Engaging with young children as they draw.
- Frédérique and the Wooden Fellows
“From birth, children are intent on learning about themselves and their world of people and things. They drive to engage with others is boundless. Unceasingly curious and eager explorers, they use every possible means–and this of course includes us–to learn how to make sense of it all.”
Ursula Kolbe
Different approaches exist regarding early childhood education–some are more child-centered than others, and some are more teacher/adult-directed than others. A good balance is critical can be quite nurturing. A critical element in finding such balance, though, is taking the time to observe young children’s actions and explorations, driven by their endless curiosity towards the world they live in, and listening to their thoughts. Then, take the time to guide them further in their exploration and learning experiences.
I am delighted this week to elevate another activity to engage with those young minds, and enter into young children’s thinking: drawing.
I am taking the chance to share a wonderful book on the topic, written by a Sydney-based artist with decades of experience in early childhood education (thank you, Christopher Danielson, for recommending it some years ago). It is not a bird yet, by Ursula Kolbe, builds up from children’s experiences in drawing, elevating young children’s intentions, and suggesting ways to encourage and support them as they draw.
The author highlights, in particular, the importance of observing, and listening to young children as they draw, prior to adding on, raising questions, and deepening their experiences further. Those key points are all music to my ears; I highly recommend the book.
Below are few “rules” you may want to follow to thoughtfully and gently engage with young children as they draw. I always keep them in mind as an early childhood educator, and they fully align with Ursula Kolbe’s book.
- take time to listen to what the child may say as they draw, and learn about the topic, but also their drawing process.
- see the child as a young artist, and hence assure they keep ownership of their piece of art throughout. Refrain from drawing a part they may be struggling with. Rather, offer reassurance, or guidance, to both boost their confidence and their observation skills that they could use to add on details.
- make no assumptions. One can never be sure of what a child is drawing. What may “look” like a dog, may be horse, or a unicorn before the horn is added.
Let’s take an example, with the three drawings below, all representing the same family (no assumptions, I asked!), drawn by the same child (Rosie), at three different ages (3 to 5 years old).
What do you notice? What questions may you ask the young artist?
In all pictures, four family members can be seen, with one head, one body, two legs, and two arms. Indeed, already in the first drawing, the child is aware, and able to represent on paper many of the human features accurately.
Tell me about your drawing and the characters! Who are you drawing? I see two legs, I have two legs too!
Those prompts are just examples of what I may say, but would depend on the child, and their process, of course.
With time come more details, e.g., feet, hands, pupil of the eyes, expression, the arms moving from being attached to the head, to being attached to the body, different hairstyles.
Tell me about your drawing and the characters! Who are you drawing? Tell me about the hands! I see five fingers, on that hand, do they all have five fingers?
The final drawing adds on even more details, regarding, for instance, shapes of arms and hands, size of the body, clothes, hair.
Hair can indeed become a predominant feature of a drawing (see collage), or can be drawn through short lines around the head. No hair? See suggestions #3 about making no assumptions: hair may not be missing, the character may simply be bold. Also, keep in mind the sorting bears; what may look like a missing skill may just come from the endless imagination of young children : ) Always ask.
Drawings can really open the door to amazing discussions. I have been sharing in the past drawings of the Fellows that are used as a source of inspiration to create the wooden puppets from Giggles and Chisels. Those drawings, though, were accompanied with hours of conversation about the name of the Fellows, what they liked to do, the colors of their worlds, their favorite food, up to point that I had to create a spreadsheet to keep track of everything. A drawing time one day became the starting point of an incredible journey, that lasted several months. Drawing is, indeed, an amazing activity to enter into children’s minds.
As mentioned last week, we are currently planting seeds on values, beliefs and activities around early childhood that would come back regularly throughout our posts. We will, hence, continue to deepen the topic of drawing with young children. But the three suggestions shared this week hopefully give you a starting point if you are not quite sure yet how to engage with young children as they draw. As always, please feel free to share your experiences in the comment section or through the contact form.
Thank you so much for being here, and “see” you next week.
All drawings are shared with permission of the artist, Rosie.