Child-directed Art Exploration

Photo by Brittani Burns on Unsplash

An Edutopia online article discusses how preschool teachers can avoid making judgements about young children’s art and help the children learn to imagine next steps and work through frustrations.

The article by Annet Weterings and Sabine Plamper, taken from their book How Children Learn and Create Using Art, Play and Science: Understanding Through Your Hands, looks at how to create the optimum conditions for children to work and remain involved in creating their art works. “Children who hear that something is beautiful will want to hear this again and again, and they will become dependent on your opinion. The priority is for children to follow their interests, to research and discover. As you listen to them, the connections they make will give you a glimpse into their personal world.”

They offer the following guidance on pitfalls to avoid when supervising children in create play:

·       What are you making? If a child makes connections whilst involved in making, they will let you know in their own time. They won’t be able to answer questions whilst in the middle of a creative process. Rather than asking questions, make a note of any information the child volunteers.

·       Not listening to what a child tells you, of their own accord, about the material or how they are experiencing it.

·       Comparing one child’s work with that of others. Everyone works in their own way, at their own pace and with their own visual language.

·       Directing, by saying how it should be or what the intention is.

·       Interfering with a child’s work: drawing, painting, colouring or sticking clay somewhere, while they are still at work, or giving pointers: that goes there. Or worse: taking over actions. Children are in charge of their own work! 

·       Allowing other adults to wander into the creative space with all sorts of questions or comments about lovely or ugly. This will disturb children’s concentration and process.

Whilst cautioning that questions should be kept to an absolute minimum when a child is focused on their creative endeavour, one or two possible questions from the following examples, as appropriate within the situation, might include:

·      Would you like to tell me something about it? (This gives the child a chance to say, “No”.)

·      Offer help: Do you need anything else?

·      Suggest a challenge: How would it be if you…?

·      Encourage them to focus: Do you hear/see/feel/taste/smell that too…?

·      Invite them to expand on what you see: Does it all turn the same way? What do you see?

·      Foster critical thinking: What could you use to do that? What would happen if…?

·      Challenge them to solve a problem: What could us use to make that?

Positive non-judgmental adult interactions might include:

·       Pay attention to a child’s involvement. Be curious about what they are doing or thinking.

·       Affirm what they are doing: Gosh, you’re hard at work!

·        Look at their technique: You have to be strong to cut, don’t you?

·       Draw attention to the materials: How does that feel? Is it soft or rough?

·       Stay close to a child if they are having difficulty—do not underestimate the support your presence can provide. A child will feel seen and acknowledged, and perhaps dare to continue.

The authors offer advice on supporting a frustrated child. “These are the children for whom something does not work straightaway, or who think they can’t do something. You will enable these children, not by ignoring the difficulties or taking over the task, but by supporting them emotionally.”

If a child asks for help to draw something, the authors recommend the following:

·      Help with sensitive questions and small steps to help them visualize an image of what they want to draw, e.g. for an animal: I wonder if it is big or small? I wonder how many legs might it have” I wonder how we might recognize that animal?

·      A circle can be used to symbolize a great many things. Reassure the child that their work doesn’t have to be an exact copy of something.

·      Beware of showing how to draw something, as this can provoke an unequal relationship with the child. “If you do decide to demonstrate, perhaps because the child has a concrete problem and has asked for help explicitly, then make a point of drawing on your own piece of paper and let the child draw on theirs.”

·      Encourage children to support each other, again each using their own piece of paper, so that they build relationships and develop learning.

The article concludes, “Support children to find things out for themselves, either independently, or respectfully encourage children’s own discussions with each other. And if there are questions or problems, by asking about possibilities they can come up with themselves.”