Our children feel proud and excited about their various art projects from school. But beyond, “Wow, that’s great, honey,” we’re often not sure how to respond. According to Diane Trister Dodge, author of the Creative Curriculum, children engaged in art go through four stages as they learn to hold and manipulate a crayon or pencil. Perhaps this progression will give us a better understanding of our children's artwork.

• Disordered scribbling (what children like to do all over the walls)
• Controlled scribbling
• Naming a picture (your child’s teacher may include a dictation by your child)
• Representative drawing (like the drawings of people who have arms and legs coming off their heads)

Talking About Your Child’s Artwork
When looking at our children’s artwork, some of us have made the mistake of saying things like, “That’s a great truck,” only to hear our child adamantly defend his work as a chicken and give us that “You’re not so bright” look. It’s also natural for us to comment, “That’s beautiful!” or “What is it?” And although these comments aren’t harmful to our children, it’s usually more beneficial to say, “Tell me about your picture,” or “What do you like about your work?” In this way, our children don’t feel the pressure or frustration of having to create a product when what they usually enjoy more is the process. Their picture may have nothing to do with making something others can recognize. Instead, it might be more about enjoying the use of art materials and the process of creating.

Our children aren’t going to end up in therapy just because we don’t “handle with care” every scribble or paint blob they make, but we can support their efforts and encourage their creativity by trying the following:

• Avoid comparing your child’s work to another child’s. Art ability is not directly related to your child’s IQ or how quickly he will learn to read and write.
• Realize that at this age, the process of creating is more important than what they actually create.
• Understand that art is soothing for most children, but some children resist sensory exploration or “getting their hands dirty.”

Dodge offers the following ideas when talking to your children about their artwork:

• Describe what you see. “I see you used a lot of colors.”
• Talk about their actions. “You made the lines go up and down.”
• Ask about the process. “What part did you enjoy the most?”
• Encourage and support. “You made a lot of pictures today. Which one do you want to hang up?”

Praise 
Is every scribble or smear worthy of praise? Is it appropriate to be critical with the goal of bringing out your child’s artistic talent?  Children need encouragement, recognition, and appreciation.  As they grow older, automatic and generic praise becomes less and less valuable.  This is true for all of their efforts: art, school work, sports, or chores.  If everything the child does is praiseworthy, it becomes clear to the child that the praise is pretty shallow.

The way we can be most supportive is to know our children and encourage and appreciate progress based on the individual child’s emerging interests and skills. This might mean praising more sustained efforts rather than quick scribbles, more small motor control, experimentation with the use of color or form, or more sophisticated representation of ideas or feelings, not necessarily more literal interpretation of ideas. Helping our children reflect on their work is the most important thing that we can do.

Developing Real Talent
Some children clearly have more artistic talent than others.  Nurturing a young child’s talent is best achieved through taking her efforts seriously, gentle encouragement and coaching, lots of opportunity with different media, and investing the time in helping your child gain confidence.

Whether a child shows the signs of artistic genius or, like many of us, seems unlikely to progress beyond stick figures and lumpy clay bowls, art plays an invaluable part in his development. Value it, appreciate the effort, and use the art as a springboard to conversation.