4 Things Not To Say About Children’s Artwork
Discussing art with young children can be a slippery slope you didn’t even realize you were on. Before you respond to your little one’s next masterpiece, take a minute to think about these 4 things not to say about children’s artwork.
“Look, Mommy”- the child holds up a paper full of colorful crayon scribbles
- “How beautiful, I love it!”
- “What is it?”
- “That looks like scribbles. Why don’t you try to make circles or squres?”
- “It’s a dog, right?”
Have you unconsciously said any of the above? More than likely, you have. I know I used to because these are the types of responses we are used to receiving ourselves. But what years of research have shown us is how to better speak to children about their art.
1. “How beautiful, I love it!”
Why shouldn’t we give a compliment? When we say things like, “How beautiful, I love it!” we are implying that their art creations should be something of value to someone else; it should be created for someone else to love. Instead, try to say, “I love how much work you put into creating this picture,” or “I love the colors that you chose.” Those last two statements show value to their effort or to the choices made to create the art. This type of appreciation will continue to help them feel valued about what they are creating and continue to make more because it is something that they love to do.
2. “What is it?”
Seems like a pretty benign question, right? Many young children are not creating art to represent something, so this question then forces them to come up with an answer. Maybe they just felt like scribbling for the sake of scribbling, maybe they were experimenting with different colors on the page, maybe they were discovering what happens when they move the crayon fast/slow, or if they press hard/soft. Instead of asking what the image represents, you could say, “Tell me about your picture.” This leaves their response to be completely open-ended. They may respond by saying it is a certain image, like an animal or vehicle; they may say, “I made blue!”. Either way, they have the choice to explain their art exactly how they want to do so.
3. “That looks like scribbles. Why don’t you try to make circles or squres?”
Ok, this third statement was a little judgy, I’m hoping this hasn’t been said too much to a young child. Telling them it looks like scribbles in a demeaning way takes away all validation the child had when making this picture. Even if you feel like they are too old to be making scribble-like pictures, embrace that stage of development that they are in. Just like walking or talking, creating art has many stages of development that can only come from multiple experiences and time to practice. Older children will still be in a scribbling phase when they have not had as much exposure to creating art or using different materials. That’s ok! Like the kid who was a late walker, there are late artists too. Give them the space and time to practice their scribbles, and soon you will see how this starts to transform into various shapes and lines.
4. “It’s a dog, right?”
This last statement goes back to what I said earlier about asking children, “What is it?” When we as adults look at a picture, we want to rationalize what we see by labeling it. I am one of the first people to tell you that I do not get modern art or avant-garde exhibits; my brain is way too literal to understand the complex concepts the artist tries to convey. Again, asking them to describe their picture will leave space for an open-ended response. Sometimes it may be more of a challenge for us as adults just to step back, view the scribbles and keep those guesses of what the image could be to ourselves.
If you’re thinking, “Have I been damaging my budding Van Gogh?” No! As parents (and early childhood educators), we are constantly learning about better ways to interact with young children. You may have said those four statements above, but you told them from a place of love; you replied the way someone probably responded to you once upon a time. If someone hasn’t said it today, you are a fantastic parent, high-five.
Now you have some more ideas on how to respond differently the next time you are presented with colorful scribbles.
Think about responding with more open-ended ways (“Tell me about your picture”) or giving a positive validation of their effort or process, not the end product (“I love the colors that you chose” or “I love how much work you put into creating this picture”).
And remember to enjoy every stage of their development; even Van Gogh started with scribbles!
