Appreciating children's artwork

"These are pandas, and they have on hats! That one is hanging upside down, from the bars."

It can be difficult for adults (including myself) to appreciate the seemingly random art pieces children create when they are self-directed. We are accustomed to seeing adult-driven art projects assembled by children. But we must not confuse the two distinct activities. Adult-driven projects are fine, in fact, they help children learn to follow directions, and the results can be quite charming, and pleasing to our adult eyes.

The child-created pieces, though, those are my favorite. The younger children, especially, are not burdened with the self-criticism of the older, wiser (?) kids. These younger kids create with purpose, with vision, with joy. 

"It's a rocket ship, see? That is the space where the guy, the driver, you know, the space guy sits. And over here is an escape hatch, so he can get a way quick. These things are the drivers for it."

"It's a tower, like Rapunzel's"

"This is a farm! That's me, and that's my mom, or maybe my grandma. Anyway, we're at a farm together, you know the kind with a red building where the chickens live. In kindergarten, I got to see a real farm!"

"Okay, so I made this doghouse, and it was hard to make this part stay up. And look! The dog's looking out the window, but if you turn it around, you can see the back of him through the other window. Only, this doghouse is too small for a real dog, unless it was teeny teeny tiny. Once, I saw a lady at a store, and she had a dog that could fit in her purse! 'cept I think that this is smaller than her purse. But! I have a toy dog that can fit in this little house."

"Ha ha. This is funny, know why? Look, there's a picture of a baby's head right there. So, this is like a big tall guy, only he has a little baby head. Yeah, that makes me laugh."

"Oh, okay, so first I was drawing shapes, like we were talking 'bout today. I drew rectangles, and then those triangles, and I used different colors too. And now, it looks like a castle, almost! But maybe it's a big house. I seen big houses before, have you teacher? Yeah, those live up in the mountains, those houses. No, I think this is a castle, and I can live there and be the king and fight the bad guys. Nope! No girls in this castles, or princesses just boys [talking to the cluster of girls gathered round to admire his castle] 'cept my mom, and maybe my sister. My grandma could come to visit too. But NO OTHER GIRLS!"

"I'm just cutting lots of shapes, and making a design with them."