Child develpoment and art

  The Studio

Child development in the area of art

Part 1

(Taken from Art 4-11 – art in the early years of schooling by Suffolk County Council)

A baby is designed to explore and discover the world around.  As the baby develops, his body develops and strengthens. Being able to move; reach and grasp are all important. As the child moves he learns. A vital part of the learning that takes place at this stage is on a sensory level. In other words, how things feel. Smooth, spiky, hard and soft are all new and exciting messages for the brain to interpret and so the child learns.

Making some kind of mark is part of this process. All children around the world experience the same stages of development in art. The Scribble Stage is this part of childhood development where the child begins to use his ability to make a mark and begins to enjoy making it.  As the child begins to develop more and more control in his arm and hand muscles, he is then able to make some really interesting marks which are characteristic of this stage of development. Marks might include vertical, horizontal, diagonal, circular, wavy and curving marks.

During this stage of development, it would be appropriate to give the child lots of opportunities to draw using a variety of media – paint with big, fat paintbrushes, big crayons, fat chalks and even clay and dough all offer the young child an opportunity to explore what comes naturally at this stage.

It is very exciting to watch and see the child develop. The more they play with art the more they will grow and enjoy it.

Hot tips

• Display some of the work in your home (if you throw work away please don’t let your child see) There are some fun ways to store art and display art.
• Write the child’s name from left to write in the left hand corner – Reading skill
• Resist the temptation to draw for your child – I can not emphasize this enough.
• Ask questions about the art
• Build confidence by using helpful, honest language when commenting. Eg. I like the colours you chose ; You filled the page really well  ( see Emotional Intelligence)
• Avoid comparisons with other children
• Resist the temptation to name the picture ( the next step is the naming stage and then you can have a great deal of fun)
• Remember that the process of drawing and creating is far more important than the end product and that much learning has taken place in the process part of the work. The product often says very little about the process.
• There are no mistakes at this stage

Enjoy the process with your little one!!