"Mommy, draw truck!" Daddy, write 'mama'!"

[blizzard_babe]

DS is 21 1/2 months. He like to color/draw/write, but... he wants us sitting next to him, drawing and writing things for him. He wants us to draw pictures of cars or trucks, write his name or our names, etc. It's like he understands that we can draw things that look like the actual object, understands that he CAN'T do it yet.

I know that at some point you're 'supposed' to say, "If I draw it for you, then it's not your picture," but what about when their hand-eye coordination hasn't caught up with their brain? Like he can identify the words 'mama,' 'daddy,' 'Loki' (dog's name), and his name, 'Isaac.' We really didn't TRY to teach him this... just write his name on the top of a picture, pointed and said, "Isaac." For the next few weeks, any string of numbers or letters spelled "Isaac." We showed him the other words because he kept pointing to everything and saying "Isaac," and he... just sort of caught on to it. We're backing off now because it seems like we're being pushy, or people might THINK we're being pushy... or I don't know. But ANYWAY...

But his hand-eye coordination, of course, is nowhere near good enough to write these words, or draw the pictures he wants. Hence, the constant, "Mama, write Isaac! Write big Isaac on top! Write little Isaac right there! Draw two truck! Big one little one!" Right now we'll write/draw it twice (he likes one big one and one little one ) and then tell him to color the truck, or write something himself (he will draw little scribbly lines and tell us they say something).

So do we indulge him, hoping that he'll "do it myself!" when his fine motor skills catch up? Or should we just let him scribble away and struggle on his own? Cuz honestly, writing "Isaac" and drawing trucks over and over again is neither my nor DH's idea of a wild fun time...

[Mama2Bean]

My 3yo DD has done this on and off for a long time. I just do what she asks and encourage her to do her own. I think she just wants me to show her how sometimes, to see how to draw, basically. I mean, she didn't intuitively know how to draw, she got shown how to do it. It depends on her mood.

[hrsmom]

I think I'd just draw the trucks and write the name. I might say "ok, your turn"' and see what he does. That's cute!!!

[LadyCatherine185]

I am not sure why you think it isn't ok for you to draw with him? He isn't going to be able to actually draw anything for himself for a long time probably. I would follow his lead on this. He will let you know when he wants to do his OWN drawing.

My DS always asks me to draw dogs, trucks, candles (he likes to pretend to blow them out.. hehe), and balls for him. I am an artist, so getting to sit down and draw/color with him is one of my favorite things to do. It takes a few seconds to draw the dog, etc for him. Then I usually say "can you draw the doggie's eyes/nose/tail?" and for the truck "can you draw a burnout for the truck?" (DH is into cars, so DS knows what a burnout is.. )

I think as long as you draw on a blank piece of paper and let him direct you to what he would like your help on, you aren't going to stifle his creativity, rather I think you will encourage it. He may lose interest in drawing/coloring if you refuse to "help" him.

[jenfl]

My DD went through a phase like this. She just seemed so frustrated that she couldn't draw an image. Although she still does it sometimes, it's not as constant anymore.

I think what helped was to encourage plain old scribbling. I did that by first, getting her to scribble (no small feat!), then "finding" a picture in her scribble. "Oh, wow, that kind of looks like a rocket! (point out 'rocket' shape)".

She's been finding her own pictures in scribbles now. She still doesn't really like to draw/scribble, but at least she'll do it occasionally. DH and I don't have an artistic bent, either.

[lilmom]

This seems pretty normal to me. At least, my DS does this too!

He also seems to get frustrated that he can't draw a picture that really looks like a truck, or car, or whatever.

He does well drawing circles though so I just try to encourage him to keep on trying and I do draw for him when he wants me to! I think it's pretty fun though.

[sapphire_chan]

Is the point for him to create art or for him to spend time with you? It's lovely when a LO is willing to play alone, but I don't think art's the activity that's going to do it for you.

I like the idea of taking turns. I'd also ask him what to do next. For instance, drawing a truck, "what color truck? How many wheels? How big should the wheels be? Do they go here, here, here? Oh, a big wheel in front and smaller wheels in back? What will the truck carry? Animals? It needs open sides so they can see out, hmm, I'm not sure how to draw that, do you want to draw some windows for them?" (etc, etc, etc...)

