Handprints, circles with eyes and long
long legs, scribbles and blobs with a rich backstory, every child is an
artist! The trouble comes when the art starts accumulating, and we just
don’t know what to do with it anymore. The fridge is only so
big, when a drawer is stuffed to overflowing things get crumpled and
torn, and how do we know what to keep? Is all of it important? Is none
of it?
We can get overwhelmed with art,
particularly if we or someone we love identifies as an artist. There is
so much creativity, but we all have limits on space, whether it’s a
large or a small limit. We don’t want to stifle creativity, and saying
“no more art” feels like exactly that.
As adults, we get to “prepare the environment.” You know your child best, so tap into and trust that knowledge.
Emphasize process art.
Process art is about the doing, not about the end result. If you have an
avid painter, put painting rocks with water on the art shelf, rather
than watercolors at the easel. Consider a Buddha board,
particularly for a birthday or holiday present. Go outside and paint
the deck or the sidewalk with water. All these are, by nature,
temporary, and satisfy the need to create without creating a product.
There are other ways to encourage process
art. Cut pieces of recycled paper. Scribble or color on newspaper or
scrap paper, then use for kindling if your family camps or celebrates
summer around a fire pit, or added to a compost bin or lining the inside
of a flower pot. Play-doh, salt dough, and other forms of clay are
naturally reusable, and inexpensive when they start to get crumbly and
dry out.
“When it comes to evaluating children’s art, children and adults alike tend to reward and affirm representational accuracy. When we commend art and creativity in society, it’s typically ‘outside the box’ thinking, a growth beyond conventional expectations.”
Set logical limits. If
you have a child who could draw from sunup to sundown, place a limit.
Set out one, or two, or ten pieces of paper at a time, whatever feels
appropriate to you. When the paper is gone, that activity is done. One
of the beauties of limits is how it inspires creativity. You might
notice a child who was making a quick scribble on a piece of paper and
then asking for another spending significant amounts of time
meticulously covering each square inch of the paper, then turning it
over.
Another natural limit is color choice. A
certain famous yellow crayon box comes in seemingly endless options,
though I often find myself spending more time looking for just the right
shade, rather than coloring or drawing. When we have a set of eight
crayons, we explore more, discovering what happens when we press more
firmly or barely touch the crayon to the paper, or what happens when we
(accidentally OR on purpose) cross two or more colors.
Give different outlets for creativity.
We sometimes get a bit, well, uncreative with our views of creativity.
We think creativity is only imagination and make-believe, when it’s
really just creating. Tell a story, or share what you did during the
day. Cook or bake together, following a recipe or not! Set the table and
decide: folded napkins, rolled and in rings, or napkin origami? Candles
or a small flower arrangement? Even the art of arranging flowers is an
opportunity for creativity. Build legos or blocks. Engage in fiberarts
or handcrafts. Play dress up, or create new combinations with your same
old clothes. Clean a shelf and rearrange your treasures. Organize your
books by size, color, theme, title, or favorites. We’re creative all day
long, not just with art materials.
We have opportunities to encourage and
develop the creative process without always having more drawings. For
the past decade or so, we’ve heard about “fixed” and “growth” mindset from researcher Carol Dweck.
Process art is in line with helping children develop a growth mindset.
When we focus on the product, it’s easy to feel competent or
discouraged, and thus limit ourselves. It’s the difference between “I
drew a good horse” and “I enjoyed drawing this. I was thinking of a
horse.” When it comes to evaluating children’s art, children and adults
alike tend to reward and affirm representational accuracy. When we
commend art and creativity in society, it’s typically “outside the box”
thinking, a growth beyond conventional expectations. This can only come
from reveling in the process, enjoying the learning, finding joy in
making mistakes.
All process art has a product —
development, experience, learning. Practice with a coloring tool
prepares the hand, the eye, and the mind to work in cooperation to
prepare for handwriting. Drawing or painting gives experience with
imagination, thinking of something that isn’t directly in front of the
artist and choosing how to represent this — just like we do in creative
writing. When we’re sculpting with clay and it doesn’t turn out just
right, we’re experiencing the disappointment and try-again of making
mistakes. We’re going to make a lot of them.