Drawing Dresses and Designs

My 6 year old daughter E has finally crossed the threshold of drawing into the world of dresses and designs. She has actually made a bunch of outfits for her dolls in the past (which some of them made it into a huge box that got all mixed up with the various creations), but this was different. She was trying to conceptualize the dresses and actually sketch them out to see how they would look.

One day, she sketched a few different versions of dresses she was trying to design to show me. I wasn’t expecting a mini-portfolio and presentation about her thoughts, but there I was getting the download. I asked her a few questions and told her that I was proud of her and that she shouldn’t care about my opinion - it only matters if she was proud of herself (something that I want to reinforce since the validation from others is the exact thing.I want her to avoid seeking all the time).

E asked me to take a few pictures of her designs, so I agreed and snapped the photos. She has also constantly asked to learn how to sew, so even though my wife was super ambitious with getting her a sewing machine for Christmas a few years ago (which hasn’t gotten much usage), there are now sewing kits that she is starting with to work on dexterity and following instructions. We’ll keep tapping into her interests here and see where this leads. I’m just glad she gets to explore and use her creativity - something that I should actually do more of myself!