Reactions to children's artwork have varied throughout different times and places. Donna Darling Kelly is calling for a more joyful appreciation of our youngest artists. She presents the dichotomy of the Mirror and Window paradigms. First, she explains the Mirror paradigm, which art educators, psychologists, and art historians use; it is a psychological focus on children's art. It can be defined as the ability of the child to represent images of something other than the object itself. Psychologists who believe in this theory are interested in the self-reflective qualities of children's drawing as they relate to language, intelligence, and cognitive development. The opposing Window paradigm is an aesthetic perspective followed by people working in the arts. The subscribers to this theory see children's art as an objective reproduction of reality that carries all of the meaning with the image. The act of representation is the ultimate goal in this model, not the truth behind the goal. Darling Kelly would like to see the interested parties in the field of children's art placing less emphasis on the prevailing Mirror paradigm and embrace the Window paradigm. Art educators often feel sidelined because subjects such as science and mathematics are requisites, while art remains at best, an elective. Art is often classified as a sub-discipline concerned primarily with therapeutic areas. An unwanted effect of the Mirror paradigm is the stereotypical, psychological model of the artist as a hopelessly neurotic or troubled soul. This volume is a call to arms for the aesthetic Window paradigm, so that art as an autonomous discipline can gain stature in the curriculum of all children's schools.

From the moment a child is born, they interact with the sensory world, looking at colours, feeling textures; constructing mental and physical images of what they see and experience. Within all early years settings and into primary school, the aim for the practitioner, is to provide as many opportunities as possible to stimulate, excite and ignite the visual and tactile imagination of the young children they teach. Young Children as Artists considers how art can be managed, understood and relished as an essential ingredient towards the creative potential of each unique young child. The book focuses, on how to enjoy, celebrate and extend what a young child can do in art and show how engaged adults and the wider school community can become confident participants in the process of early years art making. Full of practical advice, on to how to design, develop, resource and extend art and design environments within the early years setting, the book covers: Developing skills for positive and participative adult interaction and engagement Understanding and analysing child involvement in art Planning for opportunities and responding to observation and schema in art and design Practical suggestions for activities and resources (inside and out) Ideas to explore sensory development and awareness Ways to manage and savour the art transition into KS1 Ways to encourage parental participation and understanding of the art process with their children Opportunities to engage with practising artists This book will help to invigorate the art experiences offered in your early years setting by considering what is accessible, individual, inspiring and meaningful for young children and how you can best support their formative paths of enquiry.

A Companion to Modern Art presents a series of original essays by international and interdisciplinary authors who offer a comprehensive overview of the origins and evolution of artistic works, movements, approaches, influences, and legacies of Modern Art. Presents a contemporary debate and dialogue rather than a seamless consensus on Modern Art Aims for reader accessibility by highlighting a plurality of approaches and voices in the field Presents Modern Art’s foundational philosophic ideas and practices, as well as the complexities of key artists such as Cezanne and Picasso, and those who straddled the modern and contemporary Looks at the historical reception of Modern Art, in addition to the latest insights of art historians, curators, and critics to artists, educators, and more

This book offers a practical, methodological guide to conducting arts-based research with children by drawing on five years of the authors’ experience carrying out arts-based research with children in Australia and the UK. Based on the Australian Research Council-funded Interfaith Childhoods project, the authors describe methods of engaging communities and making data with children that foreground children’s experiences and worldviews through making, being with, and viewing art. Framing these methods of doing, seeing, being, and believing through art as modes of understanding children’s strategies for negotiating personal identities and values, this book explores the value of arts-based research as a means of obtaining complex information about children’s life worlds that can be difficult to express verbally.

This open access book explores how children draw god. It looks at children’s drawings collected in a large variety of cultural and religious traditions. Coverage demonstrates the richness of drawing as a method for studying representations of the divine. In the process, it also contributes to our understanding of this concept, its origins, and its development. This intercultural work brings together scholars from different disciplines and countries, including Switzerland, Japan, Russia, Iran, Brazil, and the Netherlands. It does more than share the results of their research and analysis. The volume also critically examines the contributions and limitations of this methodology. In addition, it also reflects on the new empirical and theoretical perspectives within the broader framework of the study of this concept. The concept of god is one of the most difficult to grasp. This volume offers new insights by focusing on the many different ways children depict god throughout the world. Readers will discover the importance of spatial imagery and color choices in drawings of god. They will also learn about how the divine's emotional expression correlates to age, gender, and religiosity as well as strategies used by children who are prohibited from representing their god.

Bring out your child’s creativity and imagination with more than 60 artful activities in this completely revised and updated edition Art making is a wonderful way for young children to tap into their imagination, deepen their creativity, and explore new materials, all while strengthening their fine motor skills and developing self-confidence. The Artful Parent has all the tools and information you need to encourage creative activities for ages one to eight. From setting up a studio space in your home to finding the best art materials for children, this book gives you all the information you need to get started. You’ll learn how to: * Pick the best materials for your child’s age and learn to make your very own * Prepare art activities to ease children through transitions, engage the most energetic of kids, entertain small groups, and more * Encourage artful living through everyday activities * Foster a love of creativity in your family

The postwar American stereotypes of suburban sameness, traditional gender roles, and educational conservatism have masked an alternate self-image tailor-made for the Cold War. The creative child, an idealized future citizen, was the darling of baby boom parents, psychologists, marketers, and designers who saw in the next generation promise that appeared to answer the most pressing worries of the age. Designing the Creative Child reveals how a postwar cult of childhood creativity developed and continues to this day. Exploring how the idea of children as imaginative and naturally creative was constructed, disseminated, and consumed in the United States after World War II, Amy F. Ogata argues that educational toys, playgrounds, small middle-class houses, new schools, and children’s museums were designed to cultivate imagination in a growing cohort of baby boom children. Enthusiasm for encouraging creativity in children countered Cold War fears of failing competitiveness and the postwar critique of social conformity, making creativity an emblem of national revitalization. Ogata describes how a historically rooted belief in children’s capacity for independent thinking was transformed from an elite concern of the interwar years to a fully consumable and aspirational ideal that persists today. From building blocks to Gumby, playhouses to Playskool trains, Creative Playthings to the Eames House of Cards, Crayola fingerpaint to children’s museums, material goods and spaces shaped a popular understanding of creativity, and Designing the Creative Child demonstrates how this notion has been woven into the fabric of American culture.