How Children’s Drawings Shaped our New Illustrations

Childhood is full of wonder, beauty and imagination. When children are given the space to create freely, they often show us something we’d otherwise miss. They help us appreciate the world afresh.

Sarah, 6 years old, Uganda, drawing to help Compassion create new artwork.

Beginning with children’s ideas

At Compassion, children are central to our calling. That’s true in our programmes, in our partnerships and in the way we understand our whole purpose of releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name. We’re Christ centred, child focused and church driven and this shapes not only what we do, but how we see children.

So, the idea grew of creating a new set of illustrations that did more than nod to childhood from a distance. We wanted children’s own ideas and experiences to help shape it from the start.

Gabriel and Joaquin playing football in Colombia

One of the illustrations inspired by children's drawings.

Seeing the world through children’s eyes

We invited children in Compassion projects around the world to draw their lives, hopes and neighbourhoods. The result? More than 5,000 drawings, each one full of colour, character and story. Joyful, bold, playful. Sometimes messy. Always meaningful.

A team of illustrators then worked carefully with those drawings to help shape a new illustration style rooted in children’s own ideas, experiences and imagination.

Jhoel and his tutor drawing at a Compassion project in Bolivia

Why creativity matters

For many children living in poverty, the freedom to play and create can be squeezed out by much heavier burdens. Ill health, responsibilities at home or the pressure to work can leave little time or space for drawing or play. Some children may not have the materials they need. Others grow up without any sense that their thoughts and ideas have value.

That matters, because creativity isn’t just a pleasant extra in childhood. It’s part of how children develop their full potential and make sense of the world around them.

Jesus made space for children at a time when they were often overlooked. He welcomed them, blessed them and showed their worth with tenderness and seriousness. We want to follow his lead: to honour childhood as something God-given and to protect the space for creativity and play that children need to flourish.

Drawings by children that inspired our new artwork

Illustrations shaped by children

The design team’s work has been shaped by the lives, perspectives and creativity of children themselves. These illustrations are more than a new look, they show the vibrancy of childhood and add colour, meaning and personality alongside the stories we share.

We hope they reflect something deeper, too: our desire to honour childhood as a gift from God and to treat children not only with care, but with attentiveness, respect and delight.

Each illustration begins with a child’s creativity and together they form a rich and varied tapestry of joy, resilience, local character and hope. We hope the collection will keep growing over time, reflecting the many cultures, experiences and imaginations of children in every context where Compassion works.

Iriana, 6 years old, from the Dominican Republic draws an illustration of a house

What does your home look like? Children's drawings that have inspired Compassion's new illustrations.

We hope these illustrations do more than brighten a page. As you look at them, we hope you see something of the joy the children poured into them and perhaps even something God wants to bring back into focus for you.

What do these drawings help you to notice?