tutorial paper
TRANSCRIPT
The Developmental Benefits of Art- Making (Drawing) & Children Ages 4-5
Submitted by
Aysenur Yucel
As part of a Tutorial in Social Services Administration
April 13, 2016
Chatham University
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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Table of Contents
1.Title Page...................................................................................................... 1
2. Abstract............................................................................................................ 2-3
3. Introduction.................................................................................................... 3-5
4. Body................................................................................................................ 5- 17
5. Analysis........................................................................................................ 18-21
6. References................................................................................................... 21-22
Abstract
This current paper brings awareness of an important topic in which involves art making
such as drawing and children ages 4-5. Also, this current paper presents information from peer
reviewed articles and studies in which researchers have conducted. Art making such as drawing
helps children with their development in many areas such as social, emotional, physical,
language, and cognitive. When children draw, they are able to move their body, which helps
them to develop their gross, and fine motor skills. Also, drawing helps children to develop
language skills because they are able to use language when talking and describing their drawings
to others. Children not only develop their physical and language skills, but also their social skills.
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Children interact and talk to their friends, as well as to the adults who are involved when they are
drawing. Lastly, children are able to use their creativity to come up with ideas on what to draw
which helps develop their cognitive skills. These following are developmental benefits that art
making such as drawing has for children. Children enjoy doing drawing, and do it on a daily
basis, but it does allow them to develop certain skills. So, this may be an important topic to
research about as well as to know because it deals with children’s development.
Keywords: art making, children, drawing, developmental areas, developmental benefits, ages 4-
5, social, language, physical, emotional, & cognitive skills
Introduction
In today’s world, children develop their ideas through the exploration of the environment
as well as by interacting and communicating with adults and their peers through play and other
experiences, but these experiences also include art- making. There is a great amount of research
out there that focuses on children’s art making such as drawing, as well as the developmental
benefits it has for the children such as social, emotional, physical, language, and cognitive.
Children can develop their social skills through the interaction with their peers, as well as
with their teachers, parents, and other adults who are involved while the children are in the art
making process or making their drawings. They also can develop their emotional skills because
they can express their thoughts and feelings about their drawing to themselves or others. Not
only can children develop their emotional skills, but also their physical skills such as gross and
fine motor skills. Children can develop their gross motor skills because drawing allows children
to move around. While the children are completing their drawing, they are also moving around to
gather their materials, or when music is played in the background they are dancing while
drawing. They also develop their fine motor skills because as they are moving the pencil, or
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coloring using markers, crayons and colored pencils, they are also moving their arms and hands.
So, children can develop their social, emotional, and physical skills, but these are a few. Drawing
also allows children to develop their language skills. Children can develop their language skills
because they are talking with each other about their artwork, and they are learning to use
language and vocabulary. Children can learn new vocabulary such as art terms in which they
may not be familiar with, but as they are in the art making process they will get familiar with it.
Lastly, children can develop their cognitive skills because drawing allows them to use their
thinking and creativity. Also, through drawing children start to learn about the world around
them. When children draw, they each do their drawing in their own way, which shows that each
child is creative, unique, and has their own way of making their drawing. Drawing allows
children to do anything in which they like, and so there is no right or wrong answer.
Overall, these are the different developmental areas such as physical, social, emotional,
language and cognitive as well as how art making such as drawing benefits children. I chose this
research topic because of personal interest. I was not only interested in children’s art, making
and drawing, but also the developmental benefits drawing had for the children. I believed that
drawing was a very important topic to research about because it is something children enjoy
doing on a daily basis. Also, children start at an early age even if they are just scribbling, but
that is not the reason I wanted to focus my paper on 4-5 year old children. The reason is that
because I already have a background of that particular age, and I know what they are capable of
doing and learning. My plan for this research paper was to read peer reviewed articles in which
focused on the developmental benefits of art and children ages 4-5. I wanted to find out what
other researchers have done on this field of study, and then summarize their findings on this
research paper.
