Should I keep and display these scribbles?
For the last couple of posts I've left you with a question I hear from parents all the time: "Should I keep all these scribbles? Should I display them?"
When my grandson's Mum sent me his "Banana!" and "Zoom!" page, I knew straight away: that one's a keeper. So let's talk about which ones to keep, and how to show them off.
In The Scribbling Period I said not every scribble needs to go on the fridge, and I still feel that way. For a toddler, the doing is the point. For example: As Montessori educator Pamela Personette puts it: “It’s the process, not the product.” But when one does go up, a little care shows your child that their work is respected.
Displaying their work
Ask first. Even a very young child can tell you yes, with a nod or a mark.
Hang it at their eye level, while it still means something to them. For the very young, behind perspex so it can be touched.
Keep it simple. A plain background and a simple border, so the eye goes to the marks.
Label it: first name, age in years and months, what they used, the date, and their words or your short description.
Never pick the "best" or compare. Not between siblings, not between this week and last. Every child's marks show their own journey.
Keeping their marks
Start a folder. Pop each piece in with the date and their age written on the back, in order from the very first crayon onwards. You don't need to keep everything, just a piece every week or two.
Look back through it every few months and you'll see the stages from Making Marks unfold: random marks, then controlled lines, then marks placed with purpose, and one day, a rough shape with a name. Dated, labelled first marks become a real treasure, and a record of your child's journey that no one else has.
I saw this for myself this week. After reading these posts, my grandson's Mum went looking and found a short video of him drawing back in April, six months ago: a big sheet of paper taped to the table, and making marks on one side of the paper only, the whole arm moving from the shoulder. As I watched the video I saw he was working out how to hold the crayon, he made no sound his focus was on making vertical marks and putting the crayon back in the jar each time. Even though he made many marks, his grip and the pressure he applied left little trace of his efforts. Compare that with November's controlled circles, one idea on each page, and a name for each. Same child, six months apart, and you can see the stages right here!!
Read more
A banana and a rocket ship: why we don't guess what our toddlers draw.
Making Marks: what to watch for, and how to help: the stages of scribbling, birth to three.
The Scribbling Period: why ‘What is it?’ might be the wrong question: what to say instead.
Sources and inspiration
Pamela Personette, Art in the Montessori Environment (Montessori Services, 2011): a Montessori view of art for young children, and why “it’s the process, not the product.”
Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind: “It is thanks to the hand, the companion of the mind, that civilization has arisen.”B4 Early Years Coalition, Department of Education, Tasmania (Di Nailon & Bronwyn Tamplin): Making Marks: Exhibitions that Celebrate Children's Art and Showcasing Marks: Curating Young Children's Art Exhibitions (2021). Free at publicdocumentcentre.education.tas.gov.au.
B4 Early Years Coalition, Department of Education, Tasmania (Di Nailon & Bronwyn Tamplin): Making Marks: Exhibitions that Celebrate Children's Art and Showcasing Marks: Curating Young Children's Art Exhibitions (2021). Free at publicdocumentcentre.education.tas
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