Make Your Mark!

Dots and lines on a child’s early work may seem meaningless, but often carry much more significance if we look and listen a little more closely.

Imagine that you were holding a crayon for the very first time.

Imagine the feeling of making your very first mark......

The realisation that you had the control to create something permanent…

What meaning could a line hold?

-a child’s freedom to move his/her arms

-a child’s freedom to explore the sounds made as he/she makes lines or dots

-a child’s visual activity in connection with his/her kinesthetic activity

-a child’s exploration of movement “round and round” , "up and down”, “dot dot"

-a child's exploration of mathematical concepts e.g. Length, shape, size etc

-a child's attempt to communicate through writing
"See I can write my own name!"

-a child’s attempt to make sense of his/her world

~The re-enactment of an experience:

Liam drew a line and dots and as he drew he said “Liam is running (the line) and jump, jump, jump! (dots)”

~A visual record of an experience:

Alyssa painted a sequence of large zig-zag lines and said that her drawing was about a “lion dance”

-a child’s expression of his/her imaginary world

“This is Erik flying”

Let Them Draw!j

Let’s consider for a moment:

What happens when we try to control the lines a child makes or to teach them the ‘correct’ way of drawing?

What happens when we ask a child to “draw something!” when all they really wanted to do was to let their arms move free?

What happens when we tell the child what we think they have drawn rather than what they were trying to portray?

Alternatively, what happens when we value the marks a child makes?

“That’s an interesting line. It goes up and down and up and down!"

Giving value to a child’s work by spending time observing it, or discussing what we see in a non-judgmental way, may send the message that we care, providing a sense of security, opening a door for the child to communicate more about his/her experiences.

When a child learns that he/she has freedom in drawing, that the marks made are valued, the child may begin to develop confidence in his/her ability to explore concepts and to communicate or express thoughts, ideas and experiences through mark making. 

Let them make their mark on the world <3