 'flower'. Those who aren't confident in visual arts draw upon these symbols because they feel more comfortable.
The critical part of the brain doesn't like to be uncomfortable, and many people feel fearful of drawing. Dr Lindsay, who draws upon the educational methods of Reggio Emilia , an Italian early childhood philosophy that sees the child as central to their own learning rather than a passive participant, says all parents and teachers should be developing visual arts potential from a young age.
But art can become very constrained if adults impose their own ideas on a child. We shouldn't be constraining children. This time in a child's development should be their opportunity to express their voices and their ideas," Dr Lindsay says. I don't like to disparage any expression processes because they all have value but those that have the most value are those that allow the children to express themselves.
It teaches them to express themselves freely, without worrying about what others think. If a lot of attention is given to the final product or we spend a lot of energy praising the end result, a child may be more likely to do things to get your approval instead of doing what they want to do.
Part of focusing on the process involves encouraging effort; exploration and effort are more important than the end product. Notice their hard work! Let it go. As long as a child is safe i. They may spend the majority of the time sharpening colored pencils instead of actually drawing with them.
Children learn through playing, exploring and trial and error. When we give them freedom to discover, they are learning to create and experiment in new and innovative ways. Did you find this article useful?
Please tell us why Submit. Early childhood development resources for early childhood professionals. Related Content. Search Search. You may be surprised by their ideas. An invitation can be as simple as offering an interesting material and suggesting that they see what it feels like. If you have small babies you can start with just a couple of blobs of paint on a large sheet of paper on the floor for them to explore on their tummy.
Try home-made edible paints. Keep it short and have a nice bath ready! Printing transfers an image from one surface to another. Younger children can spread paint across the back of a baking tray , mixing to their fancy, then press a sheet of paper on top, making a print. Try the back of cupcake tins to get nice circular images. Offer older children tools like cotton buds or a blunt pencil to draw into the paint on the baking tray, then print to transfer the design. Or they could add paper shapes or leaves on top of the paint before printing, like a stencil.
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