🎨Art Studio
They drew a horse. It doesn't look like a horse. They think it's beautiful, and honestly, so do you. But somewhere between now and age 10, they're going to decide they 'can't draw' — and stop.
What's actually happening
Children's artistic confidence peaks around age 5 and drops sharply between ages 8 and 10 — a phenomenon researchers call the 'creativity crisis' (Kim, 2011). The decline is driven not by lack of ability but by increasing self-evaluation against external standards. Amabile (1996) demonstrated that children who were told their work would be judged produced less creative output than those who were told the work was just for them. Process-focused art — where the emphasis is on exploration rather than product — protects against this decline and builds what psychologists call 'creative self-efficacy' (Beghetto, 2006).
What parents usually try
"What is it?"
The most common response adults give to children's art — and the most limiting. It teaches the child that art must be representational. Young children often create expressively, not representationally (Kellogg, 1969).
Correcting technique
"Grass is green, not purple" kills experimentation. Amabile (1996) found that evaluative feedback during the creative process reduced originality in subsequent work.
Praising the result ('That's beautiful!')
Product praise creates pressure to replicate success. Process praise ('I see you used lots of different colours — tell me about that') sustains exploration (Dweck, 2006).
What actually helps
The story models process-focused creativity. The character doesn't make a masterpiece — they experiment, change direction, and find something unexpected. Amabile's (1996) research shows that intrinsic motivation (doing it because it's interesting) produces more creative outcomes than extrinsic motivation (doing it for praise). The story creates an environment where mess is welcomed, mistakes become discoveries, and the child's natural creative impulse is validated rather than directed.
How this story works
Creative expression research shows that process-focused art builds confidence, emotional regulation, and cognitive flexibility. The story celebrates making, not the made.
What your child hears
Your child steps into a studio where mess is welcome and mistakes become discoveries. The character experiments, changes their mind, and learns that art isn't about getting it right — it's about seeing what happens.
When to use this story
When your child says 'I can't draw' or 'Mine isn't good'
Before a creative activity, to set a process-focused mood
When the child is comparing their work unfavourably to others
As a general creativity-boosting story during art phases
When you want to encourage experimentation over perfection
After the story
The story is the beginning. Here's how to keep it going:
“How did creating make them feel?”
“What were they expressing?”
“What would you create?”
Try this
Create something with no "right answer"
The research behind this approach(show)
Educational adventures based on research-backed learning theories.
- Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Random House.
- Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review.
- Durlak, J. A., et al. (2011). The impact of enhancing students' social and emotional learning: A meta-analysis of school-based universal interventions. Child Development, 82(1), 405–432.
- CASEL. (2020). CASEL's SEL Framework.
- Bybee, R. W. (2006). The 5E Instructional Model. NSTA.