The importance of direct experience with children's perception – analysis of children's drawings before and after direct contact with a frog and a rabbit

For a comprehensive perception, it is necessary to get to know the object directly and experience it. Perceptions acquired and formed only based on media can be distorted; it is required to gain direct experience and information with as many senses as possible for realistic perceptions. Specifically, when getting to know animals, children learn about their characteristics and holistically experience them by direct observation and handling. It is essential to show and impart a suitable, respectful attitude towards animals to children and help them overcome any fears and prejudices. In the graduation thesis entitled "The importance of direct experience with children's perception – analysis of children's drawings before and after direct contact with a frog and a rabbit," we investigated the impact of direct experience on children's perception. We were interested in how children draw a particular animal before and after they directly get to know and experience it and whether they incorporate more visible characteristics and sensory perceptions into the drawings after direct contact. By re-drawing after a week of direct experience, we investigated if the children retained specific visual features of the animals in the drawings. In addition, we were interested in children's attitude toward furry animals and amphibians and whether their attitude changes after direct contact with a toad and a rabbit. The children's drawings were analyzed according to criteria in each category and formulated into an assessment scale. We also examined the children's responses to a short questionnaire on their attitude towards toads and rabbits. The results showed that after the direct experience, several children drew the visible characteristics of the observed animals (i.e., body structure, anatomical characteristics, details, etc.), while several children also introduced scientific knowledge, sensory perceptions and non-graphic drawing. We also found that before the direct experience, the children had a more favorable attitude towards the furry animal. After the direct contact with the toad, the children's attitude towards the amphibian changed; they expressed affection for both the rabbit and the toad. After the direct experience, the children gave only positive reasons regarding their attitude towards animals, mostly related to the occasion