This paper examines the schematic underpinnings in the drawings of a four-year-old girl, Thea. The paper reviews literature on graphic representations, signs and meaning-making before discussing schematic "form" in children's drawings, the theoretical background for the study. The paper discusses ethical issues and methodological…

The studies regarding how the comprehension of geometric shapes evolves in childhood are largely based on the assessment of children's responses during the course of tasks linked to the recognition, classification or explanation of prototypes and models. Little attention has been granted to the issue as to what extent the geometric shape turns out…

Digital technologies have the potential to offer new opportunities for children's expressive arts practices. Although adult expectations surround and shape children's visual art making on paper in the early years classroom, such expectations are not so established in relation to digital art making. So how do children make sense of digital art…

In this article, I present a reexamination of the myth of inherent creativity in early childhood to elucidate how still-dominant discourses of optimization such as child development, individualism, expression, creativity, and visual realism exert limiting pressures on understandings of the art and visual culture that children consume and create.…

Children's artwork displays are a distinct and key feature of early childhood classrooms. The artwork produced by young children in the classroom is often linked to the educational program. After the completion of the art projects, early childhood educators face the challenge of displaying the children's artwork. With minimal research available on…

The benefits of drawing for children are wide-ranging but are likely to be mediated by the art curriculum and other governmental guidance to teachers relevant to drawing/art. Furthermore, such statutory regulations vary between cultures, and therefore curricula represent an important influence on the cultural differences found in children's…

Previous research on children's drawing and writing focused on children's drawing and symbolization with syllabic languages, providing little information regarding young children's symbolization in drawing with a logo language. This study investigated children's emergent writing by examining qualitatively how children's writing takes place as…

Although sociocultural theory challenges educators to embrace the social nature of learning, common practice in early childhood art has varied little from its traditional stance on natural art development, adult non-intervention, and the sacrosanct nature of creativity and artistic expression--outdated relics on hallowed ground. Despite mounting…

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…

Describes a four-year longitudinal study of the drawings of a preschool boy which preceded four experiments related to observations made in the longitudinal study. Concludes that scribble patterns are a reflection of accidental motor activity. Implications for art education and theories of development of children's art are discussed. (Author/BSR)

Kellogg and O'Dell's criteria for designating children's art as pictures and Pitcher and Prelinger's collection of stories from children were examined for analogous patterns of structure. Results indicated that form, derived from a structure of repetition, is embodied by children as a metaphor for pictures or stories. (Author/SR)

Three media used in a longitudinal, cross-sectional investigation to determine the rate of artistic development in young children were clay modeling, drawing, and storytelling. The most significant result of the study reveals that artistic competence does not proceed upward across all media as the child matures. (JN)

Art is presented as a key to understanding children's opinions and emotions, both for parents and teachers and for the children themselves. (SB)

Maintains that children's art has value in its own right in that it can help children satisfy their need to create and express themselves by playing and experimenting with art materials. (BB)

Responding to children's natural interest in creating art, early childhood educators have historically given the visual arts an honored place in the curriculum. Even in the 1980s and 1990s, as the push for earlier academic skill development increased, art continued its centrality in programs for young children. This chapter offers teachers theory…