STAGE ONE: The Body Art Phase
This involves using anything (i.e. yogurt, marker, diaper cream) as your medium and your body as the canvas.
STAGE TWO: The Spaghetti Phase
This involves random scribbling and can take place on paper or walls or furniture.
STAGE THREE: The Potato People Phase
The child draws people that basically look like potatoes with arms and legs coming out of the body. Eyes and a mouth are added at this time.
The child draws people that basically look like potatoes with arms and legs coming out of the body. Eyes and a mouth are added at this time.
STAGE FOUR: The Stick Figure Phase
Now people have distinctly separate heads and bodies. Hair (sometimes really, really long hair), noses, fingers, and shoes are added. Girls may add, rainbows, stars, and hearts to their drawings at this time. Boys may add cartoon characters, blood and guts, or cars to their drawings at this time.
STAGE FIVE: The Macaroni Phase
This is where macaroni, sometimes colored, sometimes plain, is glued to various pieces of construction paper. If you're extra lucky, you'll get a necklace made of macaroni for Mother's Day. If you're not so lucky, yours will be the kid who likes to eat the glued macaroni off the page.
STAGE SIX: The Book Phase
At this stage, your child is excited that they're learning to read and write and they must make everything into a book. This is the second page in the famous book, The Friendly Ghost written by my son. This is where you have to really stretch your literacy skills and learn to read "kindergartenese". This says, " The ghost plays with his friends like the mummy."
STAGE SEVEN: The Picasso Stage
The pictures and color choices don't make a lot of sense, but they sure are fun to look at.
STAGE EIGHT: The Almost Realistic Portrait Phase
Here, the child starts getting some realistic elements into their drawings. This is a picture my daughter drew of me after I had collagen lip augmentation.
Here's something from the Pokemon Phase my son went through.
Here's something from the Star Wars Phase my son went through. Again, note the realism.
STAGE NINE: The Three Dimensional Phase
Here is a candle holder made for me by my daughter.
Here is vessel made by my son. It's perfect for holding cookies, pencils, or organs from mummified people.
There you have it. Art from one to twelve.
144 comments:
I think you've nailed it on the head with the artwork. I have to say, I am a Mormon, and no, passing judgment on other people is very much NOT a part of our doctrine, but we're human and some people do it anyway. I'll do it now--I judge your blog to be very entertaining--and convincing--I've lowered the total number of children I want to have, but my own three also played a major part of that decision.
Your son is actually pretty good for his age! The pokemon sketches are pretty dang wow! :) Be proud and encourage him in it! He might just have the right stuff!
Reminds me of my best friend all through school. His early drawings looked a lot like that and now he's got a degree in Media Art and does amazing work, so who knows? Maybe you've got yourself an animator or picasso on your hands! :D
I love seeing kids' art, the kindergartenese was classic as well! My niece and I did a Christmas book when she was in kindergarten, I had to translate it for the rest of the family to read! hehe
You really need to put warnings before things like this "It's perfect for holding cookies, pencils, or organs from mummified people." Otherwise you have poor defenseless people spitting out coffee all over the keyboard. LOL!
Yes, my oldest son's very talented when it comes to art. The thing that amazes me is he can look at something and just copy it as if it was a Xerox. Instead of sketching out the outlines and filling in more detail as he goes, he starts at one corner of the page and draws every detail as he moves across the page to the other side. I don't know how he does it, but he always manages to get it spaced out and in proportion.
I love the artwork! I was once told the way my daughter drew her potato people when she was four is a sign of genius. I don't know if it's true but I'd love to think so! =D LOL
luvmydoxies.blogspot.com
As a former ART student in college, I LOVE LOVE LOVED your presentation, Dawn...and I laughed myself silly over the macaroni comments! Good stuff as usual!
You've got some pretty creative kids there, Dawn! Glad you save all their art (or pictures of it) for posterity.
I know how you feel on the whole 'collagen' lip thing, too, lol. My son drew what I thought was a pretty remarkable family portrait...until on closer inspection I noticed that my lower legs resembled members of the Pachyderm family and not my own. Since then, we jokingly refer to them as "Cankles" (no distinction between calf and ankle).
Have a wonderful vacation!
I am still in phase 1 through 4. I can't wait until they use something other than the house and themselves to create there art on.
Love it! We are right at body art and kindergartenese.
http://stretchmarkmama.blogspot.com/2007/09/why-one-mother-is-never-enough.html
Love it lol.......my youngest is now 21 if I blink she'll be 22 and I just last Christmas threw out the last crumbling macaroni Christmas tree ornament and star.......I think a 15 year life span for something made in Kindy is a pretty good innings . ps gotta admit I felt kinda sad
Did the same son that drew the Pokemon and Sttar Wars pictures make the 'organ' (lol!) vessel? If so, he is very talented.
