ds is not good at art - now becoming noticeable - help!!

[zebramummy]

i need a strategy to improve ds' mark-making asap per his nursery report.

i never meant to compare him to his class mates at nursery but their pictures appear to resemble trees, people etc. ds is 4.4 but his art skills have actually gone backwards if anything. he only brought one picture home this term and nothing of his has ever been put up for display at nursery (yes, i do this at home before you ask)

i was apparently so good at his age that my nursery school teacher (a trained artist herself) predicted that i would also become an artist one day (i did not do this though remained quite good). i don't expect him to be that good; just able enough to colour the right bits of the picture in suitable colours and try to keep within outlines. his interest in writing has gone the same way too.

is there anything i can do to remedy the situation? so far, i have made available to him every medium under the sun to try out his 'ideas' - finger paints, glitter glue, crayons, chalks, all manner of paper and card.

he loves playdough though uses it more for imaginative play rather than for model-making. likes gloop, clay, helping with cooking but has had no cross-impact.

you're joking, right?

are you joking? He's 4 - art should be fun not be about the resulting masterpiece.

What?????

Please tell me you're joking!

he's 4 - 10000's of children enter school not being able to colour in or draw anything recognisable (DS1 was one of those actually) - chill out.

Well I'm 50 and still crap at art

My ds is 4 and only draws circles or scribble. It doesn't worry me, I'm not arty either. Try to encourage your ds in what he is good at.

I was told when I was at school that I was a waste of the school's resources of paper. I really wouldn't worry unless you think it's reflecting problems with his fine motor skills. But artistic ability? Negligible at age 4.

no i'm not joking , i'm just trying to act on what his report recommended. he has made obvious gains in other areas so it could just be that art is not high up on his list of priorities atm. i also mentioned that he doesn't seem to enjoy doing it anymore (having reinterated that point, i am pretty sure what the response is going to be!).

it does matter to me because art and history of art have always been really important to me and enriched my life and it would be good if he could share that or at least understand it.

zebra - perhaps he's not enjoying it because he's picked up on the fact that people are "concerned" about it. Not sure why they're concerned - he's 4, lots and lots of 4yr olds can't draw at all. DS1 couldn't draw at 4 by now at 9 is pretty decent at it.

zebra - I have a boy who didn't draw a single picture at nursery. All the other children would come out clutching masterpieces. Son preferred doing other things.

He started reception in September and something has now clicked, and he makes recognisable shapes on paper. It's still not his favourite thing to do though, he doesn't colour for fun or anything like that.

He's only 4. Give him a break.

And nurseries don't normally judge kids' pictures to decide whether they're good enough for the wall, they usually just make sure that there's something of everyone's up there. I'm not surprised he's put off if his confidence being undermined like this.

YYY - if his nursery teachers are telling him to stay within the lines, or you can't use that colour there, then he will be discouraged.

PLEASE don't worry.

I swear DS went backwards for a bit - because he was concentrating on other things. He's now making giant strides. But whether he brings home a Pollock or a bollock it still gets its week on the fridge

jkklpu - unfortunately ours does - as part of a school rated "outstanding" i am hardly surprised. i always tell him that his pictures are brilliant though it probably does need to come from school as well?

He's too young - he needs to play and experiment - he needs to make random shapes and ugly colours to work it all out for himself. Gah! How can they judge?

Sounds very like my ds who is now 6. He's still not exactly enthusiatic about anything artist but his handwriting is at least improving and actually turning out to be quite neat. He showed no interest in anything arty in nursery or reception. If your son is interested in playdough at least he's getting some practice with his fine motor skills.

Age 2 and a half, DS drew lots of quick up and down jagged lines on the paper. I asked what he was drawing and he said 'hot'. OK, I thought, and asked him to draw cold. He drew slow horizontal lines. I was so very impressed.

I don't care if no-one else ever 'gets' one of his drawings - he knows what he wants to do. That's the point.

Meh to the nursery.

well tbh it sounds like everything this nursery school is doing is counter to current thinking in terms of early years best practice

it sounds like No Fun At All to be honest

were i you i would lay right off it, and let him lead when he does show an interest, which might be next week ....or next year.

if art and art history are important to you, why not spend time instead looking at art books and talking about the pictures, taking him to museums and galleries and exposing him to incredible, beautiful and interesting things.

My Ds never draws pictures at playgroup. He is usually the only one who doesn't come out clutching something. I am glad as they all go in the bin anyway

sorry - that first para of mine was too harsh - perhaps, in fact, they are letting him explore other things, and just commenting on that.

i always found with my 2 that they were concentrating on different "projects" in their development at any one time, when other things wouldn't move forward at the same pace.

honestly - 1. don't worry and 2. don't push your own interests too far

DS (4.7) has never, ever drawn anything beyong a few lines. He comes out of nursery clutching his 'pictures'. When I admire them and ask him what they are even he hasn't a clue. He doesn't care, I don't care and nursery certainly don't care, probably because it really doesn't matter. They have never, ever mentioned it and his nursery is also rated 'outstanding'.

ds (nearly 6) has only just discovered the joy of drawing - literally the last couple of weeks. Prior to that getting him to draw anything was bloody painful. But he was fine if you let him 'scribble' - he loves experimenting with colour - just not drawing things. And his favourite place is the National Gallery (well, that or MacDonalds)

Don't rush your child into formal mark making/draiwing if he ain't ready - just carry on giving him access to things that he may find beautiful or inspiring.

Oh, and ds still doesn't use the right colours in the right lines. But then I don't remember Pollock or Picasso doing too much of that either

you'll put him off if you make him "practice". DH and I are both trained artists and were a bit too keen to encourage DS1, he now avoids art, We left DS2 and DS3 to their own devices and do not comment, overpraise or try to improve their efforts, they can draw for hours and produce very good results (if you like endless battles between orcs and daleks!).
In my experience even some very bright kids can be quite behind with art.
Incidentally, mine do very neat detailed drawings but have terrible handwriting!