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Overall, the main purpose of this paper was to bring awareness of an important topic and
present the developmental benefits art making such as drawing had for the children. Also, the
main purpose of this paper was to provide information, and studies that other researchers have
conducted on this particular field of study. After reading those studies, and compiling the
information together, I wanted to present the information in which I found most important in my
tutorial paper so that whomever reads my tutorial paper can have an understanding of the
importance of this topic, as well as the developmental benefits that art making such as drawing
has for the children.
Body
Children’s development is very important and that there are a number of theories in which
exist in early childhood development which explain how young children develop and learn.
Based on the bio ecological systems theory, it focuses on the interactions and influences of the
outside environment of children’s development. The theorist who discovered this theory is Urie
Brofenbrenner. Urie Bronfenbrenner was an American psychologist who was interested in
human development, but also was interested in the interaction between the individual and the
environment. “He developed the ecological systems theory to explain how everything in a child
and the child’s environment affected how a child grew and developed”(Oswalt, 1995-2016). He
suggested that development should be represented as circles within circles, and each ring depicts
a different interactive system. The inside circle represents the child and the first layer outside the
child’s layer is the microsystem. The microsystem is the direct and immediate environment that
the child interacts with such as with their family, friends, classmates, teachers, neighbors, and
other people have a direct child’s environment. As for the second layer, which is the mesosystem
it depicts the interactions that is going on in the microsystem. For example, how the different
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parts of the child’s microsystem is working together to help the child develop. The third layer is
the exosystem, which affects the child more indirectly because these may be people that the child
may not interact a lot with. These may be people such as parents’ work places, extended family
members, and the neighborhood. These people may still have a large effect on the child. The last
layer is the macrosystem, which has a great influence on the child. The last layer involves the
laws, customs, and values of a particular society and these may affect the child negatively and
positively. (Oswalt, 1995-2016).
Overall, by looking at this theory, we have a better understanding why children develop and
learn as they do and the interactions they have within their environment. It does look like
children learn and develop better when they interact and engage with other. A way that children
can be engaged and interacted is through art making such as drawing. We will understand how
children can develop certain skills when they are drawing. Though the peer-reviewed articles we
will look at will mostly be about drawings, which is an aspect of visual arts. The two articles in
the beginning will talk about visual arts in general, but because children are first introduced to
drawing that will be the main focus. Also, drawing has many benefits to the different
developmental areas such as physical, emotional, social, language, cognitive skills, and these
following articles will explain why.
The first article is called: “The Importance of Art Viewing Experiences in Early Visual Arts:
The Exploration of a Master Art Teacher’s Strategies for Meaningful Early Arts Experiences” by
Angela Eckhoff (2008). In this article, even though the study focused on children ages from 4-
11, it still involved children who were 4-5 because researchers did it in two parts. First, they
studied 16 children, which involved 11 girls, and 5 boys. The second study involved preschool
age children and there were 9 girls, and 7 boys. The children were introduced to many artworks
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and the study took place during a summer program at the Denver Art Museum. The results were
collected through observations using field notes, transcriptions of audiotaped sessions, and semi-
structured interviews with the art teacher. The children’s talking about the art objects, an art
project, art tools, or art materials were the only focus for this study. The exploring within the
visual arts positively engaged the children during their art experiences. We can understand from
this study that children were able to use hands on materials to complete their art project. As they
were participating in this art project, and using hands on materials, they were learning the
different tools they used, exploring the different visual arts as well as talking with each other.
Overall, from the article: “The Importance of Art Viewing Experiences in Early Visual
Arts: The Exploration of a Master Art Teacher’s Strategies for Meaningful Early Arts
Experiences” by Angela Eckhoff (2008), we can understand that children were using the
different hands on materials, and exploring the different art materials, as well as making art, but
they were developing their physical, social, cognitive, and language skills in the meantime. We
can further our understanding that they were developing their physical skills because they were
moving their hands and arms to complete their art project. They were developing their social
skills because they were learning to talk and interact with each other. Not only were the children
learning and to talk and interact with each other from the study, they were also learning the
different tools they used and exploring the different visual arts. Lastly, children were coming up
with ideas for what they were going to do for their artwork which at the same time their
cognitive skills were developing. These were the areas of development that benefited from art.
The developmental areas of visual arts were also discussed in the following article.