I used to love art at school (and wasn't bad at it either) and wish I'd kept it up since but somehow, life got in the way!
Keep up the good work Dawn (and don't let the ignorant ones get you down)... I'm loving your blog.
....and they are all beautiful...the kids AND the art!!!
Okay, I just have to ask, when you say diaper cream, you are talking about ointment, right?? Because, in the picture, it looks like she dug it out of her diaper. Gorgeous little girl though!! And you take cool pictures, in another photo, it looks like she is wearing the zipper for an earring!
My son, 16, only thinks about drawing. He may be failing two classes, but dang it, he is going to stick to drawing. Dang smart boy too!! His mother and I are getting frustrated with him. What to do???
And I think I am responsible for my children's actions and behaviors. I have been blessed with two children who I am commanded to raise in the way of the Lord. When they become adults, I can no longer be responsible for their actions, hence they will reap the benefits or suffer the consequences. I think this is when they realize, "Damn, I should have listened to my parents!" Then they grow up for real.
And I love to read your family/life experiences Dawn!!
God Bless you and yours!
Gregory
The lip augmentation comment cracked me up. And there's something delightfully whimsical about the ghost in the book... it's quite adorable. :)
Cool post. I've a two year old and a four week old so now I know what to expect in the years ahead. :)
FABULOUS!!!!!!!!
I love the drawings Im getting these days. I must say though I have been pretty lucky with my youngest she hasnt drawn on any furniture.........yet........ hopefully never lol.
I get lots of car pictures from my oldest son though, and love hearts from my girls lol.
Dawn-you crack me up! Thanks for always putting a smile on my face. I look forward to reading your blog each day.
Wow, I love your blog so much. I read it daily and it always makes me have such a chuckle.
Loved the pictures of your children's artwork - so funny, especially the way you've described them all. :D
Keep up the awesomely awesome work!
That's some seriously good artwork in the later stages - wow!! My 15 year old eldest son draws Pokemon, but they don't look anything like as good as those!
Have to admit, I read the kindergartenese pretty darned easily - I guess being a mum for so long has had a profound effect!
Jac
I think it's the unselfconsciousness of it all that I love, don't you? You can almost see the sheer enjoyment involved in the process, with no real concern about whether the outcome is what it's "supposed" to be.
Fantastic! Although might I suggest that you missed out the "3 dimensional sculpture created out of cereal boxes and toilet roll centres glued together and painted green" stage. My son outdid himself when, aged 5, he brought home a piece made of 9 (count 'em) shoe boxes glued together. Just carrying it to the car was a major operation.
You are too funny!!!Don't kids give us the best "material" in the world? I could never make up most of the odd stories I tell.
Kid Art - Yay!!! Your son draws very well - and I love Yoda! :-)
That is a great container, too - only I hope it presently holds the cookies and not the organs... LOL
I love the artwork! The potato was too funny, that's the stage my son is in now! Thanks for mentioning the Screamfree parenting book. I went to Amazon and bought it, because I, ahem, need it for a friend, yeah she's a real screamer. LOL
Have a blessed day!!!!
Great post! My daughter has abandoned her Neopets phase and entered into the Pokemon phase. I find sketches all over the house!
Ok, a couple things. First the Mormon comment. I admit, I don't know much about this religion except that I live near their Garden of Eden (Independence, MO), but my question is, "When did they get all the big family comments, instead of us Catholics!?" When I was growing up with 4 siblings, we always heard, you must be Catholic. Of course, we were. Now that I think of it, one of my daycare providers was Mormon and they had 6 adopted kids. They were great people.
I love the art. I have kids in your ranges (ages 11, 5 and 2) My daughter is in kindergarten and doing the book, except she's a little less advanced so her sentences are a couple letters from each word in a sentence all in caps and crammed together. There is NO WAY to decipher it without her help.
I am sorry to say that after enjoying your blog since August, I'll have to stop reading. I thought I could relate with you, but any mom who can raise six kids and not yell is just not normal! Maybe it's all that coffee I drink. (Note: this is sarcasm)
Finally, did you know that some people cannot understand sarcasm? They have a chemical in their brain (or lack of) to make it possible. Don't know if this is actually true, but I am very much a smarta## and I've run into many people in life that I have to spell it out that I am JOKING! My SOL is one of the worst.
Sorry this comment is so long. Have a great vacation!
Debbie in Overland Park, KS
This is sooooo funny Dawn! I have seen these phases myself and some I treasure.......even have one self portrait that my son did in 3rd grade framed and on my wall.
