This is one of my all time favorite drawings. My son did it when he was in first grade and attended weekly Young Rembrandts classes. Like all parents, I am especially fond of anything and everything my own kids do, but this drawing represents so much more. 

First – he drew a collection of cacti! Not sure that would ever have happened without being in a drawing class.

Then – look at all those details! Check out that line work, the colors, and the multitude of careful little lines for the ‘pokey things’ on the cactus. You can tell by looking at it, he really enjoyed the line work and all the careful coloring.

And – look at all those colors!  I love that he learned to draw several different kinds of cacti and the artist in him went beyond the usual green and gave us a rainbow of colors to enjoy within each cactus. It’s priceless.

Now – think about how long it took for him to do all that! Matt was a very active six year old and every time I look at this drawing, I am impressed by the amount of focus and attention he brought to it.

I know, without a doubt, that the time he spent doing this kind of detailed drawing, increased the time and attention he brought to other activities, especially classroom work. It certainly had an impact on his handwriting!

But as important as all that is – when I look at this drawing, I am reminded to see the detail and color in the world around me. I am reminded to see joy. Have some fun today. Break out the crayons or markers yourself – and show us how you see the world.

Need drawing ideas?

Click here for a few drawing videos.

Click here for drawing worksheets.

Does your child love to draw? Click here to find a class near you and enroll today.

Bette Fetter Founder and CEO of Young Rembrandts and Author of Being Visual [email protected] Follow Bette on Twitter