The second article is called: “Conversational Pedagogy: Exploring Interactions Between a
Teaching Artist, and Young Learners During Visual Arts Experiences” by Angela Eckhoff
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(2012). It also talks about art making, and we can see the developmental benefits of art making.
In this article, there was a qualitative study and the purpose of the study was to gain insights and
understand conversation as an important component in early childhood arts. This study focused
on four year olds, and the study took place in a small public childcare center. The study used an
observational instrument to measure children’s interactions. These interactions included student
participation in the art experiences, and sharing their work. After conducting their study,
researchers analyzed their data and found that students spent more time engaging and working
with other students. From their study, researchers found that engagement, encouragement, and
conversations played a huge role in the art experiences of the children. Researchers concluded
that people should incorporate activities that involve drawing, and allow the children to
communicate while they are participating in the drawing activities.
Overall, the findings that researchers have found from their study in the article:
“Conversational Pedagogy: Exploring Interactions Between a Teaching Artist, and Young
Learners During Visual Arts Experiences” by Angela Eckhoff (2012) showed important
implications. It showed important implications because the researchers were able to see the
importance of conversations going on between the children during their art making. We can then
further our understanding that art was beneficial to children’s development because they learned
to interact and talk to one another. When children were talking and interacting with each other,
this showed that they were developing their social skills. Though, they were also developing
their language skills because it looked like the children were communicating with each other and
having conversations. Also, children were developing their physical skills especially their gross
motor skills because they were drawing and using their arms. Lastly, children were able to use
their creativity as well as their own ideas for their drawing because they were not doing the same
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drawing, which showed that art could allow children to develop their cognitive skills. In
conclusion, we can see how beneficial art making in general was for children, and their
development in the different areas. As mentioned before, the next few sections will contain peer
reviewed articles about drawing because that is an example of visual arts as well as a way of art
making for children ages 4-5.
The article we will look at is called: “Making meaning: children’s perspective expressed
through drawings”, by Johanna Einarsdottir, Sue Dockett, & Bob Perry (2009). In this article, it
discussed the importance of art making, examined the benefits, and discussed implications of
using art making as a way of engaging the children ages 4-6 years. Researchers have asked
children to share their experiences of preschool and asked children to draw. They asked the
children to draw about their preschool years because the researchers wanted to engage the
children in conversations. Children were given familiar art tools so that the researchers could
encourage them to engage in conversations. Researchers concluded from their study that not
everyone likes drawing, but drawing is beneficial because it is a way of communication.
Children were able to communicate with each other, which helped them to develop their
social skills. Children also were able to use their arm, and their hands to draw their experiences
in the preschool years, which helped to develop their physical and especially their gross motor
skills. They also were developing their cognitive skills because they had to think about their
preschool years in order to draw it onto the paper. Lastly, they were developing their language
skills because they were communicating with the adults as well as with other children who were
involved in the study.
Overall, we can understand that from the findings that researchers have found from their
study have important implications. It has important implications because much of the recent
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research that is done shows the importance of listening to children’s talk during their drawing. It
is important, and relevant to them because when children talk and draw, they construct and
convey meaning. In conclusion, even though they said that some might not enjoy drawing, the
article still shows the benefits that drawing has for children in the different developmental areas
and that drawing is a way of engaging with the children.
Children’s drawings and communication is also mentioned in the article called: “Young
children talking and drawing”, by Elizabeth Coates (2006). In this article, there was study in
which the purpose was to explore the relationship between children’s drawings, as well as
consider the implications and understand the relationship between their drawings to their
creative, and conceptual development. The study focused on children with ages 3-4 and 4-5. The
investigation of the study was open ended so researchers provided the children with art materials
and had them make images of their choice. The researchers role was to observe the conversations
the children had. Researchers investigated from their study the role of their talk, the nature of
their drawing, and children’s creative, and conceptual development.
