“Its time for your art class.,” my six-year-old announces. He hands me a paper and a pencil. “Pigeon, Bus or Boy on Zipline?” he asks. I choose “Boy on Zipline”. 

The subject is complicated, but my son is unfazed. I marvel at the ease with which he relays  instructions – tree, leaves, wire, harness, boy. The vision is clear in his head. Kids never hesitate or stumble when they doodle. Make-believe animals, 3D trains, spooky pumpkins – their art may not be sophisticated – but it never fail to express. 

Isn’t that what art is all about? The ability to express. To think of something funny and share that with the world; with words or scribbles, song or strokes. To be able to take sorrow or pain inside you and use it as ink. To be able to hold that effervescent excitement bubbling inside you and turn it into something lasting. Art is beautiful, refreshing, liberating. Art is essential.

So while we fill out our kids’ calendars with plans to master spellings, comprehension, two-grades-above math, let’s remember to also give them some time with art. Time to sit without an agenda put pencil to paper, and just let go. You will be surprised at what comes out – a poem, a book, a painting, a cardboard rocket ship. Isn’t this what the world needs? A leap into imagination, thinking beyond the boundaries, creating something that didn’t exist? In fact, put away those laptops, and pick up a pencil or a crayon or a marker. Lie on your stomachs next to them and just let go.

FInishing up, I add a “Whee!” to my drawing, feeling as elated as the boy on my paper. My son finishes his piece. “Do you like it?” he asks. I turn to appreciate his creation. Then I realize he was asking about mine. “Yes,” I said, “I like my “Boy on a Zipline”.