What do I say to my child about their art?

Your young child has just completed a painting. It is a mess. They have splashed paint everywhere including the floor, walls and their clothes. All you can think about is the time involved in trying to restore the room to some kind of normality. How do you respond and what should you say about their masterpiece?

Well, how you respond to the mess is one matter and probably depends on your levels of energy, but not to put to fine a point on it, what you actually say to them could be a pivotal moment in your child's or pupil's artistic career.

Here, and to be avoided, is what might be first to spring to mind before we have had time to consider more carefully:

"Wow, that is amazing! You worked really hard on that, and I'm so pleased you have finished as now you can help me clear up the kitchen."

However, now is a really good opportunity to deepen your child's ability to reflect and strengthen their sense of artistic self. So how about trying some of these responses instead;

"Which is your favourite part of this?".... "What title could you give this painting?..." What were you thinking/feeling when you created this?"

or

"Ooo, that reminds me exactly of the way I feel when I first wake up in the morning. How does it make you feel?".

or

"I like this bit here. You could do another painting using that as your starting point. If you were to cut this bit out and stick it on a blank piece of paper, what could you do with it?"

or, for older children:

"If you were going to do this again, what would you change?"

The aim is specific rather blanket praise. Praise that is generalised such as, "that is a lovely painting", loses its impact quickly. Descriptive praise, that defines something particular about the work of art, gives the child the opportunity to build on their artistic achievement and encourages them to take things forward with their next work.

So the next time you have the chance to comment to a young person on their artwork, use it as an opportunity to develop their thought processes and maybe to express your own creativity. Tell them how that fiery red sizzles with the intensity of a hot chilli pepper eaten as a dare! But leave them with a question to get the brain cells sparking.

Which way did the cat go?