It’s a Picasso!

Pablo Picasso learned to draw before he could speak. By the time he was a teenager he could paint masterfully. Today referring to anything as a Picasso infers excellence and originality.As I wandered through the Picasso exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario a few weeks ago, I learned about Picasso's life, how Picasso was influenced by artists, cultures, and world events, yet never confined by popular expectations. His art irritated many art critiques of his time. He continually recreated his artistic style, using and fusing techniques for two-dimensional and three-dimensional art. His work was unpredictable; not always understood. Yet his enduring fame speaks to the value we place on unique expression.Child development experts encourage parents, educators and child care providers to offer all children daily opportunities to create with the freedom of Picasso. Young children develop greater imagination, resourcefulness, and thinking skills when they are allowed to experiment artistically, without pre-made samples or instructions about how their art should be completed. Children’s creativity and confidence can be stifled when they know they are to replicate a craft or drawing made by an adult. Rarely can young children cut, glue, or draw with the precision of an adult and children often view their art work as inferior to the adult sample.Children also experience their world differently from adults and so benefit from opportunities to represent their knowledge, ideas and feelings in ways that are authentic to them. An adult, for example, would likely represent a mouse by drawing a small, grey creature with lovely long whiskers, tail, and nose. A child, however, might turn a shoebox into a mouse, using yarn, paper, scissors and glue to create its shape, adding purple polka dots to its skin – since this mouse has too many mosquito bites too.Frequent art opportunities strengthen children's muscles in their fingers, hands and arms. Their eye-hand coordination improves. In a world of keyboards and computer tablets, art activities impact children's printing and writing skills too. Use of paintbrushes, markers, crayons, chalk, play clay, scissors, and other art tools give children experiences holding and controlling tools that have different thicknesses, lengths, weights and resistance to writing and drawing surfaces. These many and varied experiences help children develop dexterity for writing as well as for drawing.The Picasso exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto and the Van Gogh exhibit at the National Art Gallery in Ottawa this summer may inspire children to create and explore in ways that are unique to them. Portable audio guides geared for children are available to make the exhibits more meaningful and memorable to young visitors.There are also books that introduce children to famous artists. “Just Behave, Pablo Picasso!” by Jonah Winter is one such picture book for preschoolers and early primary school-aged children. This story helps children identify with the life of Pablo Picasso as a young boy. The story shows readers how important it is to be their unique self. No child needs to strive to be just like other kids at school or daycare. They can be themselves. They can be a Picasso.

Susan Ramsay is the Early Literacy Specialist for Hastings, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington. You can contact her at 613-354-6318 (ext 32)