Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Do You Let Your Child Paint?

Do you let your Children Paint? I hope so. I was looking through all my photos and noticed pictures of easel paintings that C did when she was 3.  I must of been obsessed....this was before The Chocolate Muffin Tree.  I think I felt every mark that my daughter made was significant.  Being an art teacher,  I felt it was so important to have her paint and she loved it so much!  I never told C what to paint....it was always a very open ended activity every time.  As a 5 year old she hasn't done as much easel painting and maybe I need to break out the easel again and see what she might paint.















3 Year Old Painter At Work.



Joyful Painter with her hard hat on.....she was obsessed with hats of all kinds! 

I miss my little 3 year old...soon she will be 6!

Do you think it is important to let children paint?  

What are your experiences with children and Painting?

20 comments:

  1. I have found that as my children have got older, and are more able to choose their own activities, they have chosen to paint and draw less and less. It's a little sad for me, since I love their artwork so much, but I think it's important to let them be creative in their own way. It just means you have to really look after those early efforts, in case it's all you get!

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    1. I agree with you. As my daughter gets older she is less interested in painting and I let her do what she wants.

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  2. We love to paint at our house. Especially my five year old daughter. My son likes it for about 15 minutes before he's done. But I always try to encourage him to join us. Even my 13 year old daughter will break out a brush when she sees the long piece of paper covering the table!

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    1. That is great Kaci. All kids are different and all you can do is encourage your children to paint. It is always better to follow their lead and they will be more excited that it is their own idea.

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  3. My little one is also obsessed with hats of all kinds! As for the painting, we a lot of it. Now, I feel inspired to dig the easel I had as a child out of storage!

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    1. I'm glad I inspired you to get out the easel. Bringing the easel outside always give anew perspective too. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. We paint at least 3 times a week around here. Maybe more depending on what the kids want to do. I have a 3 year old daughter and run a home daycare. All the kids love to paint! I try to mix it up a bit with water colours, tempera and acrylic. We have also done painting with mud, coloured ice cubes, chalk paint.

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    1. Your daycare sounds wonderful. I wish when my daughter was in daycare that she had done more painting, but I did a lot with her at home so I probably made up for it!

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  5. My six year old daughter was lucky enough to attend an arts-based nursery school run by a woman who had been doing it for 55 years. Third generation kids were attending. And she had a HUGE area with easels set up for the kids to paint and collage. It was amazing. She was brilliant at encouraging the kids to stretch themselves a bit too and try new techniques and ideas and colour combinations.

    My daughter still does paint now and we have an easel set up in the kitchen but not as often. I have some of her paintings framed too.

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    1. Sandra, that does sound like a great school! What a wonderful opportunity for the kids who get to attend. Thanks for sharing your daughter's experience.

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  6. What a great reminder to enjoy each stage as it happens - as it might not be too long before its gone!

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    1. Yes....they do grow fast! The days are long, but the years fly by.

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  7. WOW! I can't believe C is almost 6! I didn't realize that. All of these paintings of hers are beautiful. Painting is one of Rosie's favorite activities. She asks to paint everyday. I can not imagine not letting her do it. So many benefits :)

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    1. Thanks you Crystal. I really think younger children have more of a an inner desire to paint. I think all kids love painting though! I need to set up C's easel and see what happens.

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  8. I struggle to get my 2 year old daughter to paint. I leave it as an open ended activity and she often chooses to put the piant in and out of the storage box and not paint. I have tried using differnt basis (canvas, paper etc) and different mediums, eg bath painting, finger paint, but she shows little interest at home. She is also the same with darwing (with the exception of drawing on the wall which I found her doing last week). any suggestions on how to get her to engage more? Is it just an age thing?

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    1. Katrina, I think two year olds have a short attention span and it may not be interesting to her unless she sees someone else painting. Try painting in front of her and I guarantee that she will want to paint. Your daughter may not know where to begin and if she sees you enjoying it then she will find it intriguing. SOme kids are more interested in play dough and building with blocks too. Those kind of experiences can be just as valuable as painting. I know my daughter would just make a few lines when she was two and it was discouraging, but eventually she drew more.

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  9. I have a 2 yo son, we have tried to paint since he was 18 months old, with food coloring. He finger paint, body paint, and floor painting with it :)
    Now, he is interested with my poster color, he paint with paint brush, and still body paint and floor paint. But it's not more than 10 minutes. Then he wants to play water pouring. I think it's just a matter of age, with short attention span, that he is not quite fascinated with painting. I think when he is older, he'll love to paint :)
    My husband and I love painting, drawing, and craft. I think my son will inherit this from us :)

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    1. Yes, Susan 2 year olds have very short attention span and 10 minutes is great! Pouring water is very intriguing and you could even try coloring water and letting him pour it into different containers for a "more colorful" experience. Like I said above, some children might rather play with play dough or block and that can be a valuable experience like painting. My daughter would never finger paint at a young age because she hated sticky messy fingers. As she got older she enjoyed it more. If he sees you paint he will want to paint.

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  10. I find that my 3 year old just paints the whole piece of paper, give her some crayons and she will draw pictures :) but I agree that painting and creativity in children is important!

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    1. Most children have more experience with drawing and when given the chance to paint they just enjoy the actual motion and experience of it all. Just keep letting your 3 year old paint.

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Comments are always appreciated---Thank you! Thank you!