Great Art Start

When we talk to our children about their art we have a chance to foster their creativity, their capacity for observation, and the chance to have real honest and genuine dialogue as the child pulls you into their world for  a short period of time. Don’t be afraid when your child comes home with the work of art and maybe you can’t immediately recognize what it is that they’ve made. Here are a few simple tips that can help you not only talk to your child about art but also learn more about your child, and help them discover more about themselves.

More listening, less talking.

• Listen to your child, make it about him/her.
• Find out what they think before adding your take on the work. Children love to talk about their work and their processes, but they also love to please their parents, so strive to get the pure thoughts unaltered by our adult lens.

Ask open ended questions that encourage your child to talk about their work.

• “When you started painting, what were you thinking about? Can you tell me about this area over here?”
• “How did you do this?”
• “What materials/ tools did you use?

Say what you see.

• I don’t mean say “I see a “cat” because there is a chance you are wrong and that can be discouraging to the child artist. Instead, say the shapes, lines, colors, brush usage,etc. ” I’m really interested in this line over here, How did you make that?”  ” I see you have a big brushstroke of black here, and a thin one over here”

Promote self-evaluation.

• “Is there anything else you would like to add?”
•  “Do all the parts of the picture look like they belong together?”
• “Which of your paintings from today do you like best, and why?”
• Don’t say “You colored outside the lines.” or “That doesn’t look like a fish.” or ” Who ever heard of a purple chicken?”
• Ask them if they are happy with what they made, and why?
• What would they have liked to add or change if they had more time.

Praise doing, not being.

•  Focus your praise on what they have done, not how talented they are. “What a great idea!” or “You really worked hard on this painting!” rather than “You’re so clever.”
•  Kids who are rewarded for “doing” (working hard and making progress) continue to strive and thrive. Kids who are congratulated for “being” smart–or artistic or imaginative–often start playing it safe to protect their image, nothing gets in the way of creativity like fear of failing.     
• Instead of saying ” Good job” offer meaningful comments that relate to the actual work. What did they do a “good job” at? “You really captured the way the dog’s fur is long and shaggy.”

Encourage effort, enjoyment, risk-taking.

•  “I bet you had a lot of fun making that.”
• “We learn a lot from our mistakes.” 
• “Let’s try anyway.”
•  “It’s okay to get dirty.”
•  “I’m proud of you when you try hard things.”

Get them thinking about the future.

• “Did you enjoy working with the materials?”
• “Are there other materials you would rather try to work with?”
• “What do you think you will want to make next?”

How to talk your kids about art you see in the community   Written by Catherine Ewer

Ask, “What do you see?” This open question prompts children to respond to the artwork and share their initial reactions. It is also useful because many little ones will have ideas and thoughts they want to share right away!
Description: Encourage the children look closely at the artwork to describe all the different elements. What colours do you see? How many different shapes can you find? What about different lines? What is the art made off? Help guide their exploration by asking questions.
Analysis: This seems a bit steep for preschoolers but for our purposes you can use this step to explore the artist’s choices. Consider if the artists has used a repetition of colour or shape. Maybe the artist makes us feel cold by using a lot of cool colors
Interpretation: What does it mean? Now that you’ve talked about the “bones” of a piece of art it’s time to explore possible meanings. Does the piece have a “mood”? What is happening? Is the artist telling a story? Don’t feel you have to figure it out, just explore ideas together.
Information: After the children have explored the artwork this far you can feel free to give them more information that might be relevant and of interest. Children may ask who made the piece, or how a piece of art was made, and this is the time to explore this. If a piece is carved of wood, for example, you may wish to have some wood on hand for them to touch.
Personalization: It is interesting to see how initial ideas about a piece of work may change after all this careful looking! Now take the time to ask children what they think of the piece of art. .