Children’s Creative Development

Aim

To understand children’s Creative development Context Purpose Response

Questions?

Why do children draw and scribble? What does their art mean? Why do they draw stick figures? What a child to take up a pencil and draw? What does it mean? Why is it important?

Making sense of Children’s Art

Easier to appreciate children’s art rather than understand or explain it?

General childhood development From simple to complex From general to specific From head to toe From inner to outer

Areas of development

Physical development Cognitive (or intellectual)

development Linguistic development Emotional development Social development

Stages of creative development

Stages of creative development Scribble

Focus of inquiry

What children choose to include or represent (content)

How children create (process) Why children create (motive) What they create as a result

(product)

Content

Refers to the subject matter or object being presented

Content is often very personal Representations may operate on a

number of levels: for example those not intended as communication or as a exploration of the physical nature of the body

Adults often seek to apply meaning where there may be none or various

Process

The actions and skills involved Cutting, tearing, rolling, painting, marking etc Not all process will lead to a finished art product Enjoyed for its own sake

Motive

The reason underlying a child’s art Adults may explore work in relation

to ‘what does it mean?’ The child’s motivations vary from

wanting to draw a cartoon after seeing it on TV, to hearing the sound of the marker pushed hard against the paper, to drawing their experience of a family day out as a gift to a relative

Product

Refers to the final outcome

Misinterpretation

There is a risk of misinterpretation – reading too much into the art

Study of individual children over extended period will however reveal patterns and trends (style)

Theories and stagesExplanations 1. Physical theory2. Emotional theory3. Perceptual Theory4. Cognitive Theory

Developing creative confidence

Theories: Physical The content, process, product,

and style of children’s art are indicative of their limited physical development

Limited hand-eye coordination, fine motor control, small muscle development, manual dexterity and visual acuity (sharpness)

Young children’s drawings often appears immature and unintelligible as they are physically incapable of anything else

Could a child ‘intend’ on drawing ‘something’?

Imitation of adults or other children?

Emotional

The content and style of children’s art is indicative of their emotional makeup, personality, temperament, and affective style

Significant objects, people, emotions and events are emphasized, exaggerated, distorted by expressive use of colour, size, shape, line, texture, and overall treatment

Distortion and exaggeration are used to display emphasis and communicate

Perceptual

The content and style of children’s art reflects their perceptual development

Not the same as physical Perception is influenced by the neurophysiological

structure, personality, and prior learning

The child draws what he or she perceives rather than what he or she actually sees.

Gaps: Art education – create the structural equivalent of

the perceived 3-d object on 2-d. Expressive therapeutic Art – Used as a vehicle for

communication and exploration

Cognitive

The content and style of children’s art is indicative of general intelligence and a function of conceptualisation

Children can only draw what they know The concept of the object will determine

how that object will be represented Young children rely on memories, images,

experiences and concepts

Experiment….and discover

Goodenough (1975)DRAW A MAN test

Non-verbal measure of intelligence It is assumed that the child’s drawing

of the human figure is a reflection of that child’s concept of a man

Conceptual maturity: appearance of limbs and location, size and relationship of body parts

Accurate drawing = high intelligence

Disadvantages: neglect of individual differences, experiences, and motivational, attitudinal, and environmental factors that can foster or inhibit concept formation.

Ears may be particularly relevant to a young girl with pierced ears.

Omission of parts may be due to a whim rather than knowledge, lack of time or interest.

Knowledge can improve observation and via versa.

Development

Global General developmental: incorperates social,

cultural, personality, and environmental factors as well as elements of former explainations

Stage sequence Holistic

Knowing the stages will help:

Understand where a child is developmentally Set appropriate but flexible expectations, neither

too high or too low Plan a developmentally appropriate art program

Serve as a framework for evaluation and for conferences with parents

Appreciate the process and products of during the early years

Artistic development follows a predictable sequence Fluid: can move back and forth Individual: own rate and pace

Kellogg(1969) Scribble: foundation of future art 20 basic scribbles

As the child proceeds from scribbling to picture making, he or she passes through stages: placement, shape, design, and pictorial.

Placement

17 different placement patterns by age 2

Shape Diagrams or gestalts contain shapes including a circle, a

cross, square, and rectangle

Design

Two diagrams are put together to make combines

3 or more diagrams constitute an aggregate

4-5 pictorial stage Universal across humans

Pictorial

Structured designs begin to look like objects 1. Early pictorial 2. Later pictorial

Stages

Manipulative stage: processing, exploring, making, doing, or playing with materials

Representation stage: concern about artwork looking like something

Cognitive Combination of cognitive and general

developmental Piaget: sensory-motor, concrete activity

to symbolic, higher-order conceptual functioning

Piaget: the graphic image is a form of semiotic or symbolic function, and as such is a representational activity that is considered to be half-way between symbolic play and mental image

It is like play in its functional pleasure and assimilation (incorporation) and like the mental image in its effort at imitating the real

Piaget and Inhelder (1969), the very first form of drawing does not seem imitative but is more like pure play.

Child realises marks and tries to repeat them from memory. The child moves to intention of action

Piaget’s stages

Sensory motor (0-2) Preoperational (2-7)

Pre-conceptual (2-4) Intuitive (4-7)

Concrete operations (7-11) Formal operations (11 –adult)

Gardner (1980) Spontaneity of early creativity?? Stage 1: Preschoolers; instinctively creative.

Fresh and unusual expression Stage 2: around 7 children’s imagination

appears stuck – stop creative process in favour of language, games or peers

8-10 search for literal meanings rather than metaphors: copy and collect

Literal thinking: emphasis on following rules

Stage 3: 15-25 convergence of the abilities to plan a creative project, implement, and evaluate it. Most people at this time place emphasis on fixed information or skills. Creative individual stands out as taking risks, attempting new projects and preserving individuality

3 year old ‘circles’

4 year old ‘baby in belly

Lowenfeld & Brittain (1987)

2-3 years – scribbling: beginning of self-expression 1½-2½ Sub stage: Disordered and random

scribbling 2,2½-3 Sub stage: Controlled scribbling

3,3½-4 Sub stage: Named scribbling 4-7 pre-schematic 7-9 schematic: achievement of a form concept 9-12 dawning realism: the gang age 12-14 pseudo-naturalistic/realistic drawing 14-17 artistic decision: adolescent art