Suzanne Press

Children communicating through drawing

When children are drawing together, they often share ideas and ‘talk' visually together through the process of drawing. Listening to these conversations can reveal the impetus that children have to communicate visually.

The following conversations took place on two occasions while three four-year-old children were drawing together at a child care centre in Sydney.

[Suzanne is a student teacher, Genevive and Hayley are twins.]

[conversation 1]

Olivia: This is my dad.

Genevieve: Okay, I'll do my mum. No actually I'm doing Hayley. I'll do pink for her mouth because she loves pink. She's so happy Hayley. I'll give her brown hair and a pink dress.

Hayley joins Genevieve and Olivia at drawing table.

Genevieve: Look Hayley, I'm going to do you. See the pink. I've done you with very long hair.

Olivia: I need black. But I like pink the best, it's my favourite.

Suzanne: What do you like about pink?

Olivia: I just like the colour.

Genevieve: I'm finished!

Suzanne: Have you added everything you need?

Genevieve: Oh, no. Proceeds to add flowers.

Genevieve: It looks like Hayley is drawing a house.

Hayley: I am drawing a house.

Genevieve: She said she is.

Hayley: It's my house for mummy, daddy and me and Genevieve.

Genevieve: Here, now I'm finished. Leaves table.

Hayley: I'm finished now too. Leaves table.

[conversation 2]

Olivia: My dad's in the decorations, on the grass.

Genevieve: Returns to look at Olivia's drawing. Oh, you have more spots. I had heaps of spots.

Olivia: I'm done now!

Suzanne: What do you think you might draw?

Olivia: My cats.

Genevieve: A fairy in the garden.

Hayley: A fairy castle. With Fairies.

Genevieve: I've started my castle. Here we go, turret on the top.

Olivia: I'm doing pink cats.

Suzanne: You've told me pink is your favourite colour. When did you learn to draw cats?

Olivia: My friend came over and drew one on my black board and I copied it.

Suzanne: and now you can draw them yourself. That's very clever.

Genevieve: I'm doing a little tiny fairy castle because the fairies are tiny.

Suzanne: Fairies are tiny are they?

Hayley: My fairy castle is bigger because there are so many fairies inside.

Suzanne: Are you going to draw all the fairies?

Hayley: Yes, and a flower.

Suzanne: I like Olivia's cats. What do you think of Olivia's two cats.

Genevieve: Yes, they have big smiles.

Suzanne: Is that Boris and Emily?

Olivia: Yep.

Hayley: Who are they?

Suzanne: Boris and Emily are the names of Olivia's two cats.

Hayley: Oh

Olivia: They are my cats.

Suzanne: Are your cats pink?

Olivia: Laughs No More laughs.

Suzanne: What colour are they?

Olivia: Ummm….they're hazel.

Suzanne: Like your eyes. How came you drew the cats pink?

Olivia: Because there's no hazel textas.

Suzanne: Fair enough.

Olivia: and because I just like pink.

Suzanne: Do your cats like pink?

Hayley: You don't know because cats can't talk. They just go meow, meow, meow.

Suzanne: Maybe meow, meow, meow, means pink, pink, pink.

Laughter

Hayley: “They say meow, meow, meow, pink, pink, pink.”

Laughter

Genevieve: Meow, I want to be pink, meow.

Laughter

Suzanne: Do Boris and Emily have a tail?

Olivia: Oh…yep.

Hayley: She's drawing a tail.

Suzanne: I just know that cats like to flick their tails.

Hayley: That's a long tail.

Laughter

Hayley: How long is a cats tail?

Suzanne: About this long.” Demonstrates with hands. “The cat is about this big and the tail, this big.

Genevieve: I haven't done any fairies yet.

Suzanne: Are you going to add fairies to your picture?

Genevieve: I think so, but I'm going to do the fairies right at the very end.

Suzanne: Have you got any fairies yet Hayley?

Hayley: I haven't done them yet.

Olivia: Is this how you spell Boris?

Suzanne: The i and r are mixed up. Then you need to add the s at the end.

