FAQs

Typically interest in drawing, or making a mark with a tool (for example, a crayon), coincides with being able to use a spoon. This is usually around the age of 12 months.

This is when we encourage the introduction of a fat piece of chalk or crayon to work with.

We know family life is busy.

We know there are many things children should be doing everyday.

We’d love all preschool children to draw most days.

Here are a few ideas to bump up drawing in your family:

• have drawing tools and materials available at all times in a high-activity area in your home (for example, kitchen bench or meals table). Grab a pencil and a piece of paper when you’re having a bite too to show interest and model use!
• take a busy bag with drawing tools and materials to the sidelines of sport, the doctor’s waiting room or the cafe on the weekend. And, put your phone away!
• take chalk to the park.

The first thing you need to know is that you’re not alone – there are many preschoolers that are reluctant to draw or create.

What is key is that you get involved. Yes, that means picking up a drawing tool yourself!

Another strategy is to work with your child’s interests. If your child likes playgrounds and the outdoors, bring some chalk to the playground. Chalk roads make great tracks for scooters or for pushing a toy train or car around on. Kids that like block construction might engage with decorating 3D items like boxes. Draw wheels on a box for a car. Draw windows on a box for an apartment building. Or decorate a box for treasure!

Typically the scribble stage is a long stage! Children might begin making marks around 12 months of age and a child might only start to draw more representational forms around 3 years of age.

Also, children’s drawing development can be non-linear, with children moving up and down the developmental scale. This means they might return to scribble even after they’ve started to draw more representational forms!

We find that stubby and short tools work best for little hands, particularly when children are starting out. Stubby and short tools tend to encourage more effective grip. Also, tools that make a vibrant mark without needing too much strength are great for encouraging interest and continued use and exploration. Little Brian Paint Sticks available on the Squiggle Kids shop  are a go-to Squiggle Kids drawing item.

Squiggle Kids charges for travel costs for distances over 25 km from Surrey Hills (Victoria) to the kindergarten or organisation (return). This includes shorter trips that, when combined, exceed a total of 25 km. Travel is charged at $0.98 per km. Additionally, for locations 65 km or more from Surrey Hills, a one-time charge of $250 will be added.

Accommodation costs may apply where Squiggle Kids attends a rural or regional location in Victoria (outside a 50km radius of the Melbourne CBD). Accommodation is charged at $200 per person per night.

Here are 2 examples to demonstrate the way we calculate travel and accommodation costs:

• 4 incursions held over 2 days in the South Eastern suburbs of Melbourne (for example, Frankston)
  • Distance 45.6 kms (one way) x 2 (for return) x 2 (number of trips) x $0.98 = $178.75

Total = $178.75

• 4 incursions and 1 professional training workshop held over 2 days in Ballarat.
  • Distance 131 kms (one way) x 2 (for return) x 1 (number of trips) x $0.98 = $256.76
  • Plus $250 (for services located 65 kms or more from Surrey Hills)
  • Plus $400 (for one nights’ accommodation for 2 presenters).

Total = $906.76

We’d be happy to prepare a quote for you, so please contact us.

Absolutely!

Our activity sessions are designed to meet each child where they are at – from children that are working on basic lines, dots and squiggles to children doing more advanced drawings.

Before we come to your kindergarten or centre, we will have a conversation with you to learn more about your group. This will help us design our incursions to meet your group’s specific needs and abilities.

Being the “new big people” in the room, sometimes we find that some children show apprehension in joining our sessions.

Sometimes professional staff may feel worried about a child joining in because of their past behaviour or a known diagnosis.

We welcome the opportunity to work with all children and we have strategies to promote the engagement and participation of all children.

Our internal surveys of early years professionals since Term 3 2023 suggest that over 90% of children usually reluctant to participate in making and drawing join in our sessions.

Hands-on adult participation (from kindergarten professionals and parents) also helps to foster broad participation.

We always encourage kindergartens and other organisations to invite parents to our sessions. With parents in the room we take the opportunity to build parents’ confidence, knowledge and skills for drawing with children.

We have a range of materials that kindergartens and other organisations can use to help encourage parents to attend our sessions – including posters, flyers and template emails.

However, if parents are unable to join us, or you’d prefer for the session to be children only, we have videos and information resources that you can share with parents to help build their confidence, knowledge and skills for drawing with children.

Here are a few ideas if your budget is limited:

• ask families to sign up to attend with their child. Place a limit on the number of places available. You might need a waiting list!
• only organise incursions for the 4 year old children
• take a “see one, do one” approach. That is, Squiggle Kids will run one or more sessions to be observed by your professional team. The professional team can then roll out the activity sessions to the remaining children
• select our professional training and coaching program. As part of that program we will give you a session plan and materials for an activity session that your professional team can run.

We can work with you to design a program. This might mean planning a couple of visits over a couple of days. Please reach out to see how we can help!

We have group size limits to ensure that we deliver a quality program and have an opportunity to engage with each child individually.

Squiggle Kids can accommodate up to 22 children in a group. This will require an additional Squiggle Kids presenter, which incurs an extra cost.

If your group exceeds 22 children, we will schedule 2 incursions made up of smaller groups. Typically, kindergartens keep the children not participating in the first session occupied with snacks, outdoor play, or activities in another room or in the playground.

We’d love to chat with you about your ideas and goals and collaborate to create a tailored program for your kindergarten, early learning centre or organisation! Contact us!

Absolutely!

We usually require payment via bank transfer within 14 days of the last session we run at your kindergarten.

However, if you have particular invoicing or payment requirements (for example, a purchase order number is required, you wish to pay in advance or you wish to pay by credit card), please contact us.

We will do our best to accommodate any changes requested by you to the delivery program.

If plans are changed once we have arrived on the day of delivery (for example, 2 incursion groups are combined because of high absences and only one incursion session is delivered), the cost of 2 incursions will still be payable. If a make up incursion can be arranged, additional costs may apply.