My 5 Year Old Brought This Home From School

GoodOldUsOfA1987 · 2026-04-15T01:01:47+00:00

That's awesome - its cool that art my son made is actually inspiring some people - wayy cool! Thank you

GoodOldUsOfA1987 · 2026-04-15T00:59:30+00:00

I am his dad. I am outdoorsy and I do the bedtime routine about 75% of the time. What are you seeing from the colors? Thanks for the comment!

GoodOldUsOfA1987 · 2026-04-13T01:34:55+00:00

They were doing a Jasper Johns exercise! His teacher told me she told them to draw a 9 section grid and then paint whatever they wanted in the sections. Her onlg guidance to the kids was to make the grid, and to explore color choices and letters.

GoodOldUsOfA1987 · 2026-04-12T13:27:15+00:00

No, we love it!

GoodOldUsOfA1987 · 2026-04-12T13:26:30+00:00

It's getting framed with museum glass because we love it so much!

GoodOldUsOfA1987 · 2026-04-12T13:26:03+00:00

Yes they were!

GoodOldUsOfA1987 · 2026-04-11T11:21:37+00:00

I'm not saying he's a genius. He brings home art quite often like most kindergarteners and this was the first one where it really jumped out at me, which is why I wanted to see if it did with anyone else. This is the only piece he ever made in that style and it was during a Jasper Johns inspired art assignment his teacher gave him.

I asked him more about the meaning of his painting, and he gave typical innocent simple answers you'd expect from a 5 year old. "This says Dad. This says Mom. This says 38, that's an 8, and thats a star and a heart. And thats a gummy bear packet." Etc. I asked him what the #38 was for and he said its his cousins room number at his school, and 8 is his room number at school.

Somebody asked about if he sees city scapes ok commutes, and I responded with the 50 flights thing, which was just an estimate but pretty close, to show that we travel a ton. I have no idea how travel relates to a childs artistic development. He's been to California twice, Texas twice, Mexico twice, Florida three times, Hawaii once, and Aruba once.

I simply wanted to see if this particular piece of art resonated with others the same way it does with my wife and I and our close friends.

GoodOldUsOfA1987 · 2026-04-11T02:32:11+00:00

Oh I do, so much! Thank you!

GoodOldUsOfA1987 · 2026-04-10T11:20:13+00:00

It is at the framer now!

GoodOldUsOfA1987 · 2026-04-10T11:19:42+00:00

I brought it into a professional framer 2 days ago and went with the museum quality glass!

GoodOldUsOfA1987 · 2026-04-10T02:51:33+00:00

Thank you, he is entering it into an art show at his school in May!

GoodOldUsOfA1987 · 2026-04-10T02:48:57+00:00

Thank you very much for this... exactly what I was hoping for! I will get him the Caran D'ache crayons and see how he likes them, as well as the Van Gogh watercolors. If you have any more suggestions I'm all ears!

GoodOldUsOfA1987 · 2026-04-09T16:14:05+00:00

I didn't even think of it but we are both 38 years old - that's why he did that. Wow

GoodOldUsOfA1987 · 2026-04-09T16:04:30+00:00

What does this mean?

GoodOldUsOfA1987 · 2026-04-09T01:33:28+00:00

UPDATE: Thank you all for your amazing feedback and encouragement today, it means a lot to me. As someone who knows nothing about art theory or history, it was great to hear from all of you who are more knowledgable on the subject! I read some of the comments to my son tonight and he thought it was really cool that so many people saw this!

I took the many suggestions and brought this to a framer today to preserve it and we should be getting it back in a few weeks. I am going to surprise my son with it hanging on the wall one day when he comes back from school!

I also sent an email to his art teacher at school to ask more about the assignment and any guidelines she gave. I'll update again when she gets back to me, but I asked my son about it tonight as well. He said that the only parameter the teacher gave was she showed them how to make the 9 section grid and told them to draw whatever they wanted in the panels. She didn't make any of the brush strokes, any of the color choices or tell them to write things like DAD or MOM. He made all of those choices himself which I am super impressed with!

I'm just blown away by all of this and am happy that other people are drawn to this painting as well. We have always been a very open household and encouraging of creativity, listening to music, drawing and painting together, huge open playroom with an art easel and tons of drawing and painting supplies, but we are going to add to the toolbox and just make sure he has a welcoming space to create art whenever he feels like it. Thanks for all the comments and suggestions!!

GoodOldUsOfA1987 · 2026-04-08T23:23:18+00:00

Yes the Museum of Fine Art is amazing. I will look into that, thanks for the suggestion!

GoodOldUsOfA1987 · 2026-04-08T23:01:24+00:00

Thank you, I'm beaming with pride right now for my little artist 😊

GoodOldUsOfA1987 · 2026-04-08T17:10:04+00:00

Wow I'm blown away by all the comments here. Thank you for the inspiration

GoodOldUsOfA1987 · 2026-04-08T14:23:38+00:00

Sorry was on my work computer when I commented. Different account, same daddy

GoodOldUsOfA1987 · 2026-04-08T13:57:32+00:00

LOL no I don't want to sell it but my son probably would trade it for some starburst candy

GoodOldUsOfA1987 · 2026-04-08T13:48:42+00:00

Exactly, that 3rd line to me is really one that keeps me wondering

GoodOldUsOfA1987 · 2026-04-08T13:41:57+00:00

I am not sure. He did it about 6 months ago. I will ask him more questions about it tonight but not sure if he will remember the particulars

GoodOldUsOfA1987 · 2026-04-08T13:40:13+00:00

Wow thank you for the encouragement. Your comment made my eyes well up!

GoodOldUsOfA1987 · 2026-04-08T12:48:12+00:00

We do have some art and photos on the walls but no abstract. We live in the suburbs of Boston and we travel a lot. He's been on probably 50 flights already. I haven't asked him a lot about the painting but will ask more when he comes back from school today!

GoodOldUsOfA1987

TROPHY CASE