Watching and listening to young children as they draw is fascinating. Not only can we hear the pleasure in the child's voice, we may also hear their purpose. It is sad, then, to see only a few years later that many of the same children no longer wish to draw. They may hide their lack of confidence behind statements such as 'I don't know how to...'
It can be useful for us, as well as understanding more about how children come to draw and paint, to think about how adults can support children in this area.
Starting the journey
As with many other areas of child development, there is more than one view as to how children approach drawing. While the interpretations of children's drawing vary, we can, however, see certain trends in the way children draw.
First of all, we may see that babies as young as seven months old enjoy making marks.
The term 'scribbling' is often used in relation to children's very early mark-making, although critics of this term believe that it devalues the important activity that children are engaged in. During children's first year or so, mark-making is an exploratory activity, with children purposefully considering what effect their movements can have.
From this early start, children from around two years old will begin to tell us what their marks mean as they consider the results of their work.
In terms of the physical marks that children are putting down, we can also see that they enjoy using a range of mark techniques and tools - for example, a child may change pen to denote a different style of mark. We may also see that different marks and movements are interlinked.
Combining movements
The combination of marks often means that children produce 'tadpoles' from the age of around three years. A 'tadpole' is a rotational mark combined with straight lines. These often serve as representations of people, although children will continue to explore other combinations of marks.
Listening to children also provides us with lovely commentaries of what is happening as the child builds in a sense of action into their drawings.
Sometimes it feels that the drawings themselves come to life for children, and one idea and mark feeds into another.
The images that children are representing from around four or five years onwards will begin to be recognisable to adults. Children will often attempt to convey everything they know about the image and draw aspects that they cannot see all at once - for example, a table viewed from above may also be drawn with the legs splayed out. Older children then tend to move towards more 'conventional' drawings by representing just what they see.
Valuing exploration
It is a sad fact that many children give up on drawing and painting as they get older. This means that knowing how best to support and encourage children during their explorative drawing journey is essential.
First, we need to make sure that children feel safe to experiment and to simply enjoy the process of creating marks. The process of experimenting and exploring is an essential one, as this provides children with a later 'store' of knowledge that they can build upon.
Experimenting also helps children to develop confidence in their own abilities to solve common problems, such as how to convey texture or perspective. This can prevent the tendency for some children to give up on painting and drawing because they are not happy with what they have produced.
Finished products
Many adults automatically want to 'know' what a child has drawn. This can cause conflict for the child, who is purposefully exploring texture, colour and movement without necessarily having an image in mind. They may get the message that painting and drawing is about finished products, and this may make them look for ways of pleasing adults, especially where 'special' work is chosen for display.
Find the time
Children will need time and plenty of opportunities to enjoy their painting and drawing. A range of materials, colours and places in which to draw and paint are therefore essential. As well as using the traditional easels, look out for spaces on walls to create a social painting area.
Finally, find time yourself to pick up a brush and make some of your own marks. Getting back in touch with your own creativity is a sure way of remembering what painting and drawing is really about.
Student links
This article links to elements C10.4 of the NVQ 3 in Early Years Childcare and Education.
Evidence collector If you are a student, you may wish to carry out the following activity that can help you to learn more about children's painting. Remember to consult with your supervisor and/or the parents if necessary.
Observation Provide a range of painting, paper and brushes. Without directing children, look to see the ways in which they choose the materials. Consider the way in which they make movements and listen carefully to their commentaries.
Piaget and children's drawing
Piaget's view of children's drawings has been quite influential. His theory is based on stages and tries to explain children's thinking in relation to their drawing. His theory was partly based on Georges Luquet's work which looked at children's drawings in terms of modes of representation.
Piaget's theory has been criticised on several accounts, however, not least because children's drawings do not necessarily package themselves into neat stages. It is also thought that children's early marks or scribbles are actually more purposeful than they are given credit for, and need to be valued as such.
18-30 months - Fortuitous realism Children notice shapes in their marks and ascribe meaning to them.
30 months-5 years - Failed realism Children draw with a purpose, although their marks may not be representational.
5-8 years - Intellectual realism Children are battling with a problem as to how to draw something they know to be there, but which may be obscured or hidden from their view. This can result in 'transparencies', where children draw the contents of a box, or a tummy button under a dress.
8 years+ - Visual realism Children draw what they can actually see.
