Why Do Toddlers Draw Circles

How Your Child's Writing and Fine art Changes Over Time

Creativity is a span to learning. When your child is creative and curious, she can come up up with answers to the problems she encounters—like how to keep the block belfry from falling. Inventiveness helps your kid go a thoughtful, inquisitive, and confident learner after on, when she starts school.

I of the most of import ways that your toddler is tuning in to her creativity is past experimenting with art materials. As she grabs that chunky crayon and gets to work, y'all will see her art and writing change and become more controlled and circuitous as she grows.

For very young children, art and early on writing skills are one and the same. At first, it'due south all about but figuring out what these absurd things called crayons tin do. Then your child discovers the link betwixt her paw holding the crayon and the line she made on the page: Presto! She experiences the ability of cause-and-consequence. Imagine how heady this must be for her! She tin can now brand a real "marker" on the world. This leap in thinking skills is helped along by her new ability to hold things in her hands and fingers. The growing command your child has over the muscles in her hands lets her motility a mark or paintbrush with purpose and with a goal in heed.

For very young children, in that location are 4 stages of drawing and writing that y'all may encounter as your child grows from 15 months old to 3 years quondam. Notation that the timetables listed below are approximate; your child may master these skills faster or slower and still exist developing just fine. Growth doesn't happen at the same speed for every child, but by offering repeated fun experiences with a multifariousness of art and writing materials, you volition see forward progress over time.

Stage 1: Random Scribbling (15 months to two½ years)

This is the period when young children are but figuring out that their movements result in the lines and scribbles they run across on the folio. These scribbles are commonly the upshot of large movements from the shoulder, with the crayon or marker held in the child'due south fist. There is joy in creating art at all ages, but at this stage especially, many children relish the feedback they are getting from their senses: the way the crayon feels, the aroma of the paint, the squishy-ness of the dirt.

For other children, this sensory data may be too much and they may non enjoy some art activities at this stage (like finger-painting). Equally they abound to tolerate more sensory input, you tin can incrementally re-introduce art activities into their routine.

Stage two: Controlled Scribbling (ii years to 3 years)

Every bit children develop better control over the muscles in their easily and fingers, their scribbles begin to change and become more controlled. Toddlers may make repeated marks on the page—open circles, diagonal, curved, horizontal, or vertical lines. Over time, children make the transition to holding the crayon or marker betwixt their thumb and pointer finger.

Phase 3: Lines and Patterns (2½ years to 3½ years)

Children now understand that writing is made up of lines, curves, and repeated patterns. They try to imitate this in their ain writing. So while they may non write actual letters, you may see components of letters in their drawing. These might include lines, dots, and curves. This is an exciting fourth dimension as your toddler realizes that his drawing conveys pregnant! For example, he may write something down and so tell yous what give-and-take information technology says. This is an important step toward reading and writing.

Stage iv: Pictures of Objects or People (3 years to 5 years)

Many adults think of "pictures" equally a flick of something. This ability to hold an epitome in your mind and then represent it on the page is a thinking skill that takes some time to develop. At first, children name their unplanned creations. This ways that they finish the movie and then label their masterpiece with the names of people, animals, or objects they are familiar with. This changes over time.

Soon you volition see your kid clearly planning prior to drawing what he will create. You will likewise come across more detail in the pictures, more control in the way your child handles the crayon or marker, and the utilize of more colors. What else to be on the lookout for? Children's first pictures ofttimes build off circles. So, y'all may see a sun—an irregular circle, with lots of stick "rays" shooting out—or a person (unremarkably a circle with roughly recognizable human features).

In one case your child has begun to purposefully describe images, she has mastered symbolic thinking. This important milestone in thinking skills means that your kid understands that lines on newspaper can be a symbol of something else, like a firm, a cat, or a person. At this stage, your child also begins to sympathise the difference between pictures and writing. So you lot may see him depict a picture and then scribble some "words" underneath to depict what he has drawn or to tell a story. When your child is able to share his story with you, he will be motivated to "author" more and more than work every bit he grows.

Stage 5: Letter and Word Exercise (3 to 5 years)

Children have had experience with letters and print for several years now and are beginning to use letters in their own writing. Commonly children start by experimenting with the letters in their ain names, as these are most familiar to them. They also make "pretend letters" by copying familiar letter shapes, and will frequently assume that their created alphabetic character must exist real considering it looks similar other letters they have seen (Robertson, 2007).

