An Examination of Parental Support for Children's Drawing Skills

The purpose of this study is to examine the factors influencing parental support for children's drawing skills. Using a mixed-methods approach, the 'Parental Support for Children's Drawing Skills Scale' was employed as a quantitative data collection tool, while a semi-structured interview form was utilized for qualitative data. The study sample consists of parents of 3-6-year-old children attending preschools affiliated with the Ministry of National Education in the city center of Van during the 2023-2024 academic year. A total of 25 schools were selected based on districts and neighborhoods with varying rental levels, and 736 parents were included in the study group through random sampling. For the qualitative portion of the study, maximum variation sampling, a type of purposive sampling, was chosen to form the study group, and 8 parents with different socioeconomic and educational backgrounds were included. Descriptive analyses, independent samples t-test, and ANOVA were applied for the quantitative data analysis, while content analysis was used for qualitative data. The study observed that parents were more inclined to praise their children rather than engage in drawing activities with them. No significant effect was found in the total scores on the overall scale and sub-dimensions based on the gender variable of the parents. However, significant differences were identified in both the overall scale and sub-dimensions based on parents' educational backgrounds. Furthermore, the analysis of the age variable revealed a significant difference in the resource support sub-dimension in favor of parents aged 31-40, while a significant difference was observed in the collaborative drawing sub-dimension in favor of younger parents. Qualitative analysis revealed that parents support their children's artistic development through diverse methods, including facilitating access to artistic materials, creating designated workspaces, displaying their children's artwork, engaging in joint artistic activities, introducing novel techniques, providing verbal guidance, and offering both process-oriented and product-oriented praise to enhance self-confidence. It would be beneficial to further investigate the types and levels of parental support needed by children of different age groups when engaging in drawing activities.