Researchers concluded from the study that children were talking about their drawings,
but there was also a lot of social talk and it was not related to art, but children were talking about
their homes, families, friends, and class. Overall, from the article “Making meaning: children’s
perspective expressed through drawings”, by Johanna Einarsdottir, Sue Dockett, & Bob Perry
(2009)”, we can understand that during children’s drawings, there was a lot of social talk. This
showed that while children were drawing and doing their artwork, they were developing their
social skills. Also, children were developing their gross and fine motor skills because they were
drawing and using their arms. Children were drawing and given the freedom to draw anything of
their choice so they were using their creativity and cognitive skills to come up with something
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they wanted to draw. Lastly, children were able to talk with one another using complete
sentences, and words even if it was not about their drawings.
In the following article, it is also about drawing and how one can use children’s drawings
for communication. The article at is called: “The role of drawing in promoting young children’s
communication”, by Joyce Ofosua Anim (2012). In this article, researchers discussed the role of
drawing in enhancing children’s communication skills. Also, identified the various ways in
which people can use drawing to facilitate children’s communication. The study in this article
focused on the use of observation and semi structured interviews as their method for data
collection. The study was located in a preschool setting in Dublin and children ages 4-5 was
involved. Researchers concluded from their study that drawing was a way of learning and it
helped children to develop their language and communication skills. Also, researchers concluded
that drawing helped to express their feelings and emotions. We can understand from their
conclusion the impact of drawing on children’s communication skills, but also the value of
children’s drawings.
Overall, the main findings of the research in the article: “The role of drawing in
promoting young children’s communication”, by Joyce Ofosua Anim (2012) have demonstrated
how drawing can be an effective form of communication for children ages 4-5. In addition, the
findings highlighted the significance in the overall development of the child such as their
physical, social, language, and cognitive skills.
In another article called: “Young children drawing: the significance of the context”, by
Kathy Ring (2001). In this article, researchers discussed the role of drawing in children’s
development such as their physical, social, language, emotional, and cognitive. It was said in this
article “yet drawing is one of the many languages which children use to talk about their world,
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both to themselves, and to others” (Ring, 2001). So, researchers said that through drawing
children could represent action, emotion, ideas and experiences.
The study that was done in this article: “The role of drawing in promoting young
children’s communication”, by Joyce Ofosua Anim (2012)” focused on 4-5 year old children and
had a different way of using data, and collection. It was different because researchers collected
their data as part of a three-year longitudinal research project. The longitudinal research project
was about young children and drawing across settings. It was to illustrate the importance of the
context such as physical, social, and cultural. Their evidence was collected for one month, which
was at the beginning of the school year. Researchers collected case studies of seven children’s
use of drawings across home, and preschool settings. Their data was collected through booklets
of each child’s drawings in each setting. Also, semi-structured interviews between the adults and
children were used to collect data. In addition, photographs, and digital images were used to
gather data as well.
Researchers concluded from the study that the role of drawing in children’s learning was
frequently being misunderstood because adults were not seeing particularly the relationship
between drawing as communication and drawing as art. Researchers brought attention to those
who engaged children with drawing to reconsider the place and value of drawing within the
curriculum. So, not only should they give value to children’s drawings, but also they should
motivate children’s talking and support learning. Overall, we can understand from this article
the value of drawing, but also the value of learning through talking and engaging with the
children.
The next article we will look at is called: “ Conversations about visual arts: Facilitating
oral language, by Ni Chang (2014). In this article, researchers discussed visual arts such as
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drawings and how it could help children to enhance their oral language skills. This article
described the significance of facilitating children’s oral language by the talking between the
adults and the children. Researchers said that by age 4-5, most children already knew how to use
language, and knew how to express their thoughts and feelings. Though they said that drawing
was a way that could help children to develop their language skills because of the
communication that happened between the adults, and the children. The article used children
from birth to age 8 and did a qualitative research study. The conversations between the adult and
the child were audio taped. The purpose of the recording was for the researchers to collect data
on their interactions. This study was to explore the interactions between the adult and child as
well as how art facilitated oral language development. Researchers concluded from their study
that it was important that adults were talking to the children, as they were drawing and making
their art. In order for the children to develop their oral language skills, the adults were to
interact with them and talk to them simply asking them questions about their artwork such as:
“Could you please tell me about your drawing”(Chang, 2014)?
