best guess

one of the most challenging aspects of parenting 3 year olds is the 'guess what i've drawn' phenomenon. although i never do very well in those hideous lateral thinking challenges i like to think i have a pretty good imagination. despite this it is suprisingly difficult to identify that a pink rectangle is actually a picture of hairy mclarey; or that a brown oval with three green circles inside it is meant to represent a rhino. and i'm not sure but i don't think that continually asking "um, what's that?" is the most supportive way to proceed. and playing 'guess again, guess again' takes up more time than you would ever believe...so here's my advice: the minute the child pics up a pen and even looks like heading towards a piece of paper ASK THEM WHAT THEY ARE GOING TO DRAW.