That is hysterical! I hope your kids never reach the 13th stage, which is permanently-decorate-your-body art. If my daughter ever comes home with a nose ring I think I might faint.
Love your blog!
this is fabulous.
My son is talented at drawing also. My best friend gave him an expensive charcoal drawing kit for his birthday. He would not touch it because he hated the sound of the chalk on the paper. Needless to say I took it over and who knew I could draw. I did about 20 drawings in a month and now for some reason I lost my talent. Oh well, at least I still have them and the one of the toenail fungus dude is hilarious. Kristine in Michigan
I love this post! I'm a bit of a keep it all freak and I would like to know where you KEEP all these treasures! How wonderful that you have them. Not to mention that you are organized enough to find them and take photos of them.
All I remember about MY artwork is that no matter what I drew my mom would say "what a lovely cat." I never drew a cat......if that tells you about how un-artistic I was! Ha, ha.
Lucille
http://whosgoingtotellyou.blogspot.com/
Your son has great talent with the Pokemon pictures. My brother's friend was actually offered a job drawing cartoons for Disney. You may want to encourage more drawing. I'm just sayin...
Funny how I SO enjoyed seeing all these stages, and even missed a few, when you showed them here in retrospect. In real life (you know, as they're happening) you sometimes miss how precious it is. Especially when they use the walls or themselves as the main art object.
You forgot the Glue Stage, where they become obsessed with glue, and must glue everything they can get their hands on onto a piece of construction paper. The items are usually way too heavy, and slide off the side when you try to pick the paper up, leaving a trail of sticky half dried glue, which attaches itself to your clothes, carpet, etc.
I was a macaroni eater myself. Mine was painted with gold paint & necessitated a call to Poison Control. Thankfully my boys have so far steered clear of eating their projects. The baby on the other hand has already tasted a few of her brothers masterpieces so I guess I know who my glue eater is going to be.
I just love your blog :-)
Have a nice day over there!
Best regards from Norway
Great artwork! This was a cool post--seeing everything through the years. Thanks!
I beg to dfferon the mummy story -- I think it says " The Ghost plays with his freinds, like the mummy" Not that I have a k/1st gtrader writing to Santa and the LVS owr anything.... ;-)
That candleholder looks like it was made of yummy marshmellows. What's it really made of? BTW, your kids are really artistic. That Pokemon collage is really good, and Yoda, WOW.
About two weeks ago my husband and I were talking in our bedroom when I realized our 2 year old son was being very quiet. When I sent my husband to find out why the boy was being so silent he discovered that our son had gotten the diaper rash cream out and painted himself and his dresser. We tossed him in the tub to clean him off but I still have not gotten it out of his clothes and have about given up on them. I caught him in the baby’s room a few days later, this time painting her crib. The diaper rash cream now has a new, much higher, home.
Dawn,I loved the artwotk. Please save some of them for when your kids get older to see. No i'm not a parent yet. I had many nieces and nephews. That are growed up and have kids. I miss the artwork I had recieved. I had kept alot of their ornaments. Here is something for your blog yesterday. I don't think many had read it yesterday. Enjoy !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Susan
A TEST CALLed "ARE YOU READY TO BE A PARENT?????"
