She has three children in kindergarten and four in elementary
school. The younger ones bring home at least one drawing a
day, and at the end of the week they proudly present some
superb creation, product of their teacher's fertile
imagination, plus another painting or drawing. The older
children come home with more sophisticated drawings,
beautifully written and illustrated stories, and models which
they have produced. She praises each child and marvels over
their contributions, but inwardly she sighs. What is she to
do with all these masterpieces?
An elderly couple in England sold their large six bedroom
house, before they made aliyah. Then began the formidable
task of packing; what to take, what to give away or try to
sell, and horrors, what to throw out. An entire attic was
filled with works of art their children had brought home from
the time they had started kindergarten. These people
contacted their children, (some of whom were already
grandparents), because they could not bear to throw the
'heirlooms' away, asking if they should send them their
pictures. Each child, either regretfully or vehemently,
according to their personalities, gave the parents carte
blanche to dispose of everything.
The above story is an extreme example of two people, married
to each other, who are both compulsive collectors. Often in a
marriage, one partner rashly disposes of everything which
s/he thinks is useless, whilst the other keeps every single
piece of string or wrapping paper in case it might come in
handy. However, drawings and creations which children bring
home from school, have to be seen, to be kept, at least for a
while. What do we do with them?
Firstly, let us mention what we should not do with them.
1) Never throw out a picture while the creator is watching,
or if he will be able to identify it in the trashcan. If you
do dispose of a child's things, do it in a sealed bag on the
day the garbage collectors come around.
2) Do not tell the child that his house does not look
anything like a house or that dogs do not have eight legs. He
will get it right eventually.
3) Do not criticize or laugh at the drawing, even if it is
really just scribbles.
If there is a spare wall in the house, perhaps in the
children's room or in the breakfast room, you could stick the
pictures up with masking tape (scotchtape takes the paint off
the wall). Alternatively, one can buy corkboards fairly
reasonably, as a display board. Incidentally, these boards,
which come with special pins, are very useful as reminders
for everything, including bills, invitations, items borrowed
and not yet returned, doctor's appointments, to mention but a
few items. If there is neither a wall nor a board available,
there is always the fridge on which to hang the pictures,
with the help of a few magnets.
Whatever your choice of display, a week is long enough for
any particular picture to be up, and then each child can
choose another work of art to put on show. It will be
impossible to display everything, so you will have to have
some special place for pictures, until the child has
forgotten about them, and brought home a dozen more works of
art.
Children's scribbles play an important part in their
development, not only in their fine motor control.
Encouragement too, is essential to a child's growth. However,
you do not need to go overboard with praise when a child
brings home a page of scribbles. Children are very astute and
can tell the difference between sincerity and simulation.
Furthermore, there is no need to ask a very young child what
he has drawn. He does not always know. When he volunteers the
information that he drew a tree, then you can tell him what
an interesting tree it is, or what a nice picture he drew.
Only after your child has become a confident artist (this
should not take too many years with the amount of practice he
has) should you venture some constructive advice.
Before I got married, I looked through all my school books
before throwing them out. There was a picture which I had
called 'A Roman Soldier' in my history book, with the
teacher's comment, in copperplate handwriting, 'Oh, surely
not!' beside it. At that time I laughed heartily, and seem to
remember that the whole family had chuckled over the same
comment, ten years earlier. That means the criticism did not
detract from my self-esteem, or send me into a depression.
But it did convince me of the fact that I was not an
artist.
In those days, children were not encouraged to draw; it was a
waste of time! Moreover, there was a paper shortage and we
even had to write in the margins of exercise books, in order
to save paper. This shortage was so entrenched into my being,
that even today, I never waste paper, and give my
grandchildren the back of circulars and fax sheets on which
to draw, in spite of the plentiful supply of paper
available.
Does it matter if child knows at an early age that s/he is
not a musician or an artist? I think it does. So many gifted
and creative people around today may never have developed
their full potential if they had not been encouraged in their
childhood.
Finally, psychologists set great store on the information to
be gained from children's pictures. They are non-verbal
communication with the adult world. A very simple example: If
there is a large mother, much bigger than the other
characters, in the center of his picture, that shows that she
plays a very important part in his world. But to an expert,
every little line or circle, and the use of any particular
line or color, is meaningful.
If a child needs psychological help for any reason, a drawing
he has made can be very revealing. In the same way that there
are books about handwriting, there are fascinating books on
children's drawings, written in simple language, easily
understood by laymen.
