Heart-based right brain enrichment programs and early learning centers

By a Teacher

Mary Beth was a shy little girl who attended a preschool I visited for a day. She loved to color, and samples of her budding passion were placed all over the two-room classroom.

I had set up a right brain corner earlier that day and had played with just about every child in the small school. Every child, that is, but one -- Mary Beth. Being a stranger, I kept my distance and let the children come to me.

As each child left the corner excited and happy, more children would line up to come. Finally, the day was nearing an end, so I started to pack up my goodies.

As I began to put my things away, I noticed Mary Beth's eyes lift now and then from her artwork and look somewhat wistfully in my direction. Was she waiting for a lesson, but was too shy to ask? Most of the materials were now packed away, but I had a few ornamental flower buttons left on the shelf. I scooped them up and headed toward Mary Beth.

"What a pretty drawing," I said truthfully, looking at an Egyptian girl sitting on a camel.

Mary Beth's imagination was vivid, and her artful hand conveyed her inner imagery very well. Having already been introduced to Mary Beth, I added, "I used to try to draw horses, but never got the knack of it. But look at this camel. How beautiful! I can't do that."

"Really?" she asked.

"Well, maybe if I practiced a lot," I answered.

Mary Beth pulled out three more drawings that she had made during the day. A basketful of puppies. A monkey in a tree. A picture of her family.

"Wow," I returned in admiration. "How do you come up with all these ideas?"

"Well," she answered, "I look at the page and see it there."

She pointed to the paper.

"That sounds like one of the games we were playing in my corner today. Do you want to play?"

From the expression on her face, I knew that she was glad I had asked. We cleared the small table top, and put one white piece of paper at the center. Then I brought the buttons out of my pocket.

"Here are some flower buttons. Here's a blue morning glory. Here's a yellow daffodil. And here's a red rose. Which one would you like to play with?"

She chose the daffodil. We put it in the middle of the paper.

"Great. Now we're going to send sunshine to the daffodil with the light of our eyes."

We both stared at the daffodil to the slow count of 10.

"Let's see what kind of shadow the daffodil left behind!"

Then I took the daffodil away.

Mary Beth looked at the page for a moment, then her eyes grew wide. She jumped up and got her colored pencil set. She took out the violet pencil and began drawing the flower's after-image -- right there on the paper.

We continued with the other two flowers, and she reacted just the same, drawing the "shadow" each flower left behind.

Then, she began over again, starting with the daffodil. The parents were beginning to arrive, but Mary Beth's mother waited quietly in the cloak room.

As Mary Beth drew each image, I noticed something really neat. The early flower after-images were light, the later after-image drawings were darker. In fact, Mary Beth had put her full weight into penciling in the last flower "shadow."

When Mary Beth was finished, she had a paper full of violet, green and orange flowers.

"Oh, honey," her mother gushed. "A garden full of flowers -- it's beautiful!"