This descriptive study examined children's drawings and related language episodes to differentiate drawings exhibiting play from those exhibiting exploratory behavior. Drawings categorized as play were further analyzed to identify constructive and imaginary play. The play theory used as the basis of the study proposes that exploration and…

Does a drawing embody the form and focus of what the artist actually sees, or instead, is it only after seeing the finished drawing that the artist knows the true meaning of his or her visual experience? It is the knowledge of the visual experience that drives the representation of it. Knowledge of the visual experience is present in varying…

This cross-sectional study examined the u-shaped development in graphic symbolization, a theory postulating that aesthetic properties of preschool children's drawings are similar to those of adult artists' drawings. Subjects were 140 artists and non-artists from 7 age groups, ranging from 5-year-old children to adults. All subjects were given the…

Student drawings which give testimony to the high standards of instruction offered in the art classes of U.S. schools are presented. The drawings reflect the way students think and see. (RM)

This paper reports on the introduction of an exploratory program on emotional development, "Drawing Emotions," through which instructors try to: (1) help the child learn how to deal with feelings; (2) ascertain relational difficulties; (3) apprehend their own questions which were not answered; and (4) interfere in the presence of risks…

Examined U-shaped development of graphic symbolization in children and in nonartist and artist adults. Found that drawing scores of adult artists did not differ from those of youngest children and artist adolescents, with a developmental sequence in acquisition of the ability to construct referential connections underlying visual metaphors.…

Describes an art activity for first-grade students in which the students draw their own still-life pictures, using teddy bears and balls as the subject matter. Explains that the students must include three objects, a line for the table, and overlap the shapes. (CMK)

Illustrates imaginative approaches to drawing that encourages children's line interests, line collections, and line markings, and helps children to see art everywhere with drawing possibilities in everything. Includes ideas for inventing line making tools and drawing machines, for using new approaches, or treating drawing surfaces and tools in…

Teachers completed the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Questionnaire for Children for 148 preschool children in South African townships, and children drew pictures of personal experiences. Findings indicated that children exposed to violence suffered posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and that, though their drawings showed severe emotional…

Offers an art activity for students in the primary grades that focuses on the effect a sneezing motion has on the individual features of the face. Expounds that the students draw an expressive self-portrait of themselves sneezing using a marker to encourage freer linear expression. (CMK)

Presents a case study, through observation of a child named Hawk Weisman, that demonstrates a child's use of drawing to find meaning. Discusses Hawk's motivations for drawing, the recurring themes that encompass both humanistic and scientific concepts, and his homemade books. Addresses the educational implications. (CMK)

Reports on insights about sociocultural influences on Brazilian children's drawings, using visual anthropology to examine children's drawings that depicted what they like to do. Discusses visual anthropology, provides information on Brazilian educational influences, and presents the context and findings of the study. (CMK)

Discusses a unit on the discovery of the senses that integrates art and science. Students create pictures of a "smell" using the crayon-resist process. Explains that during the second day, students "smell" their peers' paintings to determine what aroma is being depicted. (CMK)

Describes an art activity for use in a unit on agriculture in which third grade students create packing crate labels. Students compare examples of packing crate labels, identifying the name, image, product description, and visual elements such as color and balance. Discusses the process of creating the labels. (CMK)

Describes a combined occupations/art unit for fourth- and fifth-grade students. The teacher shows slides of people in various careers, students then chose two pictures of people in occupational settings and discuss them, and finally students draw self-portraits of themselves in a career they find interesting. (CMK)