{"id":67841,"date":"2023-04-14T03:47:05","date_gmt":"2023-04-14T07:47:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=67841"},"modified":"2023-04-14T03:47:05","modified_gmt":"2023-04-14T07:47:05","slug":"drawing-pictures-is-great-for-childrens-development-heres-how-parents-can-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/drawing-pictures-is-great-for-childrens-development-heres-how-parents-can-help\/","title":{"rendered":"Drawing pictures is great for children\u2019s development \u2013 here\u2019s how parents can help"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

When the weather\u2019s bad and there\u2019s no prospect of a trip to the park, we might well reach for crayons, pencils and paper as a way to keep our children entertained. But drawing is much more than a fun activity. It has wide-ranging benefits for children\u2019s development.<\/p>\n

Here, we\u2019ve outlined some of the ways drawing can be beneficial to children \u2013 for communication, memory, and learning \u2013 and how parents can support their children as they express themselves creatively.<\/p>\n

Drawing allows children to take their experiences of the world and transform these by making new connections and relationships through their inventive minds. Their knowledge, memories and fantasies all feed their imagination, and drawing allows children to explore, build on and record their own creative and imaginative ideas.
\nOne of us (Richard Jolley)\u00a0conducted research<\/a>\u00a0on the use of drawing in Chinese infant schools, which teach children aged from three to six years old. Building upon a long-standing focus on teaching young children representational drawing skills, the Chinese infant art curriculum also facilitates children\u2019s enjoyment of drawing through making creative and expressive pictures from their imagination.<\/p>\n

When children were asked to draw where they came from, one boy drew a rose \u2013 a symbol of Kunming, the city where he lived. He said that he had come from the rose, and drew his hair covered with red pollen.<\/p>\n

Communicate and learn<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Drawing also allows children to express themselves and communicate to others. A child can graphically relive a happy event, such as a birthday party, or draw out some sad feelings as a therapeutic exercise to help with an event such as a bereavement.<\/p>\n

Drawing is an important medium in\u00a0child art therapy<\/a>. It provides a non-verbal way to communicate the wide range of emotional and behavioural difficulties they might be struggling with, to lead to change and growth.<\/p>\n

Drawing can help children learn.\u00a0Research shows<\/a>\u00a0that using drawing as a teaching activity can increase children\u2019s understanding in other areas, such as science. A group of children were taught two strategies to help them learn a scientific concept. One strategy involved sketching out ideas and the other did not. Among the students who performed each strategy well, those who used drawing had a better understanding of the topic.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, drawing may also help improve children\u2019s memory. Research has found that\u00a0children give more information<\/a>\u00a0about a previously experienced event when they are asked to draw about it while talking about it. Drawing has been found to improve children\u2019s recall of events that happened a\u00a0year earlier<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Practice makes perfect \u2013 and this is of course true of drawing. It is an exercise in problem-solving, as children try to produce a two-dimensional image that stands for an object or scene from a three-dimensional world. With age, practice and instruction children typically produce increasingly visually realistic representations of the\u00a0subject matter<\/a>. In this process children are experimenting with different lines, shapes, spatial alignment and proportions.<\/p>\n

How parents can help<\/strong><\/h4>\n

First of all, we can help our children draw and learn through drawing by simply giving them the materials and the time to use them.<\/p>\n

Encouragement to draw is also important. An\u00a0Arts Council England report<\/a>\u00a0found that many children do not receive encouragement to take part in arts activities, but that those children who did were more likely to engage in the arts as adults. This suggests that encouragement may be important, not just for current engagement, but also to benefiting in the future from engaging in art.<\/p>\n

You could also try spending time sitting with your child while they draw, perhaps chatting with them. If you are chatty and supportive children are likely to find it encouraging. We\u00a0carried out research<\/a>\u00a0to find out about what affected children\u2019s experiences of drawing. We found that children whose parents spent longer with them while they drew took more enjoyment from their drawing.<\/p>\n