MESS TEST>Smear peanut butter on the sofa and curtains. Place a fish stick>behind the couch and leave it there all summer.>>TOY TEST>Obtain a 55-gallon box of LEGOS (or you may substitute roofing>tacks). Have a friend spread them all over the house. Put on a>blindfold. Try to walk to the bathroom or kitchen. Do not scream>because this would wake a child at night.>>GROCERY STORE TEST>Borrow one or two small animals (goats are best) and take them>with you as you shop. Always keep them in sight and pay for>anything they eat or damage.>>DRESSING TEST>Obtain
one large, unhappy, live octopus. Stuff into a small net>bag making sure that all the arms stay inside.>>FEEDING TEST>Obtain a large plastic milk jug. Fill halfway with water. Suspend>from the ceiling with a cord. Start the jug swinging. Try to>insert spoonfuls of soggy cereal into the mouth of the jug, while>pretending to be an airplane. Now dump the contents of the jug on>the floor.>>NIGHT TEST>Prepare by obtaining a small cloth bag and fill it with 8-12>pounds of sand. Soak it thoroughly in water. At 3:00 p.m. begin>to waltz and hum with the bag until 9:00 p.m. Lay down your bag>and set your alarm for 10:00 p.m. Get up, pick up your bag, and>sing every song you have ever heard. Make up about a dozen more>and sing these too until 4:00 a. m. Set alarm for 5:00 a.m. Get>up and make breakfast. Keep this up for 5 years. Look
cheerful.>>INGENUITY TEST>Take an egg carton. Using a pair of scissors and pot of paint,>turn it into an alligator. Now take a toilet paper tube and turn>it into an attractive Christmas candle. Use only scotch tape and>a piece of foil. Last, take a milk carton, a Ping-Pong ball, and>an empty box of Cocoa Puffs. Make an exact replica of the Eiffel>Tower.>>AUTOMOBILE TEST>Forget the BMW and buy a station wagon. Buy a chocolate ice cream>cone and put it in the glove compartment. Leave it there. Get a>dime. Stick it into the cassette player. Take a family size>package of chocolate chip cookies. Mash them into the back seat.>Run a garden rake along both sides of the car. There, perfect.>>PHYSICAL TEST (Women)>Obtain a large bean bag chair and attach it to the front of your>clothes. Leave it there for 9 months. Now remove 10 of the
beans.>>PHYSICAL TEST (Men)>Go to the nearest drug store. Set your wallet on the counter. Ask>the clerk to help himself. Now proceed to the nearest food store.>Go to the head office and arrange for your paycheck to be>directly deposited to the store. Purchase a newspaper. Go home>and read it quietly for the last time.>>FINAL ASSIGNMENT>Find a couple who already have a small child. Lecture them on how>they can improve their discipline, patience, tolerance, toilet>training and child's table manners. Suggest many ways they can>improve. Emphasize to them that they should never allow their>children to run wild. Enjoy this experience. It will be the last>time you will have all the all the answers.>
Dawn, I love you & your blogs EVERY ONE of them give me the power to go on with only 4 kids (husband is on business trips all the time). I actually LOOK FORWARD to seeing a fresh blog DAILY from you. Too bad their are a few creeps out there. (maybe they are funny in their own way!)? maybe... My first time to every comment and well-deserved praises to you! Especially w/ the no yell tactics... my throat is getting sore from all that (ha ha!) Never got to see you on TV but I enjoyed checking out the computer link to it. About your horrible weekend: please let me know that you did FIND SOMEWHERE to eat a unique dinner with your husband??? You actually got 'date' time but no real date!?! He deems much praise for that blog about working all day then spending/wasting several more hours pulling out toilet. You rock Mr. Meehan!!! Just had to tell him I empathize. (2 days after that story, my 3 year old pulled off 1/2 roll of toilet paper and tried to get it to flush. Thank God no foul water escaped the bowl...however I had to manually retrieve that massive clump.
Again, you & your blogs are a highly IMPORTANT part of my day and ALL of your Fantastic Humor is APPRECIATED!!
I am 35 and know nothing about children past age three. You have given me a glimpse into the future. I have a three-year old who is just starting to draw shapes. I can't wait for potato heads!
Jenny
Very Piaget! I loved the collagen caption the most.
Hi Dawn, Amazing Artwork!! We are still in the scribbling on the walls, toys, arms, feet and sisters phase over here! I have a question for any of your fan readers. We carved our pumpkins already (yep a bit overly excited for Halloween)Well, you guessed it, they are moldy. Does anyone have any suggestions? Or are our pumpkins a bust?? Open to any ideas, thank you!
http://momof4girls.blogspot.com/
I love it! Thanks for the giggle in the morning.
WOW!! You have this right on the head! Your son seems to have a flair for art :o) My sister does. I think right now we're at a few different stages here...I counted 5 that I could positively identify LOL
Hope you're not feeling like "mud" today, that the dirt is gone and you're back to being water...calm, cool, and lots of fun! Have a great day!
~Liz
http://4guysn1liz.blogspot.com
I love the writing books stage. It's a lot like watching/listening to them learning to talk, but you get a written record of it to keep.
My biggest problem with young artists is getting them to stop a picture while it still looks good. They keep going and eventually the great picture is obscured and the page looks like it was dipped in mud.
Oh yes, you've got that described perfectly! We're in stages two, four and six here... Although our kindergartenese is progressing to 'first-grade-ese', which is still fairly difficult to decipher but at least involves punctuation... :)
That's amazing that you can keep your pictures so organized to pull them out at any moment to make us all crack up!
I must say...this has been one of my favorite posts. You may have meant this to be extremely satire (which I laughed the entire time!), but you have truly captured Art through the Ages.
So far we are in the potato people stage, although lately she has taken to filling in every bit of the paper with color (no white space ever!). They're actually quite fun. Maybe I should post some of them. I'm looking forward to the macaroni and clay art. She's already making shapes from play doh and leaving them to harden. Eventually they do disintegrate though. My mother still has the macaroni shell cigar box my sister made for her some 30-odd years ago.
