Artistic abilities...

I feel like we are lacking in this department. BIG TIME. And as a former preschool teacher, I feel awful! Things are a lot harder with a younger sibling around! With a 20 month old around, who insists on doing EVERYTHING as well as destructing every thing in sight, it's not easy getting ANYTHING done around here. Coloring is a fiasco with her around, so of course I feel bad.

Anyways... When my boys draw me a picture....It's scribbling in circles. One giant circle. And that's it. They will draw straight lines. But I can't get them to do much else. No representations of anything. Nothing.

Ugh. I feel so bad. I feel like they are so behind their peers. And I now have taken on a three month old three days a week. Glutton for punishment of course.

I'm thinking I should do a lot more coloring with them... Oh, and besides the fact they always want ME to do it for them.

 

I work w/ 3-4 yr olds.

Large scribbles sounds about right for that age. In my class of 12 kids from 3y 2m to 4y 4 we have everything from scribbles to people w/ arms/legs/body parts. All are considered developmentally appropriate for their age! Some kiddos LOVE art and others not so much. We do A LOT of painting, scribbling (drawing),cutting, and play dough play to help little hands get stronger and develop a pincher grip.


I would get a Magna doodle!! It is great for fine motor development and for building artistic skills.

Also try Color Wonder paints/markers- they will not get all over, are non-toxic, and are bright & fun.

Finger painting w/ pudding, mirror drawing (you draw, they draw), stickers and add backgrounds (they use dino stickers and add trees, grass, etc), washable stamps, or chalk/chalkboards. Mine also loved the little personal white boards and markers at that age (they will smoosh the tips, but still they loved the bright colors).

some great websites for art exploration are

http://www.notimeforflashcards.com

http://www.dltk-kids.com/

http://www.preschoolexpress.com/art_station.shtml

http://www.first-school.ws/INDEX.HTM



I dont think you are behind- some kids are gung-ho for crayons and paper and others not so much. No worries as long as you get some exposure! Little hand muscles can develop playing with duplos, playdough, and digging in the dirt too!

 

My girls are 3 years, 2 months and that's pretty much all they do. They are also in full time preschool and they do a lot of art there, so I don't think their lack of artistic ability is due to lack of exposure. I think it's just that they are 3 years old. I don't think circles and scribbles is bad at that age. It will come.

 

Thanks ladies!

I also tend to forget that I taught the 4 and 5 year olds...not 3 year olds. LOL!

Thank you also for the links too! And Beth, I was wondering about the whole school/home thing to. Thanks!

 

Meaghan, I agree with the PP's. My two draw ALOT and it's pretty much lines and scribbles, circles. Sometimes they can draw close to a face which will be big O's for the eyes & nose and a curved line for the mouth. I also agree with color wonder markers and magna doodle (I got my kids a little travel doodle thing) and my two love it. It's something that they will get better at when they get older.

 

I think it has to be something they're interested in?

Mine LOVE to draw! Here are their Pirate and Witch (obsession) drawings from 3 yrs old. They can draw ANYTHING!

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AaN3DRwzaOVGGM

 

I have both spectrums in my house. Conner seems to excel in his artistic abilities. He colors relatively close to in the lines & draws pictures that look like what they're supposed to be (his latest have been a fish, a cat, & a butterfly---as I'm sure you saw on FB). Typically, I have to draw something FIRST & then he can...he rarely comes up with something on his own (although, he can look at a picture of something & try, but unless it's broken down easily, it's hard for him). He's been drawing stick people since just a little over 2, as well. He's also a pro at cutting & can typically cut along lines quite well. However, this child LOVES art. Anything art. Even when he was little, his attention span for art has always been through the roof. To this day, he'll work on art for at least an hour, if not more! He has held a crayon/pen/marker/etc the correct way for a long time & I also think that has something to do with his ease of drawing.

Aiden on the other hand, is the exact opposite. He doesn't LIKE art, but will sit & do it for short periods of time. His pictures rarely look like anything (although, he can draw people). He enjoys circles & scribbles and doesn't even really try to color in the lines. His view of art is a splash of color here & done (whereas Conner's pictures typically have NO white on them because he colors EVERYTHING). Aiden's attention span for art is minimal & usually I'm BEGGING him to sit & do more. I keep correcting him on how to hold the pen/marker/crayon/etc, but he still usually fist grabs it. He enjoys cutting, but is all over the place with it. He just isn't as interested.

So, as with almost everything developmentally, I think every child differs. Not only do they differ in interests, but they differ in ability (you can look at so many categories here & not just art...like athletic ability, too!). While I do think that exposure helps, I think your little guys are just fine in their artistic ability.

I 100% recommend MagnaDoodles. My kids have loved them since they were little. No mess, easy to erase, & can play for hours without wasting paper! One of my only complaints about them? When my kids make an AWESOME picture & the only way I can 'save' it is to take a picture of it! We also have the GloDoodles & travel MagnaDoodles. They'd be great things for you to have around so that you wouldn't have to worry about Annabella! When my boys were little, I used to take the magnet stampers & keep them out of reach...you could always do that if you were worried about your little princess.

All in all, I think your boys are just fine. They'll come to their own in time....just give it to them !

 

Kaelyn, for the first time the other day, drew a dinosaur that actually LOOKED like a dinosaur! :lol: It was recognizable! I don't think your boys are behind at all because last fall she definitely couldn't do that yet.

I also have 2 magnadoodles that the kids fight over, I have the stampers up out of reach so the twins don't eat them. And we have 3 travel magnadoodles in the truck with us too Love them!

 

BIG difference in 3s and 5s!!

We have 3-5 yr olds in our building and the art is varied- it is amazing that most kids somewhere between 3 and 5 go from scribbly circles to tadpoles w/ eyes to blob-looking things with arms and legs and faces to drawing people that look like people! When all the art is up on the wall, you can usually pick the age for abotu 80% of it (if it was done by a 3,4, or 5 yr old) and you can literally SEE the developmental progression right in front of you. Neat stuff.


I have seen no difference in kids that come to Preschool from a home setting and from a child care setting background in art skills for the most part.