"Ready...Set...and Draw!"
Drawing, painting...All kind of art is important in your child's development.
One of the first things a child can do is pick up a pencil and start drawing.
Drawing makes children more expressive. They can't always express their feelings with words, and a picture is the first physical form of communication they use. You can even use art when a child is having a tantrum. This will help the child to calm down and concentrate on something else. And your child will try to draw, model Play-Doh, paint the reason why he was upset about and express his feelings.
Drawing is also about making decisions and representations.
What colour should I choose?' or 'How do I draw a ball?' "How can I represent myself".
You can see your child's thoughts through their drawings and artistic expression is a great way to stimulate a child's intelligence and artistic development. And creativity IS a form of intelligence in an educational way. Your child's imagination is to become wild. And each time they draw, they try to make a representation of what's in their mind.
Starting drawing and painting at a young age will help to improve the hand and eye coordination, by stimulating the fingers muscles. They will be ready before they start school and see different kinds of supports with no big surprise! It's also an escape for children who might feel a bit shy and wish to do something on their own before they introduce themselves to the group. So, they will be able to do something they already know and won't feel frustrated.
From 14 months to 3 years old, you can clearly see your child's progression art skills throughout a large variety of art craft and writing materials.
Obviously, they will start with random scribbling. They are just figuring out the coordination of their movements result in lines and shapes. They start to feel the crayon in their hand...
Until they will be able to control their muscles and their moves and the scribbles around the age of 2.
They will then, make lines and curves in a repeating way.
More they will practise, sooner they will discover that drawings making shapes, and shapes make letters, numbers...They will connect the dots, in their mind, they will remember seeing these shapes in books, pictures...
Don't expect the most sophisticated piece ever...the only line is a gigantic effort for them. And don't judge the result, but the process they've used to make it happen. A great occasion to ask questions: "What colours have you used?" "What is that shape?".