Talking With Your Child About Their Artwork

Talking With Your Child About Their Artwork

 

 

What’s important to you is important to your child!  Talking about artwork together not only shows your child that his or her efforts are valued; it encourages them to continue thinking about and practicing art skills at home.  Here are some things to keep in mind when discussing your child’s artwork:

• Never assume you know what you’re looking at. Guessing, or asking “What is it?” can confuse your child (if they were just experimenting and not making anything specific), or hurt their feelings (if you guess wrong). Instead, try saying “Tell me all about it!”
• Really take a minute to look at the work. Point out some of the things you see, like shapes, colors, or other marks made. Try to focus on HOW your child made their work instead of WHAT they made whenever possible. Ask them things like “Where did you get this idea?” or “How did you make this color?”.
• Try to use constructive praise as often as possible. Praising your child (or their artwork) for “being good” or “being pretty” isn’t specific enough.  Vague information like this can be confusing, and could cause your child to want to play it safe in order to protect their image, and not try anything new.  Instead, praise your child for “doing” something specific — this will encourage him or her to do it more often.  For example, try saying something like, “I can tell you really cut this out carefully!” or “You colored this very neatly!”
• Always avoid “fixing”, finishing, or adding anything to your child’s artwork. Also, try and avoid correcting their work or telling them how something “should” look (green cats or purple grass is OK!). Certainly ask them about their choices, but if they are happy with the work, you should be, too!
• Talking to your child means listening, too!  Get their opinion – ask them how they feel about the work. What do they like best about it? What’s their favorite part? What did they learn while making it? Would they want to make something like it again? If they don’t like what they made, that’s okay, too! Ask them specifically which parts were difficult, or, what they could change or add to it if they did it again. Even when a piece doesn’t look like much, your child’s thoughts and ideas about that work will amaze you!