Here are 3 samples of block art by 3 different children at 3 different times in 3 different situations. What these pictures suggest is interesting.
I do not have a degree in art, art therapy, or art analysis. I’m simply describing what I notice about these designs, so take that as you will. Some of you will call this “The post where Heidi reads too much into everything”. Ok. That’s an option.
Example 1: The 5-year-old female with RAD in respite
This is a game called “Pattern Play”. It’s one of my favorites (see Best of Brain Games: Pattern Play). Kids choose a design on a card and try to create that design within the wooden frame out of the blocks provided. There’s nothing tricky about it. All the blocks are used every time, they fit easily in the frame, and the image is clearly depicted on the card. It’s just a matter of orienting the pieces correctly, but that’s surprisingly hard for some kids with RAD.
I remember one girl was trying this game. I explained to her father that the game actually helps fill in the gaps related to math skills. As he watched her struggle greatly with a basic design he said, “Gaps we have.” Yes indeed.
Watching this little girl in the photo was particularly fascinating. The photo is of her third attempt at the same beginner design in the same week (I believe). On her first attempt pieces were scattered all over the floor completely haphazardly. It was clear that she was trying to find rhyme and reason, but she just couldn’t. She could not even figure out that they all should go in the wooden frame and that the pieces should touch.
Sadly, this directly reflected her internal world. She was orphaned by war in a developing nation, had a sibling die, was removed from that country during a time of great strife, and no amount of love her adopted family showered could help her cope.
Inside, all the pieces of her life were in disarray.
She was one of the most unattached kids I’ve ever met. Here she was in respite living on the outside as if that’s where she’s always been and always will be. Um, no...
She made small but important strides during her days with me and went on to get excellent help from her family and the community. Her success in this photo of putting the pieces in order (with key pointers and support from me) was a wonderful symbol of this progress.
With help, in time, there was hope that this child could make sense
out of the senseless traumas of her early life and develop heart-to-heart connections.
Psycho-emotional thoughts aside, this stage of copying a basic, orderly form that fits together simply is the starting point for teaching kids how to build creatively.
First, they must have a sense of order.
Example 2: The 8-year-old male with RAD on vacation with his family
Typically, the first thing children with RAD build of their own accord is a tower: one block on top of another as high as they can make it. And then they smash it down, of course, like another clear symbol of their early development: small steps forward and then a BIG SMASH backward.
But here we have “The Secure Structure”, a stage just beyond “The Tower”. After moving on from tower building, children with RAD usually build something with 4 walls. Other versions of “The Secure Structure” are a house, a room, a barn, a fence...The emphasis of this structure will be on security: 4 sturdy walls. Notice that there is no door. This is all about keeping “inside things” in and “outside things” out.
Notice the points projecting up like the warnings of barbed wire. (These are the same blocks from Pattern Play, so his only option was to use blocks with points, but his use of them seems intentional nonetheless.) It is common for the “Secure Structure” to have additional security features like this. You can find them out by asking your child,
“Tell me about your design.”
Then just smile and nod no matter what horrors they go onto describe. If it’s particularly telling, take a photo and write down the description or (even better) ask your child to write out the description they just told you. Send it to their therapist and/or save it as documentation of their emotional state.
What’s unusual about this design is that there are pieces OUTSIDE this secure structure, namely the green and pink triangles. Hmm, fascinating! And indeed, this child was bonded with his mother at the time of building this design, though he still had many years of healing ahead of him. Perhaps these triangles reflect that willingness to be vulnerable – but only with the smallest possible pieces from the set. That certainly fits his life at that time.
What’s wonderful about this design is the color pattern: so even, orderly, and even creative! Notice the 3 block in the middle on the front and back wall: 2 purple surrounding 1 orange and 2 orange surrounding 1 purple. He could’ve made them both 2 purples surrounding orange, but he advanced his design to include alternation! WOW! These are excellent things in the world of neuro-development. (Perhaps now you see that when I say to celebrate the small things, I’m really not exaggerating!) He also alternated the red and blue corners on these lines but not on the sidewalls.
He really put thought into this design, which means...
He was doing CREATIVE PLAY!!!!!
That’s reason enough to throw a dance party! True, positive creativity (albeit of a protective structure – protection is meant to have a positive function) is a major sign of healing from trauma as trauma tends to shut down that part of the brain. And proof of his intentional creativity is the big smile on his face when he posed with this structure. He enjoyed himself making something good and that made him feel proud! Why did we take a picture? Because it was one of the best things he’d ever made, and it wasn’t a tower!
The fortress motif also made sense seeing as this child was on vacation with his family. He was outside his normal space and securities, so he built a place of security as a relaxing activity for himself. Aren’t brains fascinating?
Example 3: The developmentally healthy 7-year-old female at a children’s Bible class
Now for a “normal” child. I was helping out in a Bible class for children. During their time of free play I saw a girl create this and I about fainted at the awesomeness of it. My kids with RAD couldn’t create this in a million years. (If yours can, know that this is an area of true talent and strength for your child.)
Reasons this is awe-inspiring:
1. No need for a frame. She made this on a random section of carpet in the midst of a chaotic, wide-open classroom. She didn’t fence off the area or tell other kids to stay away from her precious creation. Nope. She just created, piece by piece, come what may. This requires a good sense of internal security and organization.
2. Pieces of varying shapes and sizes – complicated.
3. A SPIRALING DESIGN! Are you kidding me? I get happy when kids move from single block towers, to two block towers, to 4 walls. A spiral???! Wow.
4. Uneven edges: The movement communicated by this design through its spiral shape and uneven edges suggests growth, progress, flow. It’s as if the pattern could keep growing, adding concentric layers as it goes.
5. Color Pattern: The colors are intentional, they make sense, and they are placed in a symmetrical fashion.
6. Slightly Abstract: It’s also not perfectly symmetrical. It’s hard to tell if this is a result of the nature of the pattern or if the pattern became more complex than the child could keep track of. I’m pretty sure it’s the latter, but something about it strikes me as fabulous anyway. Perhaps it’s the child’s willingness to start with clear order at the center and accept a sort of beautiful chaos on the edges. To me this reflects the child’s ability to follow rules as the core to order in life and yet be flexible as life demands with its complexities. Such a description does indeed reflect this child.
So, dear RAD parents, do not dismay if your child doesn’t touch the blocks to even put them into a tower or if your child is stuck building secure structures over and over. It’s ok. That’s where they’re at.
DO give them time with building blocks, ideally in a small, delineated space. Again, this is important brain-building (i.e. HEALING) task, so it does NOT need to be earned through good behavior. Rather it's part of the activities that will help them develop good behavior!
DO notice small changes, especially when that change is an improvement in order, symmetry, and openness. Take the win.
And then, DO have a little dance party inside. (If your child is going to move forward, you have to be willing to celebrate the small stuff, even just in your own heart.)
You got this. Go build something.