Home » ExchangeEveryDay » Why Children Draw



ExchangeEveryDay Past Issues


<< Previous Issue | View Past Issues | | Next Issue >> ExchangeEveryDay
Why Children Draw
May 20, 2016
Every child deserves a champion – an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be.
-Dr. Rita Pierson (1951-2013), Educator

In his article in the May 2016 issue of Exchange, "Children Draw the World to Know the World," Jinan k.b., the force behind the Re-imagining Schools at a school near Pune, India, offered this observation:

"Drawing is the playing that children do on two-dimensional space, which is where modern humans are located most of the time.  In the three-dimensional space, that is in the real world where children play, again, provided they have their way.  But when they are forced into the two-dimensional world of the book, they draw.  Drawing comes naturally to children, unlike writing.  They draw on the wall, paper, floor, even on water, and on any such space where children can get their hold.  They draw with whatever they can get hold of.  Apart from pen and pencil, their own fingers come to help while drawing on the plate, misty windows, and so on.  Through the process of drawing, children are able to understand how the world looks — the form, what happens around them, both in the natural world and the social world.  The reason, rules, what, and how children draw are dictated by biology or nature or life, provided we don’t interfere.  The same is the case with play."





Start YOUR Subscription to Exchange
The Early Childhood Leaders' Magazine

Get 25% off your Exchange subscription!

Choose your own price: If you are able to order your subscription at the regular price, it really helps us support our staff (thank you!). If your financial circumstances make that too difficult right now, we understand. Use the 50% off. Upcoming issues will be filled with more support and strategies for dealing with today’s crisis and beyond.

Offer valid through January 4, 2022, at 11:59 pm Pacific Time.
This offer exclusive to subscriptions purchased between 1/8/21 and 1/9/21 and cannot be applied to previous purchases.

 

ExchangeEveryDay

Delivered five days a week containing news, success stories, solutions, trend reports, and much more.

What is ExchangeEveryDay?

ExchangeEveryDay is the official electronic newsletter for Exchange Press. It is delivered five days a week containing news stories, success stories, solutions, trend reports, and much more.

Kohburg Early Childhood furniture makes Reggio Inspired preschool
furniture.  German quality, Green and safe for the environment. Designed and
built for the kids you love.  Visit us at www.kohburg.com
Brookes: Boost Early Literacy Skills!

Save

Learning Naturally - Inspirational Online Learning (www.learningnaturally.org)


Comments (5)

Displaying All 5 Comments
Edna Ranck · May 21, 2016
OMEP-USA
Washington, District of Columbia, United States


Calling attention to another drawing experience via Exchange: In the March/April 2016 issue is an article by Margo Greenwood and others, about the Images of Rights: Children's Perspectives Project introduced by the World Forum Foundation's Working Group on Children's Rights. It asks for children's drawings of rights to be submitted and posted on the WFF website. We urge readers to participate in the project. This is a great parallel article--thanks, Exchange!

Alba DiBello · May 21, 2016
Shrewsbury, New jersey, United States


Carolina Rinaldi said a long time ago, "A drawing is an idea written down." Not sure if I have the quote exactly right but the concepts in this article certainly were expressed by her and all Reggiani. Glad to see it is still expressed and so well as in this article.

Lori · May 20, 2016
Pennsylvania, United States


Yes, let the children draw and express themselves and make sense of the world around them. Let them play for the same reasons. Why is the concept of letting children be children so hard for us? So much happens as the kids create and converse---they just need adults who care and take time with them. I agree with Francis ---stop making STEM something unnatural--children are always discovering, investigating, exploring ---bubbles, bugs, blocks--until we make it some prefab lesson that does not interest them in the least!

Francis Wardle · May 20, 2016
CSBC
Denver, CO, United States


Art used to be the foundation of our field. Sir Herbert Read, a famous British author, wrote an entire book on this idea, as did our friend John Dewey (Art as Experience). Some of us believe it should still be the foundation of ECE, and not STEM and not academic standards!

Alba DiBello · May 20, 2016
Shrewsbury, New jersey, United States


Carolina Rinaldi said a long time ago, "A drawing is an idea written down." Not sure if I have the quote exactly right but the concepts in this article certainly were expressed by her and all Reggiani. Glad to see it is still expressed and so well as in this article.



Post a Comment

Have an account? to submit your comment.


required

Your e-mail address will not be visible to other website visitors.
required
required
required

Check the box below, to help verify that you are not a bot. Doing so helps prevent automated programs from abusing this form.



Disclaimer: Exchange reserves the right to remove any comments at its discretion or reprint posted comments in other Exchange materials.