My kids love to draw, and I love the benefits of this passion they share! Drawing is one of the easiest creative activities – all they need is paper and writing utensils, and most of their drawings are done on scratch paper Mike brings home from work. Through drawing they are learning about proportion (illustrated in six-year-old Emma’s elongated fashion bunny – she draws other, much more playful non-fashion bunny characters that are not this tall, long-legged, or thin), the use of symbols for communication, and the importance of paying attention to details.
I also notice a lot of narrative play as they sit at the table and draw together. In the photo of above, two-year-old Lily had a story line for each person. The blue lines on the top left of the page represent a “time out” space. Several guys were put in time out, for a variety of reasons. Drawing also helps her develop her fine motor skills, and she can even write the letters of her name, although she doesn’t do so in order.
Four-year-old Johnny is going through a big superhero phase, and drawing helps him explore the identities of “good guys” and “bad guys” in a non-threatening environment (my peace-loving son has zero interest in watching villains in cartoons).
Do your kids love to draw? How do you see them learning as they engage in daily play and other hobbies?
Learning Laboratory is a linky celebrating fun, creative, hands-on learning. Here are some favorite links from last week:
- Dissolving rocks from Reading Confetti
- Olympic games from Ready. Set. Read!
- Practice measuring from Inspiration Laboratories
- Storytelling board from The Good Long Road
- 45 ways to awaken a child’s senses outdoors from famiglia&seoul
- Butterflies – live caterpillars from Creative Themes for learning and play
- {Messy Play in the Bath & Sink} Science Experiment from The Golden Gleam
MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
Art is so important for kiddos (and adults, for that matter). Thanks for touching on what art teaches children!
We love drawing over here! And yes, they totally go into narrative play mode when drawing. We learned about the Revolutionary War a few months ago and there were so many battle scenes drawn with only little lines drawn to represent both armies. They had very elaborate battles taking place however and it was so fun to hear their stories!
ooooh lovely post. I love how imagination comes out through art. xx
Art is so important isn’t it. All my children love to draw. I love the time out box :-)
What a wonderful post. I love the reminder about how children are always learning, even through simple play that engages them daily. My son is constantly surprising me when he mirrors myself or a member of the family while playing. Thanks so much for hosting and featuring our post from last week! :)
LOL about the time out box. Too funny! Abby loves to draw. All day long, I’m picking up crayons, paper, markers all over the house. Dave gets scrap paper from work too, so that’s good!
I am continually in awe of your kids’ drawing skills!! Thank you for sharing their passion and drawings with us – such a treat!
My kids, especially Emma G, loves to draw. I love them being creative!
Beautiful drawings. My oldest is just starting to really get into it. It’s so fun to watch, especially now that I can often recognize what she has drawn.
I love when they start drawing things you can recognize!
My kids love to draw too! I find the different types of drawing interesting too. Love fashion bunny and the time out area on Johnny’s – cool!
Thanks for the link-up!
Thanks for linking up!!! LOVED your Very Social Triangle post :)
What I love about those drawings is the easiness children have to make cartoons;they are all so unique and beautiful that you wish they stay like that, and don’t forget those lines.
My daughter is four and draws all the time. I can’t leave out any important lists, coupons, or any other paper item (excluding books which she knows not to misuse) because she’ll scribble something on it when I’m not looking. We were actually getting overwhelmed by her masterpieces so I’ve decided to start scanning them and uploading them to the computer so we can “save them” without them taking up so much space.
http://www.typativemamacat.com/2012/07/coryns-art.html
We photograph masterpieces and save them that way – we would also be drowning in paper if we kept everything!
I notice that my kids love to narrate their drawings together, too. It’s so fun to just sit back and listen on! Thanks for hosting the link up. :)
Thanks for linking up! :)
I can see that the love of drawing runs in your family. I assume that the red picture on the bottom is from Mike? I wish daughter drew more – she needs to cajole into this activity and rarely selects it on her own.
Emma drew the red picture – she can draw really well, when she wants to :)
My toddler has had slow interest in drawing/scribbling or anything like that, but he’s starting to get more interested now (he’s 2.5yo). He loves reading, though, and making up stories, so we often use stickers and glue sticks and images to retell stories and foster imagination and tell new stories. I am so impressed with how well your 2 yo draws!
We love art too! Drawing is a daily activity that seems to go on for hours! This week they have been recreating the olympics…it has been fun to watch their prospective!
Probably in very similar ways to how your kids play. There’s always a story behind the art.
I love the stories they come up with!
Thanks for featuring our dissolving rocks!
You’re welcome! Such a fun idea!!!