Note that this technique is also fantabulous when dealing with a 4-6 year old who wants to direct your every move.

[physmom]

DD wants me to draw pictures a lot too. Just this past week I drew her favorite character from a book (I'm a fairly decent artist) and now she asks for me to do that all the time. I just draw it and then let her color it in. I don't see that as stifling her creativity at all, as long as I'm following her lead . My mom (she was actually and art teacher) always did the same for me and would give me pointers if I asked.

About the writing... what about giving him other ways to write words. Like fridge magnets or writing in sand? If you let him use a computer he could even play on word or something. DD's currently obsessed with letters and will play with her fridge magnets for awhile. She'll also ask a lot of time what written words/letters are. We always tell her.

It can get old at times and then I try and distract her or find some way that she can do whatever it is on her own. Or we'll sing songs... just try and find a new way to do it so it doesn't get boring.

[Ruthie's momma]

Originally Posted by blizzard_babe

DS is 21 1/2 months. He like to color/draw/write, but... he wants us sitting next to him, drawing and writing things for him. He wants us to draw pictures of cars or trucks, write his name or our names, etc. It's like he understands that we can draw things that look like the actual object, understands that he CAN'T do it yet.

I know that at some point you're 'supposed' to say, "If I draw it for you, then it's not your picture," but what about when their hand-eye coordination hasn't caught up with their brain? Like he can identify the words 'mama,' 'daddy,' 'Loki' (dog's name), and his name, 'Isaac.' We really didn't TRY to teach him this... just write his name on the top of a picture, pointed and said, "Isaac." For the next few weeks, any string of numbers or letters spelled "Isaac." We showed him the other words because he kept pointing to everything and saying "Isaac," and he... just sort of caught on to it. We're backing off now because it seems like we're being pushy, or people might THINK we're being pushy... or I don't know. But ANYWAY...

But his hand-eye coordination, of course, is nowhere near good enough to write these words, or draw the pictures he wants. Hence, the constant, "Mama, write Isaac! Write big Isaac on top! Write little Isaac right there! Draw two truck! Big one little one!" Right now we'll write/draw it twice (he likes one big one and one little one ) and then tell him to color the truck, or write something himself (he will draw little scribbly lines and tell us they say something).

So do we indulge him, hoping that he'll "do it myself!" when his fine motor skills catch up? Or should we just let him scribble away and struggle on his own? Cuz honestly, writing "Isaac" and drawing trucks over and over again is neither my nor DH's idea of a wild fun time...

It may not be your idea of fun, but your LO loves having you nearby! DD also did this a lot up until quite recently. Now, she is perfectly content to spend much of her time working on a project on her own (with me or DH nearby). In reality, I miss her asking me to draw this or write out that so much.... As DD matures, she is able to create the "stuff" on her own and is happy to simply show me her results.

[sapphire_chan]

Another fun game, for words that he definitely knows, like he's asked you to write "mama" for the 4th time in 20 minutes, try doing it wrong and see if he's willing to correct you.

[tracymom1]

Isn't it a part of learning - showing him how to do it by your example? DS always wants me to write his name or pictures of things he likes (balloons, etc...) and I enjoy showing him how and helping him with his pictures. He can draw a line and a circle so I spend a lot of time showing him things that he CAN draw using just those 2 things.

[waiting2bemommy]

ds is 2 and also asks us to write/draw things. I do it for him a couple times and then we do hand over hand ("mommy help me") which he also loves, and I just discovered recently that in addition to identifying the words, he can now actually write a passable attempt at his name...well, he can do the C, he does a circle/line thingy for the lowercase a, the l, and then scribble/circle for the e & b. But I think that's pretty good for a 2 year old. He can also do circle, kind of a square, and a really funny attempt at various faces...happy, sad, mad etc. I didn't set out to teach him any of this really and I do worry that people will think that I force it on him. But apparently he went to my mother's house and downright insisted that she get a pencil and make him some "schoolwork" so this is all his thing.

I do wonder a lot about how to handle the disparity between his physical abilities and mental abilities. I just teach him how to do things, even if I don't really think he can get it yet, and generally he lets me know when he's reached his limit. Sometimes i get surprised with how much he wants to know and try on his own!