pigtails and portraits

G. arrived in the studio and announced, "Do you notice anything new about me, Angelina", while pulling on her pigtails.  I replied, "Hmmm.  Did you do something new to your hair?"  She beamed up at me, "I have PIGGIE TAILS". I asked if she wanted to draw them and she did.

 She drew her pig-tail self portrait four times, experimenting with different medias and scale as she did.

As the studio teacher for five years, it is strikingly obvious that art and creative expression meets curricular expectations and developmental needs.  It astonishes me that it is often relegated to the background of our educational system.

Obviously people need to spend more time observing children's creative expression,  I do it every day and every day I am amazed.