What if not systematically applauding our children’s scribbles was, paradoxically, a real gift? The designer Pénélope Bagieu defends a counterintuitive approach: less judgment, more creative freedom.
Children’s drawings: do you really always have to be enthusiastic?
If you are a parent, the scene is familiar to you. A crumpled sheet, a man with oversized arms, a sun stuck in a corner… and you, faithful to the post, shouting enthusiastically: “Your drawing is magnificent!”
Let’s be honest: all this artistic production deserves neither the fridge nor a standing ovation. However, by reflex or by kindness, the adult validates, congratulates, encourages. But is this validation always beneficial?
Drawing without seeking approval
Guest of the podcast Snack Time, hosted by the chocolatier À la famille alongside journalist Nadia Daam, Pénélope Bagieu looked back on her childhood and her relationship with drawing.
According to her, the fact of not having been congratulated for each drawing was decisive. “We had desecrated our drawings“, she explains. Result: less pressure, more pleasure.
The author of Culottées also talks about the importance of the support: ordinary paper, sometimes recovered, without symbolic value. A missed trait? We throw it away and start again. No drama. This freedom made it possible to produce more, to experiment, to progress — far from the fear of disappointing.
Compliment differently to really encourage
This observation goes beyond French borders. Children’s author and illustrator Élise Gravel also questioned classic compliments. Telling a child that their drawing is “beautiful” or that they have “talent” can, according to her, become anxiety-provoking.
She understood it the day her daughter tore up a drawing deemed unsatisfactory: the adult’s perspective had taken precedence over the pleasure of creating.
Since then, Élise Gravel has favored descriptive remarks or open questions: highlighting effort, progress, or asking what the child feels about their creation. The objective? Shift the focus from the outcome to the process, and help the child build self-esteem independent of external validation.
A principle to which Pénélope Bagieu fully adheres: ask questions rather than distribute automatic praise. A simple, but powerful way to cultivate creativity without feeding the fear of failure or the need to perform.