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It's one of the few times babies or toddlers
can think and act for themselves. Striker also discourages
coloring books and the like because they emphasize
thinking in the box instead of letting creativity
flow all over the "canvas." Her book, intended
as a resource for parents, includes suggested activities
and projects for babies as young as 6 months, songs
about art and recommended materials, some of which
might surprise you. When babies make designs with
their applesauce on the tray of the high chair, it's
"art," says Striker, an elementary school
art teacher in Greenwich, Conn., just like it is art
when toddlers "draw" in the sand. "Art
is not just crayons, paper, paints and easels."
And once a toddler has made a picture, it should be
more than pretty in the eyes of an adult. The grown-up
should see it as a road map to the child's development,
says Striker, who says she knows when a child is ready
to read based on drawings. Striker urges parents to
describe to children what they created, pointing out
features so they will feel a sense of accomplishment.
"You should cheer and encourage a child's first
drawing just like a child's first steps." And,
she adds, it's not a coincidence that the two occur
at about the same time. But parents can give their
children all the tools needed for creative, artistic
(and relatively neat) expression. They're going to
draw whether you give them the materials or not ...
so give them age-appropriate materials. According
to a chart in "Young at Art" that describes
art activity development norms, a child age 6-12 months
should be holding, looking at and mouthing crayons,
tasting clay and smearing paint with his hands. Other
stages listed in the book include:
Drawing. A 12- to 18-month-old often does
tentative scribbles; a 18 to 24-month-old draws vertical,
horizontal and diagonal lines, experiments with scribbles
and is interested in textures; a 24 to 30-month-old
child does freer, circular scribbles and experiments
with many shapes; a 30 to 36-month-old connects lines
to enclose shapes and names shapes after drawing them;
and a 36 to 42-month-old tells stories about pictures,
may draw human shapes and mandala forms.
Clay or Dough Work. A 12 to 18-month-old
pinches, squeezes and pounds on clay; an 18 to 24-month-old
rolls snakelike coils; a 24 to 30-month-old makes
clay balls, gives names to objects made and plays
with them; a 30 to 36-month-old incises decoration
on clay and sticks things into it; and a 36 to 42-month-old
produces flat designs with clay, "builds"
and adds on to creations.
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Children
Set Pace to Learn
By
M R Rajna
Over the holidays, I spent
some time in Islamabad. Biking on the
University campus one afternoon with my
grandchildren, I watched Sara, 6, speed
past me on her bicycle, her training wheels
rarely touching the ground. When I asked
her mother why she needed them, I was
told she'd been asking for weeks to have
them taken off, but her 8-year-old sister
still wasn't riding a bike, and they were
waiting.
Being a parent of adult children, I have
learned it is wise to keep one's suggestions
to oneself. If they want my input, they'll
ask. Until then, I work hard at not offering.
But on this occasion, I didn’t take
my own advice. Very, very, very carefully,
I suggested perhaps her older sister really
didn't care about riding a bicycle that
much, and if Sara was ready, I thought
it was OK to let her be first. After some
discussion, my daughter agreed, and Sara's
training wheels were removed that evening.
She made the transition smoothly and with
great joy!
We all celebrated, even her older sister,
Jamila. Now, that is not to say that Jamila
didn't make a request from her younger
sibling: Please don't go to school and
tell everybody I can't ride yet.
A little embarrassed that she didn't do
it first, Jamila struggled the next day.
She waffled back and forth between making
an effort to ride and not being sure she
was really all that interested. At last
she was even able to say she was afraid.
It may not be a situation she will resolve
quickly.
I thought about how we as adults go through
the same cycles. We want something because
someone else has it, not because it is
necessarily right for us. Or we ignore
our fears and say we don't care. Either
way, underneath the words, we feel embarrassed
and somehow inadequate because we don't
measure up to someone else's yardstick.
In the end, the questions need to be asked:
What do I want? What is right for me?
What am I afraid of? How do I address
that fear? How do I respect that fear?
Is it OK for me to be different from everyone
else? Am I willing to be myself? Am I
willing to venture into new experiences
at the pace that works best for me?
By teaching Jamila, at age 8, to ponder
those things, her parents are helping
her develop skills to solve other similar
situations as she grows up. By allowing
her to struggle with feeling embarrassed
and uncertain and different, they are
respecting her ability to make decisions
that are right for her and refrain from
making a choice simply because everyone
else is doing it. Besides Jamila has learned
to snow ski, and they tell me she is great
at it. And Sara? We hope Sara can go to
school and say, "I can ride a bike"
without adding that her big sister can't.
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