Visual art activities such as the processing of output in the form of drawing encourage children to use their imagination, expression, and multiple intelligences. Through visual art activities, children can participate actively in a more enjoyable learning environment. Drawing is an essential part of children in the production of various forms…

This article describes John Kelleher's experience in observing the creations of his preschool daughter. Both he and his wife are formally trained in the arts, and looked forward to guiding their daughter down an artistic path. In his mind, what makes a great artist usually involves a great deal of technical ability and commitment to a complex…

A local childcare centre embarks on a first-time project to exhibit preschool children's artworks, acknowledging the importance of art-based activities in the development of young children. In the planning and implementation of a successful afternoon event, the centre's children, along with parents, other family members, friends, and educators,…

Our purpose is to offer children tasks so they can make drawings as diverse and different from each other whilst trying to avoid imitation. Achieving this goal involves the increase of children's creativity. The paper is theoretically based on the consideration of creativity as the ability to create "something new, original, and in accordance…

Discusses two broad stages of children's drawing--scribbling and representation--and the phases of each stage that children will pass through as they develop. Provides suggestions for supporting children's early drawing development. (HTH)

This handbook, written for teachers, art teachers, and parents of young children, describes actual elementary school classroom experiences. Each anecdote is juxtaposed with a simple explanation of its philosophical and psychological rationale. Symbolic representation of the environment through art making is seen as a natural language, a…

The purpose of this study was: (1) to examine how artistic development is fostered in the playgroup setting; (2) to discover if between-playgroup effects are apparent in the developmental levels of children's painting, and (3) if such differences occur, to consider the relevance of supervisor behavior to these differences. Subjects were 48…

Investigated effects of race on ideas of social distance. When asked to draw pictures of themselves with a "white person" and with a "brown person," children drew themselves closer to an in-group member than to an out-group member. Results suggest that ideas of social distance are affected by racial/ethnic memberships of those…

This anthology focuses on the earliest art expressions, experiences and encounters of young children in the educational setting. The 21 chapters include: (1) "The Visual Arts and Early Childhood Learning: Changing Contexts and Concepts" (Christine Marme Thompson); (2) "The Narrative Quality of Young Children's Art" (Marilyn Zurmuehlen; Larry…