Eugie's Snail Cars and Flying Snail Race

October 25, 2008: Eugie drew this picture earlier this week. I made a xerox copy and asked Eugie if he wanted me to make him a xerox copy so he could paint a different version of it. He said, "No". He wanted to paint the original. So I thought that I should scan it before he started to paint it. I kinda like this one. I feel like its very inventive.



I just now asked him what was going on in the picture and he told me the following:

The snail with the wheels, labelled Eugie (now that he's explaining it to me I see that he wrote it backwards, mirror image), was trying to block Daddy (the flying snail with 3 shells labelled DaD, also written kinda backwards/mirror image) and the thing coming out of the rear of Daddy, the flying snail, is a pusher-backer that is trying to slow Daddy down. The number 0 (zero) inside the pusher-backer is the number of points Daddy has accumulated during previous races.

The scissors coming out of Eugie's right antenna, are trying to let Eugie get in front of Daddy. The little snail (on the right) is Sophia. She's trying to beat Eugie.

The little house is where Eugie and Sophia keep all their prizes. The little flower near the Finish line is for whomever wins. The comet (to the left of Daddy, circle with pointed V-shape on the bottom and fire coming out the top) is trying to get Eugie, but it can't because of the sword (attached to Eugie's left antenna). The big flower to the left of the comet is "for decoration". The numbers in the rectangular banner in the back of Eugie, the snail-car, are the points he received from earlier races he won. The circles coming out the back of the banner are cannonballs. Similarly, the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 coming out of Sophia, the snail-car (I asked him why she didn't have any wheels -- he said he forgot). Daddy is not allowed in the little house with the prizes because he's too big.

The End

Here's Eugie's painted version.

Sophia's drawing: September 12, 2008

I was upset with myself for coming up with a technique to help Joshua learn to draw about 9 months after he started drawing. For Josh, this was a great technique because he had already achieved a comfortable skill level to be able to draw and learn to draw. In fact, by that time he usually told me to get lost whenever I tried to teach him anything new. The technique was to draw some dots on his paper to help him draw something he wanted to draw but didn't know how.

The reason I was upset with myself is that Sophia saw me use this technique before I started teacher her how to draw. Once I started, she demanded that I draw dots. It got to the point that she wouldn't do anything without me drawing a bunch of dots to make a circle, to make the ears for the kitty cat, etc.

After a while, I resigned myself to it. For a glimpse of a second, I actually thought that it might not be so terrible. At least was learning to hold the pencil and see that making lines on paper with a pencil could lead to some kind of drawing of kitty cats, butterflies and flowers ... things she loved.

This last weekend, I was busy doing something else. Out of the corner of my eye, I see her go to the drawing table, pick up a pencil, and somehow find a piece of paper (she usually demands I get it for her). She then draws the picture you see above.

Don't ask me why, but it is definitely my favorite drawing of hers.

Eugie's Drawings Age 4-1/2

Eugie's Thank You Card

Eugie drew this card for the next door neighbor, who gave us some zuchini from her garden.