Interesting Children
Asi Sharabi
no-mans-blog.com

Children’s drawings are great. They are usually
honest and naive and obscure and can be very, very
funny...

They are also a very rich tool for sociological and cross-
cultural research, because drawing requires children to make
their intentions clear through shared denotations and
common symbols that stand for recognized cultural ideas.
“A collection of cultural symbols...shared representations of objects and
expressions of ideas, feelings and emotions”
(Burns 1987)

If you want to read more about the way I used drawings to
better understand Israeli children’s perceptions of Palestinian
children you can read about it here
http://no-mans-blog.com/previous-life/

Children’s ideas of interestingness*
* (This exercise by no means qualifies as an academic research, it is merely an
exercise prepared for Interesting 09)

Please draw something interesting...
(6-8 years old, West London)

Four common themes were apparent...

Technology is interesting...

Friends are interesting...

Motors are interesting...

Animals are interesting...

Conclusions:
Interesting is a very open, inter-subjective
concept for both adults and children.
It seems like for children at this age, ideas
of fun & leisure are interchangeable with
ideas of interestingness...

Special thanks for the children of Ecole Francaise Jacques
Prevert, West London and my good friend Claudine Provencher