The World is Your Canvas....?

A couple years ago, I painted my son's room.
And, we replaced the doors. And had those painted too.
Not long after that, a red pen happened.
I of course, on seeing this, immediately set to scrubbing off the red pen.
Then I looked at it, and thought, "That's pretty good."
And I took a picture. The drawings are pinkish 'cause I had been trying to scrub them off. Red pen plus scrubbing equals pinkish.
Anyway, then I asked my son to explain his drawings. I don't show it here but he had of course continued onto the newly-installed and painted white door too.
He was almost three at the time.
He explained that he wanted space stuff in his room, so he drew rockets and planets and things. This made sense to him.
He didn't know about wallpaper or posters or stuff like that.
Everybody has a story about themselves, or someone they know, drawing on something that they are not supposed to draw on. Heck, paint companies make special paints that are washable just for this purpose. Everybody knows that walls and furniture are going to get drawn on.
What's interesting about that is, why do kids do this? Because the urge to make marks is very, very strong. It is primal. Even kids in third-world countries who have just a stick and a nice patch of dirt will make marks. And of course there's the appeal of a smooth stretch of wet sand on the beach.
This is basic human stuff, not some disaster. So I say, let them draw. Maybe not on the walls, but let them draw. Let marks be made. Lots of them. Get white boards or magnetic doodle boards if you want to save paper.
It's the act of moving your hand, the connection between your hand and your brain, that is so critical. There's lots of kinetic learning going on there - and lots of self-expression that can't happen in other ways. This is especially true for kids who haven't mastered talking yet, or for whom words just don't get the job done.
Let them draw.
Anyway, I did paint over this. And there was swearing. Just so you know.