Overall, we can understand from this article: “Conversations about visual arts:
Facilitating oral language, by Ni Chang (2014)” that children can develop their language skills if
they are interacted with people, but they can also develop their other skills as well, which may
not be mentioned in this article itself. Even if this article only mentions about oral language and
how it benefits children’s development, we need to also take in consideration of the benefits that
drawing has for their physical such as their gross and fine motor skills, cognitive, emotional, and
social skills.
In another article called: “Drawing skills and science concepts in young children: A study
of the relationships, by P. Laverne Nelson, Sue S. Martin, and Vernoice G. Baldwin (1998). In
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this article, researchers discussed the relationships between drawing skills of young children ages
4-8 years, but in a scientific way. We wanted to know if children could develop their social and
cognitive skills when engaged in art. Even if researchers looked at the relationship between the
development of children’s drawing skills and their development in the cognitive area of science,
the study also investigated social and cognitive development of young children. The study
included one hundred seventeen children ranging in age from 4- 8 years, and they came from
local preschool programs and a public elementary school. Forty-two were boys, and 49 were
girls mostly Caucasian and they completed a material identification task, which was determining
the children’s ability to recognize materials of wood, metal, plastic, and glass. The children were
asked individually to show the materials that were made of wood, and the materials that were not
made of wood. Their correct responses were tallied. On the other hand, the drawing task
involved the children to draw anything they wanted and with no time limitations. The researchers
recorded any conversation that the child had during their drawing.
In this article: “Drawing skills and science concepts in young children: A study of the
relationships, by P. Laverne Nelson, Sue S. Martin, and Vernoice G. Baldwin (1998)”, in order
to prove that their study was accurate, researchers collected their data using a total drawing
score, which was a panel of three public school art teachers viewing each child’s drawing. The
panel rated the drawings according to their quality and gave a numerical score ranging from 1-4.
Instead of analyzing the drawing, they used the Gestalt Holistic Assessment, which was a tool
used to assess the overall quality of the art products. Another way they collected their data was to
ask the judges to place the drawings in one of the four developmental levels.
Researchers concluded from their study in the article “Drawing skills and science
concepts in young children: A study of the relationships, by P. Laverne Nelson, Sue S. Martin,
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and Vernoice G. Baldwin (1998)”, that it was limited because they only used one drawing task
and one materials identification task as their assessment. From looking at this article, we can
understand from their study that there was a connection between art and development in the
cognitive areas. Children could develop their cognitive skills because they were using their own
ideas, and creativity to make their art. Also, they were able to develop their social skills because
the children were talking and asking questions relating to their drawing task.
Children could also develop their physical, and language skills even if it was not the
focus of their study. Children were drawing so they were developing their gross motor skills as
well as their fine motor skills. For their gross motor skills, they were moving their arms and
hands to draw. For their fine motor skills, they were holding the pencil to write on the piece of
paper. Also, children were talking and asking questions relating to their drawing task so they
were using their language skills. In conclusion, the article shows the benefits of drawing for
children to their social and cognitive development, but also to other areas of development, which
are not presented in this tutorial. The following article called: “young children’s drawings, and
how their drawing reflected their feelings, thoughts, and actions” rather analyzed children’s
drawing, but it did talk about the developmental benefits as well.
In 2014, Hsu Ya-Huei article entitled young children’s drawings, and how their drawing
reflected their feelings, thoughts, and actions. The purpose of the study was to investigate any
meaningful expressions in the themes of young children’s drawings. The study that was done
was a qualitative research method in which used a case study, a nonparticipatory observation,
and document analysis. The case study was used to collect a large quantity of data from a single
or several cases. They collected young children’s drawings to determine the relationship between
young children’s drawings and the images they portrayed. Based on their research, researchers
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proposed a conclusion and several suggestions. Researchers concluded that drawings was an
alternative method of communication for young children, as well as enabled them to share their
ideas and emotions. In addition, drawing was a tool in which was used by the young children to
record their ideas, emotions, and experiences. Researchers discovered that young children used
their imagination and drew what they thought rather what they saw in their drawings. So,
drawing allowed the young children to use their creativity and helped them to understand the
difference between the sensory world and reality.
