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Children’s art workshop series

Artwork projects are an engaging way to capture and portray children’s views and lived experiences.

In 2023, Emerging Minds ran art workshops in Australian metropolitan and regional centres with children of various ages, and diverse identities and experiences.

Our approach was: imperfections in artwork are OK! And while the workshops provided some guidance on creative techniques (fewer than a traditional art class) we instead focused on ways to communicate the themes, which were prompted by response to prompts such as:

  • What family means to me
  • My strengths
  • My safe place
  • What’s in my head.

As a result, workshop participants created 93 artworks reflecting the perspectives of children and young people that we sought to make visible and respond to.

Following the workshops, we provided children and families with updates on how their artworks have informed or been used in Emerging Minds project outcomes, including the ways their voices and perspectives have been made visible in adult-centric documents.

Take a few minutes to admire some of the artworks and their descriptions in the following slideshow and Emerging Minds resources.

Artworks

How I get through tough times

This short animation showcases the artworks in a reflective activity that aims to support parents to consider things that help children manage stresses or big feelings, express their emotions, and connect with people or places that support them.

How I get through tough times (1 minute, 5 seconds)

Resources

Children’s artworks help keep children’s perspectives visible within the Getting through tough times resources, bringing their experiences, strengths and ways of making sense of the world into conversations that are often led by adults.

Discover more resources

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