Introduction:

Drawing and painting are two very beneficial activities. They help develop fine motor skills, writing, reading, creativity, and boost self-esteem, among other things. Not only that but drawing and painting are excellent ways for children to express their feelings and emotions. And if that weren’t enough, they play a significant role in their personality development and psychological maturity. If you want to encourage natural creativity, experts recommend offering children free drawing and painting opportunities. That way, the child can give free rein to their imagination and creative expression. Give them materials such as crayons, clay, fingerpaint, and watercolors. Let them experiment on chalkboards, cardboard, canvases, and even walls. In this blog, we list six reasons to encourage your child to draw at home, in daycare, and in school.

6 Benefits of Drawing

1. Time for ChildrenDevelops Fine Motor Skills

Fine motor skills include any specialized movement of the hands, wrists, and fingers. As an adult, you rely on fine motor skills when you type, drive, or even text. It’s important for your child to develop strong fine motor skills at a young age. Holding and manipulating writing implements represents one of the best ways to improve a child’s fine motor skills. Drawing creates immediate visual feedback that changes depending on the tool your child uses and how he or she uses it. This feedback helps your child identify the best ways to produce the desired result.

2. Encourages Visual Analysis

Young children do not yet understand some concepts that you may take for granted, such as distance, size comparison, and textural differences. Drawing provides the perfect opportunity for your child to learn these concepts in a deliberate way. Having a child draw specific items, especially in relationship to each other, can help him or her perform fundamental visual analysis of everyday spaces. To support this kind of drawing at home, prompt your child to draw examples of big and small, rough and smooth, far and near, and so on.

3. Helps Establish Concentration

Because most children enjoy drawing, this activity provides time to establish the concepts of concentration and practice. These concepts will be essential to your child’s academic success, even in elementary school. Learning how to observe small details, concentrate on achieving a specific result, and practice tricky tasks helps your child mature.

4. Improves Hand-Eye Coordination

In addition to improving fine motor skills, drawing enables your child to draw connections between what he or she sees and what he or she does. This hand-eye coordination is important in athletic and recreational situations, as well as in academic scenarios such as penmanship lessons. For a hand-eye coordination boost, have your child draw an object while looking at it or copy a drawing that you made.

5. Increases Individual Confidence

As a parent or guardian, you probably love to hear the phrase, “Look what I made!” When you child has an opportunity to create physical representations of his or her imagination, thoughts, and experiences, he or she gains confidence. Drawing can help your child feel more intrinsic motivation, self-worth, and validity. This affirmation will make him or her more confident in other areas that may not come as naturally as drawing

6. Teaches Creative Problem Solving

Along with visual analysis and concentration, drawing encourages your child to solve problems creatively. When he or she draws, your child must determine the best way to connect body parts, portray emotions, and depict specific textures. Providing specific drawing tasks, such as creating a family portrait, and talking about your child’s color, method, or special choices can help him or her develop stronger problem-solving skills over time. To help your child feel motivated to draw and create, use positive reinforcement. You may want to display finished drawings in your child’s room or in other areas of your home, including personalized drawings in letters to family members, and praise your child for practice and specific achievements.

7. Drawing Stages

There are three stages of children’s drawings: Scribbling, Pre-Schematic, and Schematic stages.

• Scribbling   (2-4 years)

At this stage, there is no realism in the pictures, and they are mostly just marks on a page. It might seem like there is nothing there, but sometimes children create something called “fortuitous realism.” This means that when the scribbles are done, you might be able to see certain shapes,  resembling a car or a house.

• Pre-Schematic  (4-7 years)

At this stage, children attempt to create things they see with their eyes. They might draw the simplest things, such as faces, stick figures, cars, trucks, trees, and houses. There are usually no realistic details to these drawings. At the end of the stage, they begin adding in certain things that set their ideas apart, such as flowers in front of a house or clothes on the stick figures.

• Schematic  (7+ years)

In this stage, there is some evidence of schema. For example, a drawing of the ocean might include seagulls, starfish, a beach ball, people wearing bathing suits, etc. Words and symbols might be added to give further messages of explaining the drawing. Drawings of humans will have more details, possibly including freckles. There is more depth and realism, and the use of new viewpoints is possible.

 

7. Here are some of the things you can do to encourage your child to draw more:

• Make art a regular part of playtime.  Offer them various drawing utensils such as crayons, thick pencils, and washable markers.  Cut paper bags up to draw on.  Sometimes it helps young children out if you tape the paper down on the table so it doesn’t move as they draw.
• No need for instructions.  Let your child experiment and explore and express his creativity in his own way.  This independent child needs to feel confident, competent, and clever.
• Notice the process, not just the product.  Participate in their drawing process, instead of just complimenting your child’s success.  Help him draw some more complicated things, or choose together appropriate colours for a house of tree.
• Use art to help your child express strong feelings.  If your child is feeling angry, help him/her express such emotions by drawing very angry picture.
• Display your child’s art and writing.  This is how your child knows his/her work is valued and important.