Calling all kids – show us life after lockdown

We know lots of kids have been getting busy with pencils, crayons and textas at home. Now here’s an extra reason to get creative. Enter our competition.

Lockdowns won’t last forever, and as Australia looks towards spring and the easing of restrictions, News Corp is asking young readers to imagine what freedom looks like to them.

We know that lots of kids have been getting busy with pencils, crayons and textas while they’ve been stuck at home, and we’re now giving them an extra reason to get creative.

We’re asking readers aged under 18 to send in an original artwork that shows what they are most looking forward to, once life gets back to normal.

Gigi (6) and Maxwell (10) Green drawing what they want to do when lockdown ends. Picture: Tim Hunter

It might be returning to school and seeing a good friend. It could be getting on a plane to go on holiday or visit family. It can be anything – but it has to be an original work. We’ll publish the best submissions we receive in our papers and online within the next few weeks.

Dr Kimberley O’Brien, Principal Child Psychologist at the Quirky Kid Clinic, said art could be a sort of language for kids.

“Children don’t always want to express things verbally,” she said. “It’s what we often do in therapy. We will ask the child to draw a picture of how it is now and then how they’d like things to be. It increases that element of play and it’s more visual, so it’s more their language.”

The lockdowns had given kids and families a chance to pause and “think about the big picture and what they find important,” Dr O’Brien said.

Gigi Green’s drawing of herself on a hot-air balloon, which is what she wants to do when lockdown ends. Picture: Tim Hunter

“Goal setting or vision casting over what their ideal world would look like or their ideal day would look like after lockdown is good. It conveys a sense of hope and excitement about the next chapter,” she said.

Kids have suffered during the lockdown period, like everyone has, and they have had to cope with the disappointments of cancelled birthday parties and the frustrations of not being able to do simple things.

Maxwell Green’s drawing of himself on a skiing holiday, which is what he wants to do when lockdown ends. Picture: Tim Hunter

Dr O’Brien urged parents not to be censorious if some of that disappointment, sadness, anger and frustration appeared in the creative works their kids produce.

“It’s not for the viewer to go ‘Oh that’s so dark, that’s so bad, don’t draw that,’” she said. “That’s really an interpretation that doesn’t need to happen. It’s good to express those disappointments rather than try to hold them in and be stoic.”

“But it’s also really important to have hope, and to model that as parents. Talking about things you’d like to do, things you have planned, shows you have faith in the future. It’s definitely something worth investing in,” Dr O’Brien said.

Dr Kimberley O'Brien is the CEO of Quirky Kids and one of Australia's leading child psychologists. Picture: Supplied

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR ARTWORKS

Send your artworks to [e-mail]

Drawings or paintings can be created in any medium, but they must be entirely original, and no more than A4 in size.

Please include the child’s name, age and a contact number for each entry.

The selection of entries to be published will be entirely at the discretion of the editors.

Find out more about the Quirky Child Clinic at http://ChildPsychologist.com.au.