I once saw a cartoon depicting a parent talking with their child about a piece of art the child had created. The parent said, "What is it?" The child looked deflated. How is it his parent couldn't see what it was... it was so obvious to the artist. Talking with young children about their artwork can be tricky. Parents often ask me if I have any suggestions for starting meaningful conversations with their young artists. I think it's helpful to think about what you hope to accomplish in this conversation. Some possibilities include:
- learning more about your children and their motivations
- understanding how your child thinks
- helping them feel accomplishment and recognition for their work
- demonstrating your general interest in their stories and their creative voice
- sharing a bonding experience with them
These are all wonderful reasons to have a conversation with your children about their art. Over the years I have learned some successful ways to approach young artists about their work. I focus on their role as the artist and ask them to tell me about their work; "Tell me about your painting." An additional approach is to focus on specifically on what I see and report my observations:
- I see lot of blue here at the top of your painting, can you tell me about it?
- I see so many different shapes in your drawing, can you tell me about them?
- I notice that tiny dots go all around the entire picture; can you tell me what you were thinking about that?
Children often respond to these statements with information about their thought process while making the art. They tell me stories about what the blue meant to them, why it is there, and maybe even what it represents. A three year old might tell me that the blue is there because the sky fell down in the picture, or that the blue is a huge dragon who is swimming. One story can lead to another and pretty soon we are engaged in conversation.
Another approach for continuing a conversation is to offer some feedback, not just what you see, but how you respond to it---but only if it seems to be appreciated by the artist! These comments are a bit more teacherly, in that you are starting to discuss elements of art with your child (color, line, shape, form, etc), and how their art might be viewed by others:
- I notice how you made these lines go all the way across the page; it makes the painting look so tall. What were you thinking about when you decided to do that?
- The circles over here are such a contrast to those sharp lines, it makes me feel excited and I wonder what you were thinking about.
- This part of your painting has a dreamy quality. Is there a story behind this?
- Your painting looks like it's coming off the page, what did you do with the paint to make it look like that?
Once your artist starts telling you stories about their piece of art, you can begin to ask some more direct questions. But I tend to back off if the response isn't very enthusiastic. There are times when kids just don't want to talk about their work. I make a mental note, and try to return to the conversation at a later time. I might say something like, "Remember when you were making your tree collage? I noticed something you did with the leaves that I thought was interesting. You figured out a way to make them 3-D. I was wondering if you could tell me about that?" With a question like this you are helping them reflect back on their thought process and make connections.
More direct questions and comments might include something like this:
- What were you thinking about when you painted this?
- What tools did you use to apply the paint?
- Can you tell me about what is happening in your drawing?
- What is your favorite part of this painting?
- Tell me about how you made this collage.
I hope you find some of these approaches helpful the next time you start a conversation with your young artist! An additional resource for talking with kids about art (the art of others...in museums and galleries, etc), can be found if you follow this link:
http://tinkerlab.com/five-easy-steps-for-talking-with-children-about-art/
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