Why I love kids to draw in the garden

Drawing is fun. I know that I haven't had the chance to do enough of it in my life. It's something I always wish I have the chance to do more of. But drawing is extremely important for kids. It gives them a chance to really think about things in different ways and to stretch their brain into new areas if they care to.

I have been amazed at the uniqueness of children's drawings in the garden. They reflect their own special perceptions of plants and the world around them. I'm amazed that I can look back on the artwork of kids of various grades and see the patterns in how each child handles shapes and approaches their work a little bit differently.

Blimp on a sunny day and Wanda.

One of the signs kids painted in our garden and the rabbit.

Today, I gardened with four children. I had brought my lop bunny to school to share with the kids and after letting the kids pet her and watch her hop around a circle of excited children, she was definitely top of mind. So it was no surprise that my rabbit showed up in the pictures the kids were drawing. But, interestingly, she was not the primary focus. One little boy drew Wanda in her cage and then added a blue blimp up in the sky. I didn't even bring up the idea of flying objects, but having the time outside made him look around him and just brainstorm and relax and this kind of imagery came to his mind.

One little girl drew a sign that the kids had painted in the garden and with my rabbit Wanda in the corner. The kids love these signs. They also really enjoy the stones that they are required to walk on through in the garden. I can't believe what an impact these stones make on them. Yes, it is one of the rules: they must walk only on the stones, but they constantly mention the stones and the signs in letters about the garden to me. It shows they make an impact.

Smaller groups are better for art projects, if possible
It works better to have a small number of kids outside when you're drawing and to do it early in the day when they have a good attention span. Later in the day, they just want to get outside and dig or plant things. The tomato picture that a kindergardener drew a few years ago captures the reality of how this plant looked at the end of the season when the plant had pretty much dried to a wiry stem with the succulent tomato on the end. I'm hoping we picked that beautiful tomato once we finished our drawing.

Tomato plant at the end of the season.

Kids don't need much structure for drawing assignments, but they do tend to fall back into the patterns of line and materials that they are comfortable with using. If you can point out interesting things in the landscape and make they really take a new look at things, you will inspire them to really get creative and explore new shapes and even new drawing tools. They just need a few big pads and a big bin of pens and colored and standard gray pencils to choose from when they work. Also, once they say they're done, get it out of their hands. Kids do have a tendency to overwork things and to keep it fresh, let them move on to a new piece of art if they want, or their next activity.