Finger paints, watercolors, gouache, pencils, felt-tip pens, wax crayons … There is nothing wrong with the desire of parents to give their child the best knowledge, skills and opportunities. It is only important to step aside in time and give him a chance to prove himself.
Five-year-old Misha has no respect for drawing. No, once he was happy to tinker with paints, felt-tip pens. Exactly until the moment when his dad, a graduate of an art school, did not decide: it was time to move from “kalyak-malyak” to more productive genres. At this moment, Mishin’s personal artistic hell began.
– No, well, who draws like that! What kind of oval wheels you have. Come on, you need to make an even circle. Yes, even, I said! Why is your tree purple? It should be green. No not like this. Let me show you how it should be.
While dad was diligently shading the needles, Misha suffered quietly, acutely experiencing his “ineptitude.” He felt that dad was unhappy with him, and thought that he himself would never succeed so beautifully. Since then, he has been trying to pick up paints as rarely as possible, because “he cannot draw and he still will not succeed.”
It is not necessary to teach a child to draw at least until the age of 8-10. But it is imperative to provide such an opportunity. And the more extensive and varied the materials, textures, drawing methods are, the better! Of course, you show the very little one how to use paints, brushes, water, crayons. But in no case should you instruct: “This is how you need to draw a tree, but this is a cloud, and the carrot is orange …” And, of course, do not grab the pencil from your hands to correct the sloppy petal. Such training loads the child with patterns, stereotypes.
It turns out that, having received praise from his mother for the “correct” sun, he will draw it all his life! If you just provide materials and rejoice at his success, then a desire for experiments will form in him. He will make discoveries, not churn out drawings pleasing to adults.
Two-year-old Tasi’s mom has a different experience. Her baby is literally in love with felt-tip pens, crayons and other items that leave their mark on paper … Well, and not only on paper. Walls, table, doors, floor. Even the sofa keeps traces of Tasin’s art. And the girl’s mother does not know how to react to such self-expression.
– I understand that if I scold her for this, then I will frighten off the craving for creativity, – says the woman. “But I can’t let her ruin things either.
Scolding for spoiled things is not worth it. But you don’t need to let this take its course either. It can be noted how wonderful and beautiful it turned out, but still offer to draw in an album, on a Whatman paper, even on old wallpaper – maybe it is worth temporarily attaching them to the wall. It is also very useful to organize exhibitions of children’s works by hanging them in the house. Allocating a place of honor to the child’s work, you confirm its importance, the child feels that here, in this house, there is a place for his own creations!
My personal experience, until recently, was also not perfect. The son flatly refused to do anything with me or with dad. Draw – no, sculpt – no, cut – no way. At the same time, in the kindergarten, the teachers regularly showed me his crafts. That is, with strangers he did everything with pleasure, but with me he did not want to do anything.
To be honest, it was a shame. With this resentment, I went to him. She begged, she was angry. If he succumbed to persuasion, the mood was still ruined. And nothing came of it. In the end, I decided to just leave him behind. And calm your nerves with coloring for adults. He played, I painted. Idyll. After a couple of days, he sat down to see what I was doing. Then he asked me to give him pencils … The process started! As it turned out, subconsciously I did everything right.
This is actually a very common situation. Well, the child does not want to create side by side with the parent! It is useless to force, persuading and explaining the benefits of such activities, of course, is possible, but rather pointless. Believe me, the love of creativity is inherent in each of us. But it can be revealed only unobtrusively, only by personal example. Just pick up paints, paper or coloring pages and go! If your child feels that you are doing something interesting, he will certainly also be interested in it, feel your inspiration. But only on condition that it is sincere.