Encouraging Young Artists

Post date: Jul 10, 2015 2:52:22 AM

Tips for Encouraging Young Children's Art

Child art has a distinct charm of its own. The most successful examples of child art are honest, forthright expressions of each child's world as they feel it and understand it to be.

Young children do not draw things the way they look to adults. They draw and paint their own world in their own way. It is different from an adult's world. It is a young child's world. The very young child is not concerned with using color imitatively as it appears in nature. A cat may be green or a house purple. This element of fantasy is consistent with the exciting impossibilities of fairy tales. So we understand and enjoy this element of fantasy in child art. Young children determine the size of things they draw or paint by the importance they wish to give them. A flower may be larger than a building because the flower is more important to the child. This is completely logical to the child - as it is to many professional artists.

When looking at a young child’s artwork, do not ask, "What is it?” Instead, comment on the colors, shapes, lines that you see. Ask your child to tell you about his/her picture. We encourage children to verbalize about their paintings and other art expressions. Talking about their work seems to give them greater confidence - especially when the listener shows a genuine interest in the child's work.Every art activity should be a creative experience that requires original thinking,planning and doing. This promotes creative thinking and problem solving skills.

All young children have the potential for creative expression. It is the responsibility of parents and teachers to provide opportunities for this potential to develop as fully as possible. It is not the child's fault if this does not happen. It is ours.

Through our actions and attitudes, we convince young children that we have complete faith in their ability to express their own ideas in their own way.

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