Preschool Painting

Cathy Weisman Topal, whose article appears in the Beginnings Workshop Book - Curriculum: Art, Music, Movement, Drama, offers this observation about preschool art in her book, Children and Painting (Worcester, MA: Davis Publications, 1992):

"Children as young as two years-old can make a variety of marks, each of which reflects a different muscular tension and type of arm motion.  Gradually, over time, and with practice, children gain more control over their motions and resulting marks.  They learn to combine marks to make textures as well as to form basic shapes.  They figure out that they can combine lines, textures, shapes and areas of color to break up and design the picture space.

"At about the time this development takes place (ages 3 to 6) children discover that their shape and line combinations suggest objects and movements in their world.  They begin to draw people, animals, suns, vehicles, houses, plants and trees as well as movements such as explosions, wheels turning, a ball sailing through the air and rain.  As children examine and experience their world and the objects and creatures within it, they elaborate on their ways of portraying objects, and their paintings become more detailed and more correctly proportioned. Of course, this only happens in painting if children are given many chances to use paint and to look at and evaluate the results."

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