The recognition that children's cognitive skills are evident in visual as well as verbal conventions has led to the construction of the Silver Test of Cognitive and Creative Skills (STCCS) for the assessment and development of children's cognitive abilities. Research on cognition, the role of language in cognition, and left and right brain hemisphere thinking has led to the following conclusions: (1) even children with inadequate language may be able to construct visual models of reality and represent their experiences nonverbally by drawing images of them; (2) intellectual ability is largely independent of language; (3) language is structured by the development of logical ability; (4) people tend to favor one mode of hemispheric thinking over another; and (5) individuals successful at solving problems tend to use visual thinking as one means of solving problems. Based on findings such as these, the STCCS consists of three main tasks: drawing from imagination, drawing from observation, and predictive drawing. The test is designed to assess children with cognitive or creative strengths who may do poorly on traditional measures of intelligence or achievement. Examples of the use of the STCCS in assessment are provided. Teaching procedures derived from three structures underlying the assessment tasks are described and illustrated. In conclusion, six studies using the STCCS to assess or to develop children's cognitive skills are summarily discussed. (Author/RH)