Hayley: Your cats look like Bats.

Laughter

Suzanne: Do they? What makes them look like bats?

Hayley: They have funny fat tails that look like wings.

Hayley: She's doing bat cats.

Laughter

Genevieve: Hey, fat, bat, cats.

Laughter

Suzanne: What have you added here Gen?

Genevieve: Those are the flowers, those are the stems. I've got pink leaves.

Suzanne: I remember our story where the flowers were bigger than the fairies in fairy land and you've drawn your flowers bigger.

Genevieve: I know that, that's why the castle is little.

Genevieve: It's a flower…big, little…castle. Yeah a flower, big, little, castle.

Laugher

Olivia: Look Genevieve. (to Hayley)

Hayley: I'm Hayley.

Olivia: No, I'm Hayley.

Genevieve: No, I'm Olivia.

Laughter

Olivia: This fairy is asleep in her castle.

Genevieve: Oh Olivia, you've added a castle to your picture.

Genevieve: Look at my rainbow flower. I'm going to do another rainbow flower.

Suzanne: They look like squiggles Gen.

Genevieve: This is the thunder.

Hayley: I'm just colouring in my castle.

Genevieve: My castle is pink.

Suzanne: Why is your's pink?

Genevieve: Because Fairies Love pink and made their own castle.

Hayley: My fairies like pink but I made mine blue because they like just a little bit of Blue.

Genevieve: What about you? (To Hayley)

Hayley: I don't like Blue.

Genevieve: Neither do I.

Olivia: I love Blue. I like pink and red too.

Hayley: I like pink and red.

Genevieve: I like pink, purple, blue and white.

Hayley: Do you like my lovely rainbow? This is a magic rainbow.

Suzanne: What makes it magic?

Genevieve: It just is.

Genevieve: Oh look, my rainbow is shining in the sunshine.” Sunlight falls on paper.

Hayley: ohh, that's lovely Gen. Now your is magic.

Genevieve: There's lots of thunder now.

Hayley: Where are the fairies Gen.

Genevieve: I haven't drawn them yet.

Genevieve: Look at my castle. Now there's heaps of thunder.

Hayley: It's going to be a sunny day at my castle. At my castle it is sunny.

Genevieve: I've got lots more thunder.

Hayley: Do you know what? It's summer at my place. It's always warm in flower place.

Genevieve: In my land there is always colourful thunder.

Suzanne: It is very colourful.

Hayley: It's always summer here. Always warm.

Suzanne: That sounds nice because it's been cold in our land hasn't it?

Genevieve: Look, now there's more. I haven't drawn my fairy yet.

Suzanne: I see what you mean about the thunder being colourful. It's beautiful. What does it sound like?

Genevieve: um, just like fairies wings.

Suzanne: So, it's not loud like our thunder, just soft thunder like fairies wings. That would be a beautiful sound. Don't you think it would be lovely to hear all those sounds with all the colours around?

Olivia: I wouldn't be scared then.

Genevieve: and do you know what? No one gets wet when there is a special thunder in fairyland.

Suzanne: Does it actually rain?

Genevieve: Yep, but no one gets wet…and when it's sunny they get wet and when it's rainy they do get wet.

Laughter.

Suzanne: I see. So it has turned around.

Hayley: So you mean when it's rainy your dry and when it's sunny you just feel a bit of thunder and wet.

Genevieve: Yep.

Genevieve: I'm ready to draw the fairies now.

Hayley: I think I'm done now. I've added all the fairies. There's so many.

Olivia: Mine's finished too. There's a mummy fairy and a Olivia fairy and that fairy is still asleep.

Genevieve: Look at all Hayley's fairies.

Genevieve: I'm just going to add one fairy.

Hayley: Hang on, I just need a flower.

Olivia: and I need a butterfly. Oh and that is actually me that is asleep there.

Genevieve: My fairy, my fairy. She's not going to get wet in all that thunder.

Hayley and Olivia leave table. Genevieve stays and asks if she can do a second picture.