Psychologists working with children often\u00a0ask them to draw<\/a>. Parents may find drawing a useful way to gain greater insight into their children\u2019s experiences and personal reflections.<\/p>\n

Or, draw alongside your child. Research has shown that children\u00a0often use<\/a>\u00a0drawings made by others, such as cartoons or drawings by their parents or siblings, as inspiration for their own drawings. Our research found that children most value being given a\u00a0demonstration of drawing<\/a>\u00a0as support for their own drawing. Drawing with your child or collaborating on a shared drawing may provide them with inspiration.<\/p>\n

Creating geometrical designs and patterns is\u00a0often promoted<\/a>\u00a0as an effective means of developing children\u2019s drawing skill, fine motor control and hand-eye coordination. Doodling can be lots of fun too and has been linked with children\u2019s increased\u00a0creativity and imagination<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0learning<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, doodling has been found to\u00a0improve recall<\/a>\u00a0in adults who listened to a monotonous telephone message. You could set your child an example and doodle together.<\/p>\n

You can also introduce your child to a range of drawing styles. Children may be inspired by a particular artistic style, such as\u00a0manga<\/a>, and this may provide them with an opportunity to develop their drawing skill and make sense of the world around them. Perhaps borrow some comic books from the library to inspire them. You might even want to get involved \u2013 and learn to draw in a different way together.<\/p>\n

