When you think about art with two-year-olds, think about how to create meaningful art experiences that fit well in the busy world of twos.
Two-year-olds ("twos") are energetic and love being silly together. Their emotions are as big as their energy and can change with no notice. They want to be in charge but are unpredictable. Twos learn by doing. They're also learning to communicate with words, although they often lose patience with it. In this Nurturing Learning, you'll explore how to create meaningful art experiences that fit well in the busy world of twos.
Moving With Their Whole Bodies
What children are doing:
Twos are all about movement! They run, jump, dance, and climb and seem determined to figure out on their own what their bodies are capable of doing. Incorporating creative art experiences into the active lives of twos means working with their high energy rather than against it.
What caregivers can provide:
- Stand-up art: Whatever medium adults are offering twos (paint, play dough, collage), place it so that children can stand while working with it.
- Outside painting: Take painting outside to give children more room to move (plus, it's easier to clean up!). Place a long length of butcher paper on a fence or wall and offer containers of paint and brushes on a nearby table (the paints will get mixed but the children don't usually care).
- Painting with feet: Another experience that works best outside is to invite twos to step in paint with their bare feet and make footprints on a large piece of paper laid on the ground.
What caregivers can say and do:
- Help twos express themselves verbally by commenting on what they are doing, echoing back the words they say and inviting them to say more.
- When there is a conflict between twos (a common occurrence), don't just tell them to "use your words," give them words to say to each other and stay nearby to provide gentle support in listening to each other, reading each other's faces, and figuring out a compromise.
Gaining Muscle Control
What children are doing:
Twos are gaining more muscle control in their arms, hands, and fingers. As their movements become more controlled, they begin paying more attention to the marks and designs that they are making and less to the sensory part of the experience. In other words, they are becoming more and more interested in what they can make with the marker, paintbrush, play dough, or crayon. Their scribbles are still scribble-y but twos will often stop and look at their scribbles, then experiment with scribbling differently - in a different way or with a different color. When painting, they don't just focus on the movement of their hand and arm, but they pay attention to the design that they have made and experiment with making a different design.
What caregivers can provide:
- Opportunities to practice using the same materials.Don't fall into the trap of thinking that every experience provided for young children has to be new! Twos enjoy using the same art media - paints, crayons, play dough - again and again. It gives them the opportunity to use a familiar material to recreate something they've done before (mastery) and to try something new (innovation).
- Different painting tools and printing objects: While keeping the medium the same, introducing a new tool/object to use with it, in addition to those the children have used before, invites them to experiment with both and notice the differences in the outcome.
- Opportunities to work in smaller spaces: While offering large spaces invites the large movements twos love so much, occasionally inviting them to work in a smaller space ( painting on an easel, painting or printing in a pizza box, using play dough on a tray) gives them practice with more controlled movements.
What caregivers can say and do:
- Help draw twos' attention to the marks and designs on the paper ("I see you made a long line with your paint brush").
- Invite twos to experiment ("What else could you use to make a design?").
Developing a Sense of Self
What children are doing:
Twos are known for their struggle for independence. They are learning who they are as individual persons, separate from others, and part of that learning is insisting on doing things by themselves, their own way. This is a big reason to include lots of open-ended, creative art experiences with twos - they're a perfect fit for little people who want practice making choices and being in charge.
What caregivers can provide:
- Opportunities for individual creation: Although group art creations work well with twos, it's also a good idea to include activities that allow them to work on their own, with no competition for materials and no conflicts of ideas.
- Face/body paint and mirror: The most individualized art of all uses the body as its canvas! Not all twos will want to try, but many will be curious, especially when you provide a mirror. They love looking at themselves and looking at one another!
