Reactions to Children’s Artwork

Preschool teachers tend to have capitol O Opinions about how we discuss children’s artwork. This is not, by the way, to say that there is a single right way to do this. If there were, surely we would have found it and everyone would be taught how to do things the Right Way (TM).

We’re all human, and quite frankly, I think that much the same way a chef cares A LOT about pans and knives, preschool teachers care about words and reactions. I think you can create a delicious meal in a $5 pan, and you can raise a wonderful person without having a clear stance on every single aspect of parenting. That being said, here’s my opinion.

There are many different philosophies, but I prefer to give children specific observations about their artwork. So rather than saying “what a beautiful picture” I say something like “I really like the way that you blended the purple and green here” or “it looks like you spent a long time working on this”. There are several reasons I employ this strategy.

Artwork hanging on the wall to dry

The first reason is that children are clever. They’re not terribly sophisticated yet, but I fully believe that children are as smart as adults. (Because I’m a nerd my brain tells me that their Wisdom scores are low, but their Intelligence is high.) If you give a clever person a clear pattern, they’re probably going to pick up on it. So if I give a child the same 3 pieces of praise any time they show me art, they’re going to notice. Instead I want them to notice that I always stop and actually look at their artwork when they share it.

Which brings me to the second reason I prefer this strategy. It forces me to stop and really examine their art. When they share artwork with you, it’s usually because they’re excited about it. Stopping to take a look really opens up a moment for dialogue and connection, and that’s really why I’m here. If your child is excited, I want to be excited with and for them. There are days that I just don’t have the time to be excited, because A is pulling B’s hair and C needs to go potty right now, but if I have the extra few seconds I want to share that moment.

I’m personally not a fan of asking what a picture represents, because sometimes art doesn’t represent a single thing. Sometimes art just exists so that we can vent our emotions in a safe and constructive fashion. Sometimes that thing that looks just so much like a dog was really a horse and I have seen tantrums start because expressing oneself is hard, and it’s frustrating when a thing that is clear to us is mystifying to someone else.

Now, all of this aside, if you have a genuine emotional reaction to a piece of artwork, so long as it’s positive I am firmly on the side of sharing that. I think that a genuine reaction is one of the highest forms of praise for art. So there are times when I sit back and just say “wow. I really love this.” Usually after a beat or two I’ll find a specific thing that I love about a piece of artwork, but there are times that you just need to sit with a piece of art.