Overall, art making has many benefits, but we can understand from this article that
drawing has many benefits to young children’s development as well. The young children in the
article were able to express their thoughts and feelings, as well as use their ideas and creativity,
which showed that their cognitive and emotional skills were developing. Also, drawing was a
way of communication for the young children as it was mentioned in the article. This showed
that the young children were able to develop their language skills, and social skills through their
drawing making. Lastly, young children were making their drawings, and coloring, which this
was helping them to gain control of their gross and fine motor skills because their moving their
arms, and hands.
The last article is called: “Intention and meaning in young children’s drawing”, by Sue
Cox (2005). In this article, researchers discussed some ideas about young children’s drawings
and their development to making meaning and thinking. Researchers were interested in the way
in which children’s thinking developed. The study that was done took place over a period of a
year, and was spent in a nursery classroom. Children’s interactions in various activities were
observed and the study focused on drawing, painting, and other visual arts. The teachers and the
nursery assistants were supporting children’s ideas and communicating with the children. The
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researchers observation was done in a naturalistic way because as the children drew and painted,
researchers took notes on their talk, physical action, and their verbal, nonverbal interactions with
others. Their drawings and artwork were not the focus of this research so they were not observed.
The children’s interaction instead was the focus.
Researchers concluded from their study in the article: “Intention and meaning in young
children’s drawing”, by Sue Cox (2005) that the way children put together their drawing had a
purpose. The purpose was that children could recognize that power they put in their drawing, and
they knew that they were in the control of this. Also, researchers concluded from their study that
by exploring the aspects of the process and by showing the importance of talk, they were able to
understand drawing in its specific contexts. Researchers were able to show drawing as broader,
intentional meaning-making activity.
Overall, drawing does have many benefits for young children, and that we can have an
understanding that this article “Intention and meaning in young children’s drawing”, by Sue Cox
(2005)” does touch on some of the developmental benefits such as social, cognitive, emotional,
and physical. Children were interacting and talking so their social and language skills were
developing. They were also moving around, and using their arms for drawing and painting,
which their physical skills were developing. Also, children were thinking and using their ideas
for their drawing which they were developing their cognitive skills. Lastly, children were
experiencing and understanding the process of drawing, and painting so they were able to
develop their emotional skills.
In conclusion, the peer reviewed articles mentioned in this tutorial paper were very
helpful in learning and understanding the developmental benefits of art making such as drawing
for children ages 4-5. The next section will conclude the tutorial as well as emphasize the
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importance of art making such as drawing to children ages 4-5 and how it benefits them in the
different developmental areas.
Analysis
This tutorial paper focuses on the overall findings and studies that other researchers have
presented. We can conclude from their research and studies that art making such as drawing is
beneficial to the children’s development. In order for children to develop physically, socially,
mentally, and emotionally, they will need to engage in art activities that involve drawing.
Research shows that during their art making, children are able to develop their physical, social,
language, emotional, and cognitive skills. Art making such as drawing definitely has a
developmental benefit for children because not only they participate in the drawing process, but
they also develop certain skills.
It is important that children develop certain skills in order to be enrolled in school. Children
in their early years need to be encouraged and parents or other stakeholders have to ensure that
the children are developing these skills. It is mentioned in this tutorial paper that drawing can
help children with their development. So, this is why children’s drawings and their development
need to be understood by teachers, parents, and other stakeholders. Teachers, parents, caretakers
need to recognize the importance of art making such as drawing to the children’s development.
They need to keep in mind that children learn best when they are engaged in hands on activities.
Children only need a free drawing environment with appropriate resources as well as to be
interacted and engaged by their teachers, parents, or other stakeholders. We can understand that
children can draw, but they can also develop physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally.
There are many ways in which art making such as drawing can be used as a tool for children to
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help them develop. It was mentioned in the peer-reviewed articles, but the following are some
additional ways. The different developmental areas are broken down into categories.
Cognitive Skills: Children can develop their cognitive skills when they are drawing only if
someone is talking to them. One could be asking the children what they would like to draw or
help them brainstorm ideas. Allow the children to come up with some ideas of what they would
like to draw on their own, and have them list on a piece of paper. This will help develop their
cognitive skills. Once the children have an idea of what they would like to draw, then talk and
interact with the children while they are drawing because this will help to develop their social
skills.
