This booklet is a representative collection of children's essays and drawings from "Father of the Year" contests sponsored by the National Center for Fathering and the Illinois Fatherhood Initiative. The materials have been selected from tens of thousands of entries received from communities across the nation. The essays are divided by grade…

This paper examines the role of visual arts in student creativity development and gives guidelines for using a comprehensive visual arts program which can foster interdisciplinary connections throughout the curriculum. Sections of the paper include: (1) "Visual Arts in Education"; (2) "Visual Arts is a Way to..."; (3)…

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

Describes a design exercise for college education majors. Five paper scissor shapes are used to illustrate the role of balance, variation, repetition, and unity in design. After comparing their own designs to Indian molas, students explore how color and shape affect design by elaborating their work with oil crayons. (AM)

The author critically examines nine assumptions about creativity commonly held by preservice elementary art teachers, such as "all children have creativity,""creativity can be taught and learned,""art skills hinder creativity," and "creativity is good." (SJL)

In focusing excessively on nurturing the students' creative artistic potential, many teachers tend to neglect the students' potential for learning to appreciate and talk about the visual arts. Teachers should be prepared for teaching art appreciation with inservice workshops, summer and night courses, and further university training. (DS)

Discusses Kellogg's four distinguishable stages of children's early art development as reflected in scribble art. (MP)

Following a "building code" specified by their art teacher, sixth-graders designed and built cardboard townhouses to serve as permanent hallway decorations in their school. This article is one of four in this issue describing elementary level mural projects. (SJL)

Investigated the representational model of self and attachment figures in family drawings of 8- to 9-year-olds in a high-risk, racially mixed sample. Found that specific signs and global rating scales were related to early relationship history. Even after contemporary influences of child intelligence, stress, and emotional functioning were…

Describes Image-making Within the Writing Process, an innovative art-based literacy program designed to entice even the most discouraged of learners with a series of process-oriented art explorations and concrete tools for thinking through and designing stories. (SR)

Sought to determine if the physical design of learning environments can foster a sense of student ownership in the learning process. Found that the stronger students' perceptions are that their artwork can be permanently displayed, the greater their sense of ownership. (EV)

Compares a child's drawings at home with the child's drawings at school. Concludes that children can activate meaning in a different way at home than at school. Suggests that transforming artifacts across sites may be something children do that often goes undocumented. (SG)

Explores the development of drawing abilities in 185 children of 5-10 years and 27 adults. Even the youngest children were able to judge the correct age sequence of drawings at above chance levels. However, their rankings were more erroneous than those of older children and of adults. (RJC)

Notes widespread use of human figure drawings to describe and predict psychological functioning. Reviews data-based studies on figure drawings and concludes that there is little support for their validity or for their use as devices to assess personality, behavior, emotion, or intellectual functioning. Presents ease of administration and anecdotal…

Responds to previous article (Motta, Little, and Tobin, this issue) which reviewed data-based studies on figure drawings and found little support for their validity or use in assessing personality, behavior, emotion, or intellectual functioning. Notes recent approaches to interpretation of human figure drawings and cites flaws in argument against…