(This is a follow-up to my last post about drawing with Cora.)
Cora’s friend sent her a drawing of her baby chickens last week. It was sweet and simple. I suggested she send a drawing of our girls in return.
She dictated a message and I wrote it for her. She proceeded to make marks on the paper with glitter glue talking her way through. In the end, she had a collection of blobs haphazardly scattered around the page.
After some discussion, I convinced her to give it another try. Afterall, she was trying to communicate an important message to her friend.
“Amelia…If you see a hawk put your hens away in the henhouse.”
We talked about where the chickens would be standing and where the hawk would be flying and she made lines for earth and sky. That seemed to be all she needed. Something to break through the blank slate. She added a sun, grass, and a few hens. Finally, we talked her way through the hawk – head, beak, body, wings, feet, and her favorite part – super long, sharp talons.
I told her, again, how proud I was of her work. I knew she could do it. And I can’t wait for her to do it again.
Art Education Outside The lines 