The art of childhood

Dear Mr. Dad: Neither my husband nor I know anything about art. But with everyone talking about STEAM these days, we want to expose our 2-year old daughter to as many different activities as possible, one of which is art. What’s the best way for us to start teaching her?

Let’s start with two things. First, it’s way too early to be talking about STEAM (for those who don’t know, that’s science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics). Your daughter is 2 years old and her primary occupation should be play, not worrying about getting a job. Second, do yourselves and your daughter a favor and stop thinking in terms of teaching. Right now – and for the foreseeable future – all she needs in terms of art education is your support and encouragement, a variety of supplies and a place where she can make a mess. That said, here are a few things you can do to nurture her creativity and make doing art a fun activity for the whole family.

Stay away from coloring books and don’t encourage tracing or copying. Coloring books are all the rage these days (even for adults). But for toddlers and preschoolers, they can be incredibly frustrating, since they don’t have the coordination to color inside the lines or to accurately trace anything. Similarly, they don’t have the skills to copy from a photograph or a drawing you’ve done. The last thing you want is for your daughter to feel like a failure because she can’t make things look the way they’re “supposed to.” Art at her age is all about the process, not the product.

Don’t ask what anything is. Your child is drawing or painting because it’s fun. The idea that she can create something that looks like something else won’t occur to her for at least another year. Again, her goal should be to have fun and experiment with materials.

Watch her. Your child’s attention span ranges from about 3 seconds to 15 minutes. If she starts acting bored or frustrated (eating crayons, crying, walking away, and so on), offer her an alternative activity or start putting things away for the day.

Join in sometimes. Your daughter will learn to love art more quickly if she sees that you like doing it too.

Don’t interfere. It’s fine to show her once or twice how to use pencil, marker or brush. But avoid telling her which colors to use, showing her where or what to draw, or making any kind of correction. Your mission is to expose your toddler – in the lowest-pressure, lowest-expectation kind of way – to the creative process and the idea that art is fun.

Monitor your expectations. Even if your child is the next van Gogh, it’s pretty unlikely that she’ll create anything remotely recognizable (unless you’re counting a line, a circle or a spiral) for quite a while.

Forget about the mess. Little kids love to shred paper, put glue in their hair and use markers as hammers. If you’re worried about how big a mess she’s making or whether she’s wasting paper, paint or other supplies, you’re going to end up stifling her creativity and sucking the fun out of the whole endeavor. Take a few precautions so cleanup will be easier. Then take a deep breath and relax.

Praise your child – but not for the finished product. What’s important is the effort. So rather than, “This is the best dog I’ve ever seen, I’m putting it in a museum!” try something like, “Wow, you worked really hard on this! Can I hang it up in my office?

This story was originally published March 4, 2016 at 2:06 PM with the headline "The art of childhood."