'Childhood Paper Airplane,' a week-long art exhibition of works by children from Beijing's Yuxiang Blue-sky Kindergarten, opens to the public on Saturday, June 11, at Siemens Home Appliances Art Space, 798 Art Zone. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com]

Art is a language that's not only mastered by adults; kindergartners also have their own approach to art, which usually comes out more creative, natural and honest.

'Childhood Paper Airplane,' a week-long art exhibition, different from what we have seen before, was open to public on Saturday.

The event showcased about 450 artworks from 1,600 children in Beijing's Yuxiang Blue-sky Kindergarten of the Air Force of The People's Liberation Army (PLA) at Siemens Home Appliances Art Space, 798 Art Zone, offering a chance for visitors to walk into the inner world of kids.

Among the wide range of exhibits were traditional Chinese ink paintings, sketches, calligraphy, wood-cut painting, clay sculptures and pieces made by cloth or other waste plastic parts that were transformed into marvelous artwork, all by the little deft hands.

There were original drawings inspired by their routine life in kindergarten, and paintings with traces of influences from masters like Qi Baishi, which rendered a similar refined look.

The little artists on site were thrilled to see their works get the treatment like those of the adults', and their efforts were so much valued while visiting parents were surprised at the impressive works that they hadn't see before or never imagined.

What such an exhibition can bring to us is more than drawings or paintings. Through this, we see how children see and understand the world, and indeed they proved their ability in conveying this colorful world through their own innocent perspectives.

"We see more of passion than a mere painting." said Zhang Di, the exhibition designer and an art teacher at the kindergarten. "Though kids try to make meanings out of everything they see, they won't be much concerned about meanings in drawings; they just felt happy in doing so and the great joy at the accomplishment."

Zhang offered some professional analysis of certain strokes that the budding artists have done, which demonstrated amazing techniques and understanding of Chinese cultural essences.

Zhang, who has been with these kids for three years, said "it doesn't happen all at once, yet as they progresses, they get closer and closer to drawing skillfully, freely, the way they want."

The paper airplane, a toy that we all played with in childhood, was a key factor that connected different parts of the show together.

Xu Liping, the principal of Yuxiang Blue-sky Kindergarten, said flying paper airplanes carry the dreams, memories, and freedom of childhood. They showcase the talent of kids through this platform, with hopes they will arouse people's attention to the preschool artistic education of children.

"What we want to do is to enrich a child's life with art, to give a child the vision of beauty, a pair of creative hands and passion towards art," said Xu.

Zhang Yan, a parent and an air force member, said such an exhibition will surely have positive impacts on kids and cultivate their love for art.

This event also attracted many municipal preschool educators including Zhang Xiaohong, former director of preschool education section of Beijing Municipal Commission of Education. She remarked kindergarten plays an important role in sparking children's interest in art and they have been working to reform the teaching philosophy and approaches.

It's an established concept that education begins with birth. Zhang Xiaohong indicated we must take into consideration our own situation when bringing in successful preschool education modes from overseas.

Peng Jianli, an officer from the PLA General Political Department, also called for more attention and support from society for preschool education.