Directed Drawing Lesson

Our preschoolers keep a journal each week.  They draw a picture and then either write or dictate a story to go with it.  They are always free to create whatever they want, but we often provide a prompt if they seem to be stuck.  A few of our kiddos draw the exact same thing (rainbows and flowers) on each and every page.  (I can totally relate, of course.  My artistic abilities are limited to rainbows and flowers as well!)  Some students (ages 4-4.5) have difficulty drawing any recognizable pictures.  They scribble on each page.

We are huge proponents of process art, free drawing, painting at the easel, and sensory play.  In this case, however, we have noticed that the students get frustrated with their own work.  They are beginning to development self-awareness that is leading them to compare their own drawings to the other students'.  We don't want our students to ever feel that they "can't" do something, so we decided that drawing was an area that we could spend a bit of time modeling and teaching.

This article was helpful as we planned our first lesson.

The idea is a simple one: teach children to draw simple shapes that work together to make a picture.  We started with the pig's nose, head, mouth and eyes.  Next, we guided the students to add ears, a plump pink body, a curly tail and a mud puddle.

After they finished drawing the picture, I wrote "My Pig" at the top of the chart paper and many students copied those words into their own journals.

With older Pre-K students (who will enter kindergarten in September), we invited them to choose an illustration from one of their favorite farm books and use it as a model for their own drawing.

I love this hen in a tutu!

It was such a wonderful surprise to see their drawings!  As an added bonus, we noticed that after this lesson their other non-journal drawings and paintings were more detailed and sophisticated.

So, what do you think?  Should preschool students receive guided drawing instruction, or should they be left on their own to develop their own artistic style?

Have fun playing and learning with your children today.