Previous studies have revealed that children increase the size of drawings of topics about which they feel positively and use their most preferred colours for colouring in these drawings, and decrease the size of drawings of topics about which they feel negatively and use their least preferred colours for colouring in these drawings. However,…

The purpose of this study was to assess the developmental progression of preschoolers' abilities to draw and paint. Over 3 years, 68 children were observed easel painting 595 times and 65 children were observed drawing 545 times. Results of hierarchical linear modeling indicated that (a) the complexity of children's drawings and paintings…

In this paper we examine the place of art in curriculum for young children of refugee families, but not from the relatively common art-as-therapy position. Instead, art is presented as a language that can provide young children with the means to engage with learning, build identity and tell their stories. This approach bypasses the deficit…

Reports a study which assessed childrens' ability to depict in their drawings the occlusion of a farther object by a nearer one. Results showed that the ability to represent occlusions increased with maturity and instruction. (BSR)

The problem of "stages" in the development of artistic ability is addressed by reviewing the cases of a gifted autistic child, Nadia, who drew realistically at a very young age, and of a normal child, Eytan, who rapidly taught himself the principles of isometric perspective and of foreshortening. A review of scholarly opinion about…

Describes the Prospect Archives, which contain children's artwork and academic work as well as observations and reports on the children by teachers and other staff members of the Prospect School. The contents of the archive document the growth of individual students over a period of years. (Author/IRT)

Describes the development of children's artistic expression from age four through adolescence. Explores the visual-haptic theory, baseline theory, the inside-out expression, the fold-over picture, the upside-down depiction, and the front view-top view display. (RJC)

Presents an elementary art activity that successfully teaches the process of slabbing by having students create fishbowl plaques. Explains the process step-by-step beginning with a demonstration to the students along with showing previous examples. Endorses a type of clay that fires white because the glaze colors are much more vibrant. (CMK)

Investigated the components of artistic style in young children, using longitudinal studies and a retrospective measure in which judges used children's later drawings to identify their art from earlier in childhood. Explored the concept of "artworld" as an aid in elucidating children's art and style by accounting for the "how"…

Investigates the uniqueness and distinguishability of individual drawing styles among school-age children to determine whether they have individual artistic styles that go unnoticed. Some support for individual graphic artistic style was provided. Aspects of stylistic distinction are discussed, and recommendations for classroom drawing instruction…

Author raises the question of using white or cream colored paper in research with black children who are asked to draw a person. (MB)

Explains how pop-up art can be used for research projects by taking newspaper articles and transforming them into visual displays in which the various parts of the articles--pictures, captions, and headlines--are glued onto the display. Suggests that such work is especially useful to students who are not especially strong linguistically. (TB)

A study was undertaken to determine how children of different ages used drawing to present an atypical situation, to what extent children's responses were governed by their increasing cognitive competence, and to what extent children's responses reflected an increasingly articulate grasp of the medium itself. A total of 137 children in…

Suggests that in contrast to art as "recess" creating a collective mural is a process of self-exposion and conquest. The child's image expands not only to arm's reach size, but to the size of the whole wall. For once the child is acting on his own environment rather than being acted on. (Author/AM)

Young Artists is the annual exhibition of student art work from the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, public schools, which is displayed from late May to early September in the museum of the Philadelphia Civic Center. The program is described and some of the winning artwork is reproduced. (RM)