Abstract: Observational drawing has been a mainstay in the arts community for decades. Inherent in the process of learning to draw from observation is the utilization of one's senses. Although many techniques have been developed for enhancement of adult skills, the use of obsevational drawing for young children has been an area of disagreement. Early researchers determined that children draw what they know rather than what they see. Research with last twenty-five years challenged the existing model. The new research has directed attention toward complexity of childrens drawing. Researcgers are currently re-evaluating the cognitive and artistic components of obsevational drawing for young children. This study sought to address two questions conserning observational drawing for children. The first area of interest is whether young children draw from observation. The second area of interest is the effect of sensory-based instruction on the art products. A quasi-experimental design was developed to investigate these questions. Six classes in two schools were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups. Group One served as control, Group Two received sensory-based instruction based on Nicolaides' "The Natural Way to Draw", and Group Three received sensory-based instruction based on the techniques of Neuro-Linguistic Programming. The findings of the study indicate that young children do draw from observation. All 500 art products evaluated by two judges were recorded as drawn from observation. The analysis of data pertaining to sensory-based instruction revealed that choice of object, school, and sex of participant were important variables. In one school, the NLP treatment affected time on tasks. The NLP group maintained interest and drew for longer periods of time. The results of this research suggest that the use of observational drawing for young children is a viable, appropriate technique for the elementary school art curriculum. The findings support the theoretical framework that approaches the task of observational drawing for children as a multi-faceted process, taking into account perceptual and cognitive development in addition to the development of artistic skills.