Social Skills: Children can develop their social skills when they are drawing. A way to help
them develop this skill is to talk and interact with the children while they are drawing and
making their art. For example, a child decides to draw a cat on a piece of paper. One can talk to
the child while they are drawing the cat. One can ask the child what kind of cat they are drawing,
or ask them why they decided to draw a cat. They can interact with the child by asking questions
as well as letting them talk about their drawing and the cat. They can also develop their language
skills.
Language Skills: By talking and interacting with the children, they can also develop their
language skills. They can develop their language skills because as one is talking and interacting
with them, they will talk and interact back with that person. The children are able to use words
and complete sentences when talking and interacting during their art making which helps them to
build up their language skills. After the children are done with their drawing, they might also feel
something towards it, which will help them to develop their emotional skills.
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Emotional Skills: Children can develop their emotional skills by asking them what they
feel and what they think about their drawing. Children who are at age 4- 5 like to express what
they are feeling and thinking. Art making such as drawing gives that opportunity for the children.
For example, a child draws a flower because they are familiar with it and it reminds them of
Spring. You can then ask the child what they feel when they see the flower that they drew. The
child may say that the flower makes them feel happy, and excited because it reminds them of
Spring. Also, you can ask the child what they think about the flower. The child may say that the
flower reminds him of gardening because the child may have an experience where they planted a
flower with their mother. The drawing of a flower can allow the child to think back to the
experiences they had associated with the drawing and in this case the flower. We can see that the
child can develop their emotional skills as well as their physical when they interact and talk
about their drawing.
Physical Skills: Lastly, children can develop their physical skills such as their gross and fine
motor skills. They can develop this skill when you ask the children to get up and gather their
colored materials or play music in the background while they children are drawing. You can
allow the children to dance to the music while completing their drawing, and these will help
them to develop their gross and fine motor skills.
Overall, children take the great pleasure in moving the pencil across the surface such as the
paper, and leaving a mark on it, but drawing allows the children to do more than that. If only
people can see the importance and benefit of art making such as drawing to the different
developmental areas mentioned in this tutorial paper. Drawing may be something that children
do for enjoyment, but they also can develop certain skills. The purpose of this tutorial paper was
to talk about the developmental benefits of art making such as drawing to the children ages 4-5.
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In the peer- reviewed articles, the researchers discussed the importance of drawing, and how it
can help children with their development. I believe that there are a lot of research and studies out
there on this topic, but I think that people are not aware of and do not understand how art making
such as drawing can help children develop.
This research topic should be acknowledged because art making such as drawing does help
children to develop certain skills mentioned in this tutorial. We need to understand that children
enjoy drawing, but if drawing can be a tool to use with children in order to help them develop
their physical, social, language, emotional, and cognitive skills, then it should be used, and
children should be given more opportunities and time to draw. By completing my tutorial, I was
able to gain a better understanding of the developmental benefits that art making and drawing
has for all children, but the 4-5 year olds because that is the age I am putting my focus in.
References
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Coates, E., Coates, A. (2006). Young children talking and drawing. International Journal of Early
Years Education. 14(3), 221-241
Cox, S. (2005). Intention and Meaning in Young Children's Drawing. International Journal of
Art & Design Education. 24(2), 185-195
Eckhoff, A. (2008). The Importance of Art Viewing Experiences in Early Visual Arts: The
Exploration of a Master Art Teacher’s Strategies for Meaningful Early Arts
Experiences. Early Childhood Education Journal, 35(5), 463-472
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Eckhoff, A. (2012). Conversational Pedagogy: Exploring Interactions Between a Teaching
Artist, and Young Learners During Visual Arts Experience. Early Childhood
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childrens-development/
Nelson, P.L, Martin, S.S & Baldwin, V.G. (1998). Drawing skills and science concepts in
young children: A study of relationships. Studies in Art Education. 39(3)
Oswalt, Angela. (1995-2016). Child & adolescent development: Overview Urie Bronfenbrenner
and child development. Gulf Bend Center. Retrieved from:
http://www.gulfbend.org/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=7930&cn=28
Ring, K. (2001). Young children drawing: the significance of the context. Education Line.
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