Date of Award
1972
Document Type
Thesis
Department
Education
First Reader
Unknown
Abstract
"Children are wonderfully fresh and vivacious. What adult can compete with a child's energies? A child's mind runs like a mouse in a maze. He observes, perceives, imitates, and responds as a unique individual." His work is original, using foreign symbols for an image he pulls from his memory. All of the myriad elements, internal and external, influence a child's creation. These works for the young child are expressions of his life's experiences. As he matures in his thinking, he becomes more aware of himself, his family, and the people and things in his environment. He is curious and explore his surroundings. He is beginning to gain control over his muscles, but perhaps his most outstanding quality is a vivid imagination.
The pre-school and kindergarten years reveal the child as an experimenter and individualist in art. Art that a child creates from his own ideas and emotion is charming. Adults, who are used to the standard, realistic art, may have a difficult time in accepting a child's vivid portrayal of life. David Russell has suggested, "without being sentimental about childhood, it seems fair to say that children's thinking may have a freshness, an imagery, a creativeness, which the adult does not always achieve." By understanding the differences involved in children and in children's art, as compared to adults, it is much easier to gain an appreciation for youngsters' art. Spontaneity and directness are ever present in the younger child. He works in a distinct manner so that the finished product gives and air of directness and freshness. An idea with which he had had some emotional experience is more easily remembered, so it is often snatched as an idea to be used in art.
Recommended Citation
Kluck, Sharon, "Creativity in Pre-School Art" (1972). Honors Theses. 449.
https://scholarlycommons.obu.edu/honors_theses/449