Writing and drawing perfectionism

[AngelofTroy]

I'm going spare with my son and his perfectionist nature. He has never been very keen on drawing or writing but now he's getting into it, except every time he draws or writes anything he expects it to be perfect. He's 4.5 so it's not going to be exactly how he pictures it but he's good, I can read his letters and see what he's drawing. He had a melt down and nearly screwed up a card he'd been working on for ages, because one of the faces didn't have room for a mouth. He was so upset. He's the same if he does a letter backwards. I encourage him and tell him that he's doing brilliantly. I have also made a real point of praising the process and the effort he's put in, and we've even been looking at different artists and how famous artists often don't paint things exactly how they look, how Picasso's noses are on the side and eyes aren't symmetrical etc! Has anyone got any more ideas? I was so happy that he was choosing to draw and write by himself but I can't take any more tears!

 

[CaptainMummy]

My girls are like this (even Hannah who is 2.5!) All three of them are seriously amazing at anything using a pen/pencil for their age.
Paige used to sit and draw for hours, if she made a mistake that couldn't be corrected, she would start again. She picked up writing really quickly and has always had amazing handwriting so that has never been an issue but she definitely was a perfectionist when it came to her drawings... Not so much anymore, but she is so talented and it comes so naturally to her that she pretty much always does it the way she wants first time. If not, she improvises and makes it work.

Ella (3.5) has started to 'write' and again, it seems to come naturally for her and she can write most letters of the alphabet (not all are formed correctly, although she has never been taught so I suspect she would be able to if I showed her) but she has difficulty with a few letters and gets really upset when she cant do it. The letter 'S' she keeps doing backwards, or doing a '3' and she gets very frustrated and ends up going in a rage! Her drawings are fantastic and she doesn't seem to mind if she makes mistakes with them, I think she quite likes them to be weird and wonderful!

 

[Button#]

There's a book called beautiful oops which I find helpful.

 

[AngelofTroy]

Thank you I've ordered the book it looks great!

 

[Babybump87]

This is exactly DD1 she is same age as your little one . The amount of meltdowns she's had because she cannot do a certain letter in her name or a picture doesn't look right to her! We also do a lot of praising but she just says it's wrong ! Maybe it's an age thing then with school doing writing etc .

I am going to have a look at that book too !

 

[Button#]

Hope it helps, a few kids I know have it.

 

[SarahBear]

When you try things, make a point to talk about how it probably won't turn out just right because you've never done it before and it takes practice. Make a point of talking about learning from your mistakes when you make them. You could even try something together that you're both new at.

 

[SarahBear]

There's a book called beautiful oops which I find helpful.

I have and love this book too.