I love that face one with the really dark blue around the mouth (what was that?) and the marker on the face (was that a Sharpie?). Cute photos and some really great art. See ya.
My 7 children constantly make artwork for me, I have run out of room for it and now wait until they are at school to throw some away. Does that make me a bad mother? While waiting in the hall for me last year at a parent teacher conference, my kids ate their classmates artwork off the walls. When asked about it they responded, "Then they shouldn't have used food, we were hungry." Does that make them bad kids?
Ha. Loved this art lesson. My mom still has the photo of me when I went through the body art stage with a tube of her bright red lipstick. (and I am 39) Priceless.
Your son must have a photographic memory or something. It's great.
Calfkeeper
HA! I love the pokemon drawings. My 10 year old draws pokemon everywhere too. I'd like to think it's a phase he's going through but he's been into pokemon since he was 3 and he's now taught my 4 year old EVERYTHING about pokemon. It's actually a little sick that they can both sit there and have an hours long conversation about pokemon and nothing else. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before the baby starts toddling around saying "pika pika pika"
Great artwork! Don't you love the body art phase? ;)
My son has that same "Monkey get in trouble too" shirt.
http://www.momof3littlemonkeys.blogspot.com/
great post! I especially laughed at your description of the vessel...good for cookies or as a canopic jar...I love your sense of humor :)
Looks like I've got a typical child. We are now in the book phase and at p/t conferences last night had a lesson on how to read kindergartenese so of course when I read your post today I was cracking up.
Nice, I think we're at about stage 6 at this point.
I have to say I love the beard and glasses drawn on your sons face. That is classic blackmail material.
Thanks for sharing, gave me a good giggle this morning.
Cracking up here.. I think I have one of almost all of those "categories" in my collection somewhere. Love the potato people, my mother still has my "egg people" as she described them.
LOL! You should teach an art education course! That was fun!
Stage 1 would not be so bad if my daughter didn't consider HER POOP right up there with vanilla pudding!!! UUUUGGGGHHHH ... biggest mess EVER (and just this week!). Needless to say, I wasn't brave enough to take pictures.
My mom has a whole binder of this kind of thing from my brother and I. We both turned out to be very talented and I used to sell stuff in high school to make money because mom wouldn't let me get a job.
Give your kids Legos, they might grow up to be engineeres like my big brother and I did.
I LOVE it! I have saved art work from my kids too. My daughter is now into the making books and the realism stage. My son is in the Picaso stage. LOL
Ahhh Stage 6.... I think I have about a gazillion books. The latest being "My sister Is Naughty". I also have a stage 3 and stage 2. You can imagine what my house looks like!
I loved the "spaghetti stage"--very clever! Thanks for the entertainment. :)
so where in there is the preteen stage that starts to draw skulls and other "weird" boy things on their skateboards, folders for school, and any other surface he can find.
Loved the art work, thanks for the trip down years of art work.
Your son is a really talent artist! Those Pokemon/Yoda drawings are fantastic!!
257 Comments so far on your previous post!!! What did I tell you? I knew you would pop a cork on that one. And I was proud of the 25 comments I got off of your illustration.
Your son IS a talented artist. Keep encouraging him. There ain't a lot of money in it, but it's a lot of fun.
http://organizeddoodles.blogspot.com/
Wonderful! I am definitely seeing this with my kids. I have one in Picasso and one in scribble.
I think you skipped a phase between body art and scribble, where the multi-media canvas moves from the body to the furniture.
Like so.
Mine like yogurt as a medium as well. :)
this was great. love it.
Gorgeous!! Wow, I love that you've chronicled it! That's so awesome. :) Talented kiddos!
Your son is very good :) I love kids' art :)
Those are awesome and so completely true. My youngest daughter is in Stage 8, The Almost Realistic Portrait Phase.
Did you know that white out does show up on a white wall ?? My oldest when she was about 4 used it to make her spaghetti pictures. LOL
~dani
My 3 year old daughter (she has 4 older brothers and two younger sisters) came up to show me her latest drawing. It looked a lot like your potato people - but with very harsh, dark eyes. I asked her who it was and she ever so sweetly replied "it's crabby mommy" Sigh...at least my head wasn't lifted off of my body, turning in circles!
Love your blog, some days it's my only contact with the outside, adult world!
Those are so sweet!! We are still in the scribbling stage here, but its nice to see what it might turn into. I hope you are feeling better.
