Painting makes children strong
Coming to school is so great! Your darling is now one of the big ones and is looking forward to learning and to many new friends. But the school also has its downsides. Sometimes your child thinks: "I don't always like to sit still! If I don't know something right away, the teacher looks weird. I would much rather play!
High time to paint! Painting is good for children: When they paint, they sink into themselves and their imagination. There is no pressure to perform, no goal, no grades. The result of their creative work shows them: I can do something!
Painting needs free space
Make it easy for your child: Do not pack the painting things in cupboards and drawers. Cleaning up is completely overrated! Create a corner in the nursery that invites creativity. Then you're ready to go!
Painting is a performance-free zone! This is especially important for school children. Towards the end of primary school many children stop painting: Because they are more and more critical of their results and because they are beginning to compare. This causes stress. Explain to your child that he paints only for himself. It doesn't have to prove anything to anyone.
Make it easy for yourself: you don't have to instruct your child to paint. Creativity needs quietness and time. But you can give impulses.
If your child doesn't want to paint
Some kids find painting stupid. Attentive parents wonder why. Maybe it's just something else that's going on when it comes to development, e.g. gymnastics. Maybe the material doesn't fit for painting or the child is still trying too hard to hold the pen.
There's no point building pressure here. That frightens off children. It is better to observe what works well and what doesn't. Also look what your child enjoys. Maybe you can build a bridge for painting. How this can work is what our next example is about.
Cosy and creative: Read aloud and paint
Is there anything more comfortable than lying in bed listening to a story? You will have heard it many times before: Don't turn off the light, read on! The stories children hear before going to bed often reverberate in them for a long time. And you can use that creatively. Ask your child: How does the story continue? What did the castle in which the princess lost her shoe look like?
In the painting corner your child dives into his fantasy world. The coloured pencils captures the child's feelings and thoughts. Is your child a little more experienced in holding pencils? Then he likes to paint with triangular or hexagonal coloured pencils. It's nice when the selection in the painting corner is large: It's simply even more fun if your little daughter can put on the princess a glittering crown!
My favourite subject: painting impulses for fans
Tatu, Tata, the fire department is here! Is your child fascinated by the sound of the fire siren? Does he love his bright red fire truck? Favorite things are a wonderful starting point for a happy painting afternoon!
Search for children's fire department songs on the Internet or insert a children's song CD with a fire department song. The motto is "Red like the fire fighter"! Let your child experiment with the paint box and all red pencils you have at home.
Adults who have seen all parts of "Pirates of the Caribbean" understand that well: Pirates are super! If your child loves wild guys, you have a painting theme: We sail across the sea and find a treasure! Put on a cheerful pirate playlist and let your little pirate conquer foreign worlds! For example with tempera colours.
Sensual and Strengthening: Painting to Music
Music is a feeling. And feelings can be expressed wonderfully with colours. Painting to music can become a beautiful, sensual experience for your child. That's what you need:
- a large sheet of paper or a piece of wallpaper roll,
- Adhesive film for fixing the sheets to the floor,
- water-soluble wax Crayons
- a piece of music that your child can sink into while painting (e.g. melodic classical music).
Encourage your child to make wide movements across the paper to music: swings, lines, circles. Water-soluble wax crayons are best for painting. At the end the musical drawings can be painted over with water and brush. The great thing about this exercise is that it has an almost meditative character. At the same time, it strengthens the fine motor skills of school children: swing exercises help to learn to write.
