Significance of child art
By Zenobia Nankani – Art Therapist and Counselor working with children and adults
Every child is an artist, the challenge is to remain an artist even as an adult
Pablo Picasso
Early children’s drawings follow a universal pattern almost mimicking their connection with the cosmos. Drawing is a pictorial representation of the child’s living, physiological maturation as well as a visual depiction of his incarnation on earth.
Children live in a rich, imaginative inner world they express in play. For a child the significance lies in the process of the creation, savoring the moment, totally engaged, in his natural state of being. Every child is an artist, for creativity is one of the most characteristic traits of human beings. Everything we learn as infants is a result of these continuous creative processes – the drinking in of impressions received by the senses that shapes and forms our organs and faculties of understanding.
Children in the first 7 years essentially believe the world to be something GOOD. Everything is good – his parents, educators, friends, school, home, everything he is exposed to. Any experience that does not confirm this, disturbs his belief of Goodness and leaves an indelible mark in his evolution. This makes the experience, the atmosphere around it as well as the environment of the child crucial when working with children.
The first connect with art begins at age 1 ½ or 2 years when the child brings his will impulses and instincts to paper in the round, circular scribble, contrasted with the straight line scribble. These first loops of little children almost replicate the rhythmic movements of the cosmos and appear as life forces streaming into him. Within a short while these scribbles begin to contract and concentrate into a central focal point leading in to the next discovery and challenge of completing the single, curved, closed line creating the CIRCLE.
This circle again corresponds with the physiological change taking place where the fontanel closes in and becomes firmly fused. This happens by the age of 3 years and the first sense of separateness begins. The circle in the child’s art closes and there comes the first sense of “I” where the child begins his first reference to self as “I”. This physiological change also reflects in the vehement NO that signals the rebellion and tantrums displayed around this age.
Once the circle has arrived the face, arms and legs to emerge soon after. These elementary drawings represent the growth forces and development taking place in the invisible inner world of the child. The development of the spinal column and the central nervous system depicted in the “ladder man” and the increasing will impulse streaming through him is represented with the “tree man”.
Very young children use gesture of the body to draw their moving lines that control the shape. Hence it is important not to limit their space. We see this when the space on the paper is overflown. He uses every possible marking object and surface, be it the walls or the floor, as his dream life of the womb is immensely rich and uncontainable. The reference of the frame is imposed at a later stage when the child will give himself limits. These limits are what he feels naturally.
It is almost imperative to allow very young children to draw freely without any systematic program of instruction; no teaching of techniques or styles in the early years. The child is a sensory being, taking in impressions from all his senses – playing with color, sound, texture, taste, smell – he imbibes his learnings about the world. Living in a world of imitation he brings a creative presentation of all that he has taken in. Allowing children to explore their senses deepens learning for the child. The child‘s soul is enlivened with through natural products rather than dead matter like plastic.
It is also very significant to provide the right drawing implements to the child. The physiological development of the hand is yet incomplete. Very small children should be given big ball or egg crayons to grasp in their little hands. Beeswax crayons are amongst the best as they have a smooth texture, a pleasing aroma and are natural. Holding thin crayons or pencils is detrimental to the child’s development. All scribbling helps the child develop gross motor movements. Hence curbing the child’s movements by expecting him to color between the lines is the worst form of instruction at this stage of development. Children under the age of 5 should be given larger formats to work on. Coloring books have finished form and a fixed concept. Often treated as a “quick fix” for the child, in later years this curbs children’s imagination and creativity, besides being detrimental to their physiological development.
At 4 or 5 years, the line begins to get its entire characteristic and the child sees to the accuracy of its place in the composition. The concept of symmetrical organization begins with the up and down around an axis defined, this mimics his growth forces. The child’s drawing expresses outwards all that he experiences inward right up until the first dentition around 6 or 7 years.
The milk teeth fall and the permanent teeth take their place in an unchangeable order. This first change of teeth brings a new force in the child’s development. The ability to know and understand the world that surrounds him is the outcome of this huge change. Drawings become more precise and organized around a center replicating the first manifestation of distance between him and the world. The organization of space in 2 dimension increases now with a clear brown below for the earth down and a blue strip for the sky and in between a story with characters and objects that float.
Children’s drawings are extremely valuable documents to help us understand the child’s environment and discover the child’s inner life. Through his images the child is entrusting us with his “soul diary”.