'Talking with Young Children About Their Art' by Robert Schirrmacher

I don’t think I ever really stopped to think about how I respond to children’s art before. My first reaction often is to say something along the lines of “Oh, that’s so beautiful!” or “Wow, that looks great!” I would never diminish or harshly criticize a child’s artwork, but I never thought that being overly praiseful could be an issue in its own right.

I completely agree with Schirrmacher that “children should create to express themselves, not to please adults” (1986), it just never occurred to me that I was perpetuating the latter with what I thought was just complimentary encouragement. 

Very soon after completing the reading, we had an art activity at my fieldwork placement, and I made a real effort to watch how I approached children about their art, trying very much to focus on the design qualities of their work as opposed to my perceived aesthetic reaction to it. 

However, I also think that often children strive for that acceptance and appreciation, especially with their artwork, and though it’s important to help foster in them a feeling of creating their art for themselves and expressing how they feel or what they think through that art, I think it’s also important to offer them that reassurance and appreciation of their work that they’re seeking. That’s not to say that we should say things like “Oh that’s so pretty,” but perhaps maybe amend that to “That technique that you used to create that effect in your art is really cool.”