We're big on art around here, I've got eight kids, 20-2 and it's amazing how much paper and crayons, etc my kids go through. My two year old voted and she liked the pink stick figure the best :)
People just tend to stereotype women with large families. People always tell me well you must be Mormon or Catholic. Yep I'm Mormon, but I think I would've stopped long ago if I had different kids. I just take them one at a time. I've had girls say they'd rather babysit for me than for some people with only two. Instead of being birth control I find that my large family and my lack of perfection makes others realize hey why not have a big family if that's the way it turns out! So what if my 2 yr old has to wear tights to church because the marker hasn't worn off yet :) Glad I found your site.
Loved the artwork! I have a 5 year old that is quite the artist, and 2 year old twins that are in the "spaghetti phase". My leather ottoman was the first victim of this phase with silver paint pen as the art tool of choice. I tried to clean it, and it just took all the orange dye off the leather and left the paint. Oh well! It has character now-- along with sippy cup spill stains and car wheel scratches, it is a unique piece of furniture! My twins say "Uh Oh! No! No! No!" everytime they see it, and it brings a smile to my face to remember seeing their little hands covered in silver, and their faces when I saw my ottoman. (although I was not smiling then!) Love my kids...and all the phases they go through.
Ok, this may sound strange, but I had a dream about you last night! My husband and I were on our honeymoon again on Vancouver Island, up here in "beautiful British Columbia" (hey, that's what our licesnce plates say). We were driving through a national park that was surrounded by gorgeous old growth forests and was filled with local merchants occupying little treehouse-type stores. I saw the image of you and your kids that's currently at the top of your blog, carved out of a wooden sign. (I dunno what you could have possibly been selling - your books? Your kids? haha.) I MADE my husband pull in the car there - he didn't understand why it was so important for me to go in and meet you, but when we went in, for some reason you were "unavailable." Probably doing interviews with Fox, NBC and the rest of the networks. :)
Anyway, I thought I would just pass on how much influence you are having on people - I don't even have kids yet and you're already infiltrating our dream worlds! Keep up the good work, Dawn. I read your blog daily.
Dawn, when precisely does the stage 2 "Spaghetti" phase completely pass? My 7 year old daughter thinks it's fun to write on furniture and walls when she's mad. How do I know it's when she's mad? No guessing, she writes the word, "MAD." However, I hold out some hope we're moving to stage three, because the other day she came home with a pumpkin drawn around her belly button. That was the nose, duh! I wish I had taken a pic, but I hold out hope she'll do it again. How demented is that? By the way, I just ordered "Screamfree Parenting." That way, when I see the word mad written on her furniture I can calmly choose not to let my neighbors hear what a bad choice she made! Thanks for the info!
Lori
I love the picture for Stage Seven. Hey, they were just following the directions, Character Counts! That bear...dog...thing...definitely has a lot of character.
If your son can draw by starting in one corner and just going and still gets the proportions correct, that boy has some talent (and a very photographic minds' eye)! I can't even do that and I'm an artist! Very impressive. Don't ever tell him you can't make a living as an artist, thanks to the Internet you can make a very good one!
Oh my goodness I am laughing so hard. You've got it perfect! I am sure looking forward to the realism and candle holder stage. And can I just say again how grateful I am to you for making this fabulous blog that helps me laugh at this job called Motherhood. Good Job Dawn!
And you are now qualified to teach at university. This is brilliant. I totally recognize all of those stages too.
~Heidi
Those truly are the stages of art development and you've got great artists, keep encouraging that. The costumes were great too!
Not saying you kindergartenese isn't as good as mine or anything, but I think it might say "The ghost plays with his friends like the mummy". I think I own that book, did you get it published? Maybe 50 times with different characters and drawings but the same basic story? I thought you might have, just checking.
You nailed it, girl! It's as if I were looking at my own kids' artwork. Thanks for yet another chuckle.
This is seriously funny and so very true! Your son is a great artist! I am just in utter amazement that you had all of those drawings, in decent shape to post. It would take me about a week to find all of that!!!! Great work :)
http://momoftheyear-not.blogspot.com/
I think you invaded my home!! I have every single one of those objects de art.
Great post!
Hey,you need to add the pic of brooklynne covered in chocolate:)
Okay, how come I never got past the stick figure phase?
Luckily, my kids inherited their fathers artistic abilities and all I have to do is smile at their successes.
You're great! And your kids are talented, just like their mother;)
I am counting the days and weeks until my little newphew starts to make those fun art projects and sends them my way!!! Your kids are super cute!!!!!
Is it just me, or are those beginning drawings on walls? The ones in my house were!
I just wanted to let you know that I love your blog. Its the first thing I read when I get into work.
I was so happy to realize that I hadn't lost my "kindergarteneese" even though my youngest is now 15. I could read phase 6 perfectly. :)
Dahahahaha! That's awesome!
