Describes ways that aesthetic theories can be integrated into children's art education. The author illustrates elements of E.H. Gombrich's theory of aesthetic perception using as examples art activities designed to increase student awareness of their "mental sets" and their understanding of how mental sets influence visual perception. (AM)

The Egyptian architect Wissa Wassef believed artistry in crafts to be an innate human characteristic that would be universally expressed under the right conditions, i.e., the practice of the craft from early childhood. When he had Egyptian peasant children with no previous art experience weave tapestries, the results astounded the world. (RM)

Rice can be the basis for mosaics, flower arrangements, games, toys, and many things children would like to make. It can add new dimensions to making candles, coasters, and jewelry. Working with rice can aid in the development of appreciation of texture, symmetry, coordination, imagination and, at the same time, result in hand-made gifts for…

Onfim's drawings, discovered in a medieval town in northern Russia in 1951, are the earliest known child drawings in existence. The history of these early 11th century drawings is described here by a Russian archaeologist. (RM)

An art activity which involved elementary students in making coiled clay constructions is described. (RM)

There are different types of copying, some involving artistic behaviors and some not. It is important to differentiate these types, separating the replication of conventions from more inventive artistic behaviors. A framework for such examination is applied in a group of pilot studies involving children copying comic strips. (Author/RM)

A project is described that involved elementary school students in painting murals to enhance their school's interior. (DS)

Provides the details of an art project focusing on the human skeleton. Includes samples of student work. (RL)

In this art activity elementary students are asked to design their own alphabet, not just by streamlining the letters they regularly use, but by inventing new letters. (RM)

There is a connection between personal and social violence. Described is a project which made elementary children aware of this connection. Children were involved in discussions that focused on their personal experiences and asked to express their feelings in pictures. (RM)

A first-grade teacher describes how she taught her students to weave using real yarn. (RM)

Little League and art education are trying to justify themselves by forcing precocity on children. Children are entitled to learn in their own most effective ways. (RM)

Pictograms--assemblages of geometrical shapes that represent parts of the body--simply and vividly show how the body moves. They can be used to help elementary students draw larger figures and have confidence in drawing people. The pictograms also encourage children to look at shapes and details that artists use. (RM)

There are five categories of titles of paintings: descriptive, narrative, directive, poetic, and arbitrary. When children title their work they give clues to its intent and challenge the presuppositions that adults may bring to children's art. Titling can expand students' ideas for painting and provide a greater variety of approaches. (CS)

Connecting art and language arts, this guide offers creative lessons for more than 140 favorite children's books, most of which have been published within the last 10 years. The lessons help teachers inspire students in grades K-5 to create art projects related to a book's story. In the first part of the book, the author explains more than 50 art…