During this time, children too begin to sympathize that some words are made of symbols that are shorter and some words are fabricated of symbols that are longer. As a result, their scribbles change. Rather than one long string of letters or letter-similar shapes, your child'due south writing now has short and long patterns that look like words or sentences. While these messages and words are probably non technically correct, it does not affair. This exciting milestone means that your child is beginning to understand that text and print have pregnant.

What Tin can You Do to Encourage Art and Writing Skills

Make art a regular part of playtime.

Offering chunky, easy-to-grip crayons, thick pencils, and washable markers. Cut paper bags up to draw on. Sometimes it helps young children out if you record the paper down on the tabular array so information technology doesn't move as they describe. As your child grows, you can include washable paints, child-safe scissors and glue, and homemade salt-dough as part of your child's creative time. (For salt-dough recipes, bank check the Internet or your local library.) Permit your child clothing an old shirt of yours (with sleeves cut off) as a smock and lay newspaper or an old shower mantle over the table to keep it make clean.

No need for instructions.

Let your child experiment and explore. Creativity means having the power to express yourself in your ain way (Lagoni et al., 1989). This independence is just what a growing toddler is looking for to feel confident, competent, and clever. By sitting nearby, observing, and taking pleasure in your child's cosmos, you are providing all the guidance he needs.

Notice the process, non simply the production.

As parents, we oft tend to compliment children on their successes: What'south that a moving picture of? A business firm? That's great! And sometimes we get hung upwards on the fact that trees should be dark-green, not purple. Sometimes we quiz: What's the name of that color? Just children learn more when we don't focus and so much on what they are drawing, only on what they are thinking about their drawing. Take a few moments to detect your child'south piece of work: Expect at the lines you are making—there are so many of them! Or, That flick is really interesting. Those colors make me feel happy. Or, I run across you lot are working really difficult on your drawing. Or just: Tell me near your picture. So meet if your child is interested in sharing more.

Experiment with a variety of art materials as your child nears iii.

Let children paint with cotton balls, q-tips, sponges, string—y'all name information technology. Give your child crayons and rub over a textured surface (like a coin or a screen). Draw with chalk exterior on a sidewalk; see how water changes the colour of the chalk. Add powdered paint or glitter to your kid's sand play. Or add together a new dimension to water play past adding drops of washable food coloring to the h2o. What happens when you mix two dissimilar colors of water together?

Utilize art to aid your child limited strong feelings.

Is your child having a tantrum? Offer some play-dough or set out the markers and newspaper and suggest she make a very, very aroused flick. Artistic activities tin sometimes help children express and make sense of feelings that are as well intense for them to share in words.

Encourage your child'due south attempts to write.

If your kid scribbles something and then tells you what he "wrote," take information technology seriously. Permit him have his "shopping list" to the supermarket or mail service his (scribbled) letter to Grandma. This is how children learn that words are powerful and have significant.

Display your kid's art and writing.

This is how your child knows her work is valued and important.

Artistic activities aid children to learn how to solve problems, come up with their ain answers, discover the crusade-and-result of their actions, and feel confident about the choices they make. Art experiences assistance children develop independence within limits, and gives them the opportunity to correspond their ideas on newspaper or in other formats. Well-nigh important, creative expression lets children tap into the magic of their ain imaginations—which is what being a child is all virtually.

Resources and References

Farrell-Kirk, R. (2007 Feb). Tips on understanding and encouraging your child's artistic development. Downloaded on June 10, 2008.

Gable, Southward. (2000). Inventiveness in young children. University of Missouri Extension. Downloaded on June 10, 2008.

Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service. (n.d.). My kid is an artist! The stages of artistic development. Downloaded on June 10, 2008.

Lagoni, Fifty. Southward., Martin, D. H., Maslin-Cole, C., Melt, A., MacIsaac, K., Parrill, M., Bigner, J., Coker, Due east., & Sheie, S. (1989). Good times beingness creative. In Good times with child care (pp. 239–253). Fort Collins, CO: Colorado Land University Cooperative Extension. Downloaded on June ten, 2008.

Levinger, L, & Mott, A. (north.d.). Developmental phases in art. Downloaded on June 10, 2008.

Robertson, R. (2007, July/August). The meaning of marks: Understanding and nurturing immature children'southward writing development. Child Care Commutation, 176, 40–44.

Annual Conference 2019

kelynackwithim.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/305-learning-to-write-and-draw