Crayons? $3
Markers? $5
Paper? $2
Clay? $7
Finding your child's inner artist? Priceless
Very cute post!
I love that..those are so neat.
txcasper.blogspot.com
Dawn-
I love this blog today. I do everyday, but this is just so neat! And you are so right. All four of my kids are in the different "phases" of art and it's so fun to see the different things they do. I appreciate you for the fact that you put things into perspective for others such as myself. Of course, I love your humor, too.
Take care,
Shari
It's official - I have 3 'artests' in my house - my 3 kids ages 2, 4, and 6, currently are using stages one through 7. You are SO RIGHT with the stages lol!! Freakin' hilarious!!
In retrospect, I think my favorite stage is the body art. However, I can say that from the safe distance of fifteen years since my youngest was a babe. I think it's my favorite because it looks so funny, and I don't have to clean any of it up anymore! Although with seven of them myself, I did my share of cleaning up kids, too.
Have you considered art lessons for your kids? Not because they're terrible, but because they're so great! Especially your son, is he fantastic at art in school? Art lessons would only help them increase their skills, I would think. I hope I don't sound too insulting or anything, because I don't want this taken in the wrong way. Everyone, even the most talented, can use advice from others. Just a suggestion.
You must have an entire closet full of art supplies :). How fun for the kids.
Hey, your kids are pretty dang good at that art stuff!
Can I get college credit for reading your Art 101 blog post?
Dawn,
Another Mormon Mommy here...telling you that i'm sorry that people are such jerks. Please don't think that all of us are that jerky. Because, well...I love you and your little family to pieces!!!
Love the artwork! Your children are really talented! It's amazing!
You successfully made me laugh again!
Tami
LOL---after I had collagen lip augmentation.
stop it. i am dying over here.
Love the kid art!! I love how kids are so creative!
Your kids are very creative! How do you find the time to do all of this. You also made their Halloween customs. You're a children's Martha Stewart! I always take a few minutes to read your blog every day no matter what. God bless you.
That was great. I especially liked the jar for mummified organs LOL!! I have many similar artworks around my house with three littles. I must say most of mine are on the walls, closet doors and tables though. Hey, it will save us from having to repaint them right...A nice personal, "homey" look.
This is sooo cute! yet messy :-)
love the art work precious
Hi Dawn,
Love ure site, Love the updates...they always make me smile!! keep them coming..
Leah Sydney Australia
the fun part is that when you have six kids you always have a kid at each phase:)
i just love the picture your daughter drew of you *snicker*
*smiles* Yes! I've never seen a timeline of the stages of childhood art! Perfect. You put into words what the rest of us see and live...so cool!
x's!
Dawn too
Too funny. I swear I have that same candle holder...but in my house it is a pen cup! LOL Great art work. TFS!
From a former art teacher....
GREAT JOB documenting the artistic evolution of children!
A+
This is hilarious!!! You've nailed it-I've got one in the ENDLESS BOOK STAGE, except he has me SPELL EVERYTHING-I've found myself not really spelling everything he wants me to to speed up the process, but then have to remember what he said so I can read it back to him--how pathetic & lazy of me.
Our little girl is in the cross between potato and stick-I laughed so hard when you described it. Good work.:)
Okay...so this doesn't relate to the art, but I wanted to make sure you saw it. I was looking through your older postings and came accross pictures of you when you were younger. I just had to tell you that your young babester looks a lot...a lot like you when you were little. :)
I KNEW there was gonna be body art!
How on earth do you had the TIME for all of this!!!
I love it! Hilarious, and so right-on.
My boys would think the Pokemon drawing is totally awesome! So is the one of Yoda. Your son is quite the artist.
That is too funny. Now that I am an artist for a living and can safely say I went through all those phases plus a few more and I think my mom saved everything she could.
If you ask her, I am sure she will drag out several bins of artwork that I have done over the years and that's just for me...
How many do you have started?
HEY now that looks like some of the art work around my house!!!! LOL!!! Don't you just love having kids keeping you so entertained!!!! I hope you are feeling good!!
Hugs,
Stacey
Oh, please tell me.... where does graffiti fit in here. My 3 year old just painted our deck this past weekend with a can of spray paint.
I've enjoyed reading your posts. I have 6 kids also so I can relate. You have helped me to see the lighter side of all the crazy things that happen. For that I thank you! My kids, I'm sure, would second that.
Picture of my 3yo caught red handed...
http://rollinwiththepunches.blogspot.com/2007/10/caught-red-err-yellow-handed.html
Ah, Ah, Ah. I believe that your son wrote: "The ghost played with his friends like the mummy." You should have seen the way my daughter spelled, "I love my German Shepherd, Ilsa. She is a good dog."
