EGAKU for
Kids & Youth

We ran the EGAKU Program at Meguro Takaban Elementary School in Tokyo.
24 children, from the first year to the fourth year at the school, drew pictures of "their hearts." 
　
At the end of the two-hour workshop we had 24 pieces of wonderful artworks, each of which was someone's "heart". 
　
An artist Kuni, today's teacher, said hello - For most of the children, it was the first time to meet an "artist"...  

The children learned from Kuni how to appreciate a picture.  They then wrote down what they felt about the picture on post-its. 
　
The children then learned from Kuni, "None is better or poor at drawing pictures." They also learned how to use pastels and how to have images on their "hearts." 
　
They thought about how to expand their images on their "hearts" using shapes and colors. The children then drew pictures freely using their figures... 
　
What is the color of my heart? What is the shape of my heart? All of them were so focused....shaping and coloring "their hearts". 
　
Once completed, the pictures were framed. The pictures in the frames looked different! The children appreciated their own pictures and gave titles. 
　
Then they appreciated the pictures drawn by their friends and wrote down what they felt. 
　
All the comments were read out. Each of the participants raised his/her hand when asked "Who drew this picture?" They looked a bit shy but so proud of themselves. There are various types of "hearts." They are all different, but beautiful and fun.