The children in School-age 3 continue to share a passion for creative expression through drawing. One afternoon, the group took on the task of engaging in some self-portrait drawings after some on-going conversation. Emily was the first one to test her drawing skills as she took on the task of drawing Nyah. As she began, she quickly recognized the difficulty self-portraits bring forward as you need to ensure that you capture key elements and features. After some time, Emily decided to switch her focus to creating her own made up character for her self-portrait.
From this, the group took notice of what Emily was engaged in and decided to also participate in their own drawings. What happened next brought the group closer together as they began engaging in conversation, problem-solving, and bouncing ideas off of each other. Those who participated took on the task of either drawing someone else in the program, or creating their own character, just like Emily originally did.
Charlotte decided to draw Lauren, and really took the time to ensure she captured all of her features. Emily Z took on the challenge of drawing herself, and again took attention to detail as she captured her own features. Sebastian used his recapitulative skills as he drew an anime character from one of his favorite shows and brought him to life.
Overall, this experience goes to show that if you provide children with basic materials and the freedom to explore their creative expression and complex thinking, the pieces of work that they can create are astonishing.