All in all, though, I was incredibly impressed by your oldest son's artwork. If he gets better according to his age, you'll be sending him off to art school in 5 years.
Just for the record, if people don't understand the humor, why do they have to be told to go do something else? Is it not obvious that the rest of us do appreciate it and wish they would get a life?
What about applesauce?! That is one of my most favorite mediums to clean up. It is also the medium of choice for my 3 and 5 year old! It has great texture--wet OR dry!
~Blessings~
Jodi in MN
My daughter turns 15 in a few days and she and her friends are still in the body painting stage - she will often come home with drawings on her arms done in permanent marking pen. When she was around 3 she decided to write her name in permanent pen on the side of the leather lounge. She then proceeded to try to blame it on her older sister but her Dad was quick to point out that Sophie would have used her own name and not hers :)
Love the blog!
Fiona in Fremantle Australia
Hi Dawn
Loved todays post.
Your children are so talented and I wondered if at some time you could dedicate a small amount of space to your site for a picture gallery for them? That way they can be famous too.
Keep up the good work supermom, glad to hear you're feeling a bit better and don't forget to have a great time on vacation.
I myself recieved my first piece of macaroni jewlery this month and as I pulled it out of the backpack I thought with awe to myself, "I am offically a Mom because I have a necklace made from food."
And then, I sobbed like an idiot. LOL, guess I should warn the teacher which time of the month is not good for handmade presents.
The vessel looks really good. I still can't do that well in art and I'm an adult! Your son seems very talented and you are hillarious! You give me my daily dose of laughter, thank you.
www.kathy-iamwhoiam.blogspot.com
Your son is so talented! His work is beautiful!
(The other work is great, too! LOVE the macaroni art!)
I LOVE seeing kids artwork! My kids just put out some real winners too!
http://priceisrightfamily.blogspot.com/2007/10/for-uncle-cody.html
I have found the blogs to be a great way to "save" your kids artwork!
As an artist I am LOVING this post! Very talented children!
You should have seen my excitement when my 2yo started drawing faces. totally cool.
My daughter is two years old.I am sure she will go through all the painting stages. But I am a bad mum. I keep all her pencils and pens in a box in a place where she can not reach since last time she did mess on the wall of our new house. Maybe I should give her penciles back.
I love this post! Well I love your whole blog really, but this post is my favorite;-)
As a mother of eight, I totally appreciate kid artwork. This is an inspiration for me to post pics of my own kids artwork on my blog. You have a great blog, Dawn. I am a new blogger and plan to model my blog after yours. Beautiful baby girl :)
Tracy Ann Lee
http://myadventuresinlargefamilies.blogspot.com
Wow thats SO true! Perfect photo choices, too!
ROFLMAO I have a pic of my 6yo with the "Monkey See, Monkey Do, Monkey get in trouble too" shirt on and a marker mustache, beard, and eyebrows on his face. Must be the shirt, right?
You just taught me, in 5 minutes, what I was required to learn in a 16 week, $900 class my first year of college. I think you should come teach college :)
What an amazing post! Thank you so much for sharing. Your kids are very talented.
My 9yr is also into drawing Pokemon and is currently making his own recipe book.
I'm smack dab in themiddle of the body art phase with my two year old at the moment ( he's #3 of 4). Secretly, I think he's going to ba covered in tats when he's grown, because he's so addicted to drawing on himself! :)
Loved the potato people. My fav!
We got a forward about your eBay listing and about died laughing. Our two sons are quite the handful and have only gotten started with their antics. Thank you for you wry sense of humor and your honesty about it all. I'll be watching your blog for any updates you may have.
BTW...Your son is pretty good in art.
Erika
I shared this post on my blog today. You'll have to pop by and check it out if you get a chance. http://twomomsinablog.com/craftymom/?p=689
I am not sure the company I work for will be happy if they read this, but I got the silent giggles reading this entry and ever so slightly peed my pants just now...those darn Kegel exercises did not take vewey well....
Thankin' you for the grin!
There is some very good art in there (somewhere)
I love the stick lady - fantastic! I am a jewellery artist dedicated to turning children's drawings into jewellery and am always surfing the web for examples of drawings. I am researching for a new online gallery I am planning for my website to celebrate the creativity of children and wondered if you would be interested in displaying your children’s drawing there? My website can be found at http://www.amjewellery.co.uk
I think I also have art that resembles what you have here. :) Thank you for sharing the works of your talented children. Someday maybe their "artistic" talents will pay off. Who knows??
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