Here’s a selection of Maia’s mini paintings, above.
Young children seem to find inspiration from painting and drawing on a variety of papers–big, small, round, square, white, multi-colored. Susan Striker, author of Young at Art, says in her book to provide large pieces of paper for toddlers and preschoolers to draw and paint on since they draw with their whole upper body and need enough paper for drawing with the full arc of their shoulder/arm. I agree with that overall. But I have also seen toddlers inspired by very small pieces of paper (3″ x 4″) or who draw tiny deliberate scribbles all over a big piece of paper.
I used to just give Maia larger pieces of paper for painting until she found our stash of colorful little pieces of paper. She LOVED painting on them and kept painting for a lot longer than she normally does. Her paintings were very different from the paintings she does on larger pieces of paper, with just a dash or two of paint on each. Now I try to provide a variety of papers.
Here is a drawing and a painting (both Maia’s) on much larger paper (2 ft x 3 ft).
Hi! My name is Jean and I am mama to two daughters -- a four year old and a newborn. I'm trying to parent in a way that encourages creative expression, imagination, joyfulness, and a love of learning. Thanks for visiting!