Author Bios:<\/strong> Richard Jolley is Associate Professor of Developmental Psychology and Sarah Rose is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Child Development both at Staffordshire University<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the weather\u2019s bad and there\u2019s no prospect of a trip to the park, we might well reach for crayons, pencils and paper as a way to keep our children entertained. But drawing is much more than a fun activity. It has wide-ranging benefits for children\u2019s development. Here, we\u2019ve outlined some of the ways drawing […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15645],"tags":[434391],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-67841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","tag-drawing-pictures"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDrawing pictures is great for children\u2019s development \u2013 here\u2019s how parents can help - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/drawing-pictures-is-great-for-childrens-development-heres-how-parents-can-help\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Drawing pictures is great for children\u2019s development \u2013 here\u2019s how parents can help - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When the weather\u2019s bad and there\u2019s no prospect of a trip to the park, we might well reach for crayons, pencils and paper as a way to keep our children entertained. But drawing is much more than a fun activity. It has wide-ranging benefits for children\u2019s development. Here, we\u2019ve outlined some of the ways drawing […]\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/drawing-pictures-is-great-for-childrens-development-heres-how-parents-can-help\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-04-14T07:47:05+00:00\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/boy-smiling-drawing.jpeg\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kevin\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kevin\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/drawing-pictures-is-great-for-childrens-development-heres-how-parents-can-help\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/drawing-pictures-is-great-for-childrens-development-heres-how-parents-can-help\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kevin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\"},\"headline\":\"Drawing pictures is great for children\u2019s development \u2013 here\u2019s how parents can help\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-14T07:47:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/drawing-pictures-is-great-for-childrens-development-heres-how-parents-can-help\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":934,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/drawing-pictures-is-great-for-childrens-development-heres-how-parents-can-help\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/boy-smiling-drawing.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"Drawing pictures\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Education\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/drawing-pictures-is-great-for-childrens-development-heres-how-parents-can-help\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/drawing-pictures-is-great-for-childrens-development-heres-how-parents-can-help\\\/\",\"name\":\"Drawing pictures is great for children\u2019s development \u2013 here\u2019s how parents can help - World leading higher education information and services\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/drawing-pictures-is-great-for-childrens-development-heres-how-parents-can-help\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/drawing-pictures-is-great-for-childrens-development-heres-how-parents-can-help\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/boy-smiling-drawing.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-14T07:47:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/drawing-pictures-is-great-for-childrens-development-heres-how-parents-can-help\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/drawing-pictures-is-great-for-childrens-development-heres-how-parents-can-help\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/drawing-pictures-is-great-for-childrens-development-heres-how-parents-can-help\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/boy-smiling-drawing.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/boy-smiling-drawing.jpeg\",\"width\":680,\"height\":454},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/drawing-pictures-is-great-for-childrens-development-heres-how-parents-can-help\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Drawing pictures is great for children\u2019s development \u2013 here\u2019s how parents can help\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/\",\"name\":\"World leading higher education information and services\",\"description\":\"Global Higher Education Jobs, University jobs, Lecturer & tenure jobs.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\",\"name\":\"Kevin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g8ba4c352a279c450aa9435d770c1ebf4\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kevin\"},\"description\":\"Kevin is founder of the world.edu project. The past 28 years have been involved in publishing to the education sector in print and the internet. Kevin has a degree in Education and has a many years experience in developing companies and projects.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/author\\\/kevin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Drawing pictures is great for children\u2019s development \u2013 here\u2019s how parents can help - World leading higher education information and services","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/world.edu\/drawing-pictures-is-great-for-childrens-development-heres-how-parents-can-help\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Drawing pictures is great for children\u2019s development \u2013 here\u2019s how parents can help - World leading higher education information and services","og_description":"When the weather\u2019s bad and there\u2019s no prospect of a trip to the park, we might well reach for crayons, pencils and paper as a way to keep our children entertained. But drawing is much more than a fun activity. It has wide-ranging benefits for children\u2019s development. Here, we\u2019ve outlined some of the ways drawing […]","og_url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/drawing-pictures-is-great-for-childrens-development-heres-how-parents-can-help\/","og_site_name":"World leading higher education information and services","article_published_time":"2023-04-14T07:47:05+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/boy-smiling-drawing.jpeg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Kevin","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kevin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/drawing-pictures-is-great-for-childrens-development-heres-how-parents-can-help\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/drawing-pictures-is-great-for-childrens-development-heres-how-parents-can-help\/"},"author":{"name":"Kevin","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee"},"headline":"Drawing pictures is great for children\u2019s development \u2013 here\u2019s how parents can help","datePublished":"2023-04-14T07:47:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/drawing-pictures-is-great-for-childrens-development-heres-how-parents-can-help\/"},"wordCount":934,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/drawing-pictures-is-great-for-childrens-development-heres-how-parents-can-help\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/boy-smiling-drawing.jpeg","keywords":["Drawing pictures"],"articleSection":["Education"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/drawing-pictures-is-great-for-childrens-development-heres-how-parents-can-help\/","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/drawing-pictures-is-great-for-childrens-development-heres-how-parents-can-help\/","name":"Drawing pictures is great for children\u2019s development \u2013 here\u2019s how parents can help - World leading higher education information and services","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/drawing-pictures-is-great-for-childrens-development-heres-how-parents-can-help\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/drawing-pictures-is-great-for-childrens-development-heres-how-parents-can-help\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/boy-smiling-drawing.jpeg","datePublished":"2023-04-14T07:47:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/drawing-pictures-is-great-for-childrens-development-heres-how-parents-can-help\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/world.edu\/drawing-pictures-is-great-for-childrens-development-heres-how-parents-can-help\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/drawing-pictures-is-great-for-childrens-development-heres-how-parents-can-help\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/boy-smiling-drawing.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/boy-smiling-drawing.jpeg","width":680,"height":454},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/drawing-pictures-is-great-for-childrens-development-heres-how-parents-can-help\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/world.edu\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Drawing pictures is great for children\u2019s development \u2013 here\u2019s how parents can help"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#website","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/","name":"World leading higher education information and services","description":"Global Higher Education Jobs, University jobs, Lecturer & tenure jobs.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee","name":"Kevin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g8ba4c352a279c450aa9435d770c1ebf4","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kevin"},"description":"Kevin is founder of the world.edu project. The past 28 years have been involved in publishing to the education sector in print and the internet. Kevin has a degree in Education and has a many years experience in developing companies and projects.","sameAs":["https:\/\/world.edu"],"url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/author\/kevin\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67841"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67841\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67843,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67841\/revisions\/67843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67841"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=67841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}