Thoughts_02 - Yefandesign

Children and Art

When I used to work as a curriculum developer for children’s art programs, I delved into books on teaching children’s art and child psychology.

I have organized summaries and insights from these books. My goal is to apply this knowledge in my interactions and teaching with children in the future.

The Age Differences in Children's Drawing: Evolution of Creativity

At One Year Old

Children at one year old start with scribbles and dots. Elbow arcs and wrist circles are the basis for hand exercises.
Parents should engage in drawing activities with their child, interact, and try to understand what the child says.
Provide a place with water and sand to help the child create memories and emotions, which can spark creativity.
Offer larger paper and preferred colors for the child, such as water-based markers, crayons, and pencils.
This stage involves non-representational scribbles, focusing on sensory experiences.

At Two Years Old

Children begin meaningful scribbling, and the interpretation of the drawing often comes after it’s done.
Around two and a half years old, children start recognizing colors, but the ability to choose colors usually develops around three years old.
Hand exercises gradually progress from shoulder to elbow, wrist, and fingertips, giving meaning to the drawings.

At Three Years Old

They start attaching meaning to their drawings, especially after three and a half years.
Children use lines to represent things, and rudimentary human and personification expressions emerge.
Ink pens and absorbent large paper are suitable for this stage of drawing.

At Four Years Old

Children begin organizing content before drawing; it’s the “same time expression” period.
They can depict impressions, including rudimentary human and two-legged human figures.
Listening to the child’s descriptions is important; they may prefer making impressive larger artworks.

At Five Years Old

Children begin creating drawings that adults can understand, featuring clothed human figures and focusing on features and significant details.
They can draw things of interest based on their understanding and start establishing order.
Base lines appear to distinguish the sky from the ground.

At Six Years Old

Children can use base lines to express order, engage in pattern games, and abstract expressions.
Listening to their content, increasing life experiences, and storytelling input can help them imagine and express it.

At Seven to Eight Years Old

Children start dealing with blocking relationships, drawing objects that are hidden behind.
By the age of eight, they can be encouraged to write explanations for their drawings to develop written expression skills.
Base lines become horizontal lines and the horizon line, differentiating between front, side, and back views.

At Nine Years Old

Children seek to depict what they see realistically, entering the stage of visual realism.
Children should become laborers, gaining life experiences and tactile experiences. Teachers can ask children to record their thoughts in written language.
Increase the use of drawing tools like colored pencils and watercolors, along with life drawings.

Other Key Points

Children like drawing dots, which is evident at all ages.
Avoid teaching children to read too early; storytelling and life experiences are more important.
Children at different ages focus on different aspects of colors and content. Guidance and support should align with their age characteristics.
The way children approach issues changes as they grow. Initially, they ask “What is this?” but over time, they focus more on details, connections, and stories. Expanding their horizons and imagination through folk tales and legends is crucial.
For children aged 2-5/6, it’s best to use a single color in drawings to help them understand the relationship between colors and objects as base lines gradually appear.
Children aged 4-5 become more focused on specific characteristics of objects, expressing them more concretely.
Children aged 6-7 start showing interest in relationships between things, such as food relationships.
Before the age of 9, if drawings are too figurative or animated characters, the emphasis should not be on drawing skills and representation, but on increasing perception of life and tactile experiences. Mud and water can be used for tactile experiences.

Ideal Drawing Activity Environment

Ideal drawing classes should encourage free imagination, with children as the main participants and teachers as guides and appreciators.
Special “drawing days” with prepared materials and space can be organized.
Before starting drawing, rhythmic activities can be conducted, like imitating butterfly larvae, singing while mimicking flying, then closing eyes to calm down before beginning the drawing activity.
Children can choose their drawing materials and tools. Parents can assist in writing the date and intended messages.
Each drawing activity should last about ten minutes, and a child can create three artworks.
In drawing classes, game-based teaching plans should be emphasized to facilitate learning through play.
It’s important to note that only after children reach the age of 9 can they more easily accept collective feedback. Therefore, parents can actively ask about their children’s drawings after class to promote more communication and expression.
Drawing themes should match the children’s interests to spark creativity.
For children aged 9 and above, realism in art becomes a focus. They should engage in hands-on experiences and touch, and parents or teachers can encourage them to write down their thoughts.

For Parents

Children imitate adults, so if adults engage in drawing, it can be more beneficial. However, drawings should match the child’s age, e.g., before 2 years old, and focus on simple elements like dots and lines.
Drawing develops various skills, including motor skills, hand-eye coordination, language expression, emotional expression, and social skills. Language induction can evoke shared memories before drawing. The presence of peers can also help spark a child’s interest in drawing.
How can parents help children learn to express and understand their drawings?
1. Listening: Parents should listen to the child’s drawings and ask about the child’s thoughts and intentions.
2. Understanding: Understanding a child’s drawing goes beyond the visual image; it should also consider the emotions and ideas behind the drawing.
For parents, some important points include:
1. Avoid forcing a child’s drawing to be a certain way; drawing is a way for children to express themselves and should not be overly interfered with.
2. Don’t be afraid of messiness; drawing is a creative activity, and children need the freedom to express themselves without too many restrictions.
3. Don’t teach children to draw specific images too early; encourage them to express images based on their feelings.
4. Drawing can reflect a child’s personality and emotions, but should not be overanalyzed; children should have the freedom to express themselves.

Interpreting Children's Art: Understanding Their World

Ages 1-3

Children primarily engage in drawing through hand activities during this stage, which is the one-dimensional scribbling phase. Scribbling is the result of hand activities, progressing from top to bottom and from center to end.
Scribbling begins at around one year old, initially consisting of dots and back-and-forth arcs, then gradually developing into circles and continuous circles at around one and a half years old.
Before turning two, children start closing circles and begin differentiating colors.
Around two and a half to three years old, they no longer attach meaning after scribbling; instead, they prepare to create meaningful scribbles before drawing, entering the three-dimensional scribbling phase.

Ages 4-8

During this stage, language skills start to guide the development of drawing abilities.
Around five years old, children become interested in relationships between objects and enjoy games of chasing each other.
At six years old, children demonstrate the ability to use base lines, transparent drawing methods, and focus on color variations.
Seven-year-olds can draw images from different angles, gradually moving away from base line expression and developing a “three-dimensional and parallel expression.”

Ages 9 and Above

After nine years old, children start using realistic expression methods.
Ages 7-8 lay the foundation for lifelong personality development and solidify hand flexibility.
Art education should focus on intellectual development after the age of four; prior to that, it mainly involves hand exercises.

Drawing plays a vital role in children’s personality formation and the development of various abilities. Therefore, art education should align with the developmental stages of children to cultivate drawing skills suitable for their age. Additionally, the development of children and the appreciation of art should take into account various human abilities, such as hand-eye coordination, language, emotions, and social skills. It should not be simply measured by a single criterion but should be tailored to their individual learning processes.