Children - Lesson 4: drawing with adults

Child

Hi. This lesson is going to be so much fun. Have you ever made one big drawing with a group of others? To show you how it can work, we asked two families to gather around their dinner tables and draw together, children and adults. They filmed it for you to watch. Make a drawing with your family.

Adult/Teacher

Hello. This third lesson about the circumstances around children’s drawings describes something that’s really easy to do: make a big drawing together. Watch the two videos of the Westfall and Kramer families and then make a drawing with children.

Drawing with an adult

The third site of children’s drawings—the first being drawing on their own; the second as a class assignment—is drawing with an adult. The former two have included plenty of adult modeling and encouragement, but the third site brings adult and child into a new kinship as peers in order to draw together. Child and adult set aside their roles and status. They collaborate. This is an activity apart from education; rather, it builds on the nature of drawing as communication. It is a way of sharing thoughts and emotions that might be too complex to articulate otherwise. Many children find ways to express themselves in drawing that they haven’t discovered yet in speaking or writing. As Henri Matisse said, “Drawing is putting a line around an idea.”

For many adults and children, this kind of collaborative drawing will be a new concept. Some of the hurdles to be addressed for this kind of activity to be successful include: A willingness of the adult to be a peer; the openness of both parties to creative play; the acknowledgment that although adult and child might not be accomplished artists, they still have plenty to say through drawing; and the anxiety of being judged.

Families Drawing

The Westfall family likes to draw together. We asked them to create a single, family drawing.

We asked the Kramer family to create a family drawing. They approached the project as an opportunity to learn about cave drawings and to make a work together inspired by images they found online.

Here are some tips for drawing as a family:

• Keep the focus on the drawing. You’re making a drawing. You’re not giving a lecture. This experience is about sharing, being together, using a different language to communicate with each other. Particularly if this is a new activity in your home, focus on the drawing without any hidden agenda.

• Storytelling is common ground. “What should we draw?” That can be a tricky question, but there are ready-made examples in your shared experience. “Let’s draw that time we were on vacation.” “How about a story about [their favorite toy or activity]?” You could base a drawing on something the child has created—a story, another drawing, a song—and ask them, “What happens next?”

• Talk as you draw. Have fun, and talk about what you’re making as you go. Let’s say that you’re making a drawing about dinosaurs, you could say, “I’m going to make a pond over here because all dinosaurs get thirsty.” Provide opportunities for the child to be the expert, “What does a stegosaurus look like? I can’t remember. I’m old, but not that old.” Don’t take yourself too seriously. Ask questions as you go, “What are you drawing next? That’s cool.”

• Surrender your power. Adults’ roles are usually supervisory, but equal collaboration isn’t like that. As an adult, you might be so accustomed to being the role model that doing something sort of badly (like drawing if you aren’t very comfortable at it) can make you feel vulnerable. Great. That’s a good thing. Put out of your mind the expectation that you’re making a masterpiece. What you’re making is a relationship. “I’m not very comfortable drawing, you know, but I like making things with you.” Well, what child wouldn’t want to hear that?

Teachers and Students Drawing

Many teachers who work with children in their classes at school, church, and other places use drawing as a way to solicit ideas from students. The previous lesson’s example of the biblical story of Cornelius and Peter is a case in point. This works especially well with children whose abilities to read and articulate ideas verbally are still developing, but it is equally effective with older children who might be more comfortable drawing than speaking in front of the class. In the case of the scriptures, drawing is a proxy for interpretation. It is a way to cement key concepts and invite the child and adult to interact with shared principles and values.

Share with us

Make a drawing as a group (family, class, friends) and share it with us. Send the photograph of the group holding up the drawing, your first names, and the city where you live to glen@centerforlatterdaysaintarts.org