What is drawing and painting?

Children from a young age will enjoy marking those early marks. For the young children it is all about supporting and providing them with the appropriate resources to enable them to make makes. When children are around two they will begin to enjoy doing more drawings and paintings, and they will begin to give meaning to the marks they make.

It is always important for practitioner to understand what drawing and painting is.

Here are 10 things practitioners should know about drawing and painting

1. For adults it is very easy for us to pick up a pencil and make marks, however for babies it all begins when they start exploring the makes they can make with their food and for toddlers it’s about scribbling marks on any wall they can get their hands on.
2. Offering children a variety of resources is important as this opens up the opportunity for children explore different media.
3. It is often the case that adults concentrate on what children are drawing rather than understand that drawing and painting can help children release and express their feelings. Drawing and painting is a great tool in supporting children emotional development.
4. As children get older their drawings will contain more detail and deeper messages, it is important not to overpower children when asking them about their drawing is about as they may not want to share the story.
5. Drawing and painting is great way to help build children’s confidence as they develop a sense of pride of their achievement.
6. Developing a positive attitude about drawing and painting can lead to children feeling positive about early writing.
7. As children enjoy making marks they will begin to understand that makes can be used as symbols to represent ideas.
8. Children drawing will begin to portray what children see eg daddy has long legs. Children will begin to draw and paint what is important or interesting to them.
9. When children show adults their drawing and painting it is important adults are not critical as the focus is about building children confidence and enjoyment.
10. Displaying children’s drawing and painting is a great way for children to regular re visit the drawing and reflect on it

ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT MARK MAKING STARTS FROM AN EARLY AGE, THIS SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE.