How to teach a child to draw

Creative tasks can already be offered to babies 10-12 months old. Give your child a pencil and paper. Let him investigate them. Do not take away the pencil when the baby tastes it, it is normal for his age to learn about the world through taste.

Guide your baby. Tell him “Draw a line with a pencil.” Even if he does not understand what is required of him, repeat this several times. Gradually, the baby will learn to react to your words and draw his first scribbles.

Children who are already one year old can be offered to draw with pencils, felt-tip pens, crayons and paints (fingertips are especially good). You can try classes with plasticine, most likely, they will just pierce it and squeeze it, but this is also very useful for the development of fine motor skills. Offer stickers and colored tape for babies who will soon turn two. You can also try scissors and glue exercises.

Remember, children under two years of age use the whole body in creativity. Buy only sustainable class materials. And conduct short lessons (no more than 10 minutes), then the baby will not have time to get tired and it will be interesting for him.

Master Class. Drawing a silhouette.

Take a large Whatman paper or a piece of wallpaper, spread it on the floor, or better yet glue it onto tape. Invite your baby to lie down on the sheet in a funny pose. Circle his body with a felt-tip pen. Then invite your child to draw a pattern, clothing, face, or simply paint a figure inside the silhouette. Dry the drawing, then hang it on the wall.

Through this exercise, children begin to look at and think about their bodies.

Children of two years old can already control their bodies, they have better developed fine motor skills, so classes become more meaningful. They still draw abstract scribbles, but they are already trying to repeat the shapes of real objects – circles, the sun, human figures.

Toddlers can concentrate on their studies and begin to understand the rules, for example, they can already be explained that it is not worth drawing on the walls.

Three-year-olds can be offered classes with scissors and glue, and even simple crafts. They can roll plasticine balls and snakes and do multi-tasking exercises. In addition, they know how to name their drawings and explain what is depicted on them.

Master Class. Salt watercolor: watch the paint flow.

This activity will help you understand how salt and paint interact. When the drawings are dry, they will become shiny.

Materials:

• Pack of salt. • Tray. • Cardboard. • A bottle of stationery glue. • Watercolor. • Brush.

1. Place a layer of salt on the tray.

2. Draw some pattern on the cardboard with glue, put the cardboard on a tray, shake off excess salt.

3. Dip a brush in paint and place it on the line with salt. The paint will begin to run. Use different colors. Then dry.

At the age of four, children themselves want to study and perform difficult tasks: write, sculpt complex figures, draw plot drawings. They can come up with long, coherent stories from their drawings, but they may contain symbols that seem gibberish to their parents.

Master class: Draw a song.

Draw to the music and try to convey the melody in your piece.

Materials:

• Paper. • Paints. • Brushes. • Music (CD or radio).

Listen to the song. Then discuss it. Turn it on a second time and try to portray a melody. Change melodies: take instrumental or song compositions.

Children of older preschool age begin to engage in creativity consciously. They draw using a special technique – they draw a line that separates the sky from the earth, and all objects are depicted above and below it. In addition, they repeat the drawings of their peers. If everyone in kindergarten draws cars, then your child will also draw them.

At this age, it is good to teach children new skills – you can introduce them to a musical instrument or teach them applied art.

Master class: Create like your favorite artist.

Tell the children about an artist, and then try to draw something in his manner.

Materials:

• Those used by the artist (or similar).

1. What artist do you like? Name.

2. As you study his work, discuss the following questions:

• What did he draw (draw) most often? Still lifes? Portraits? Landscapes? Patterns? How can you repeat them?

• What materials does he use?

• Does the artist work in large format or in miniature?

• What do you like about his works? Plot, colors? Try to create a piece with the same or similar storyline or style.

• What would you like to try?

3. Now try to portray something in the style of an artist.

4. Talk about work, read about those who worked in a similar style.

At this age, the child develops preferences. He himself is able to choose what he likes and what – not. And the task of parents is to maintain this interest or develop it. If your child enjoys drawing or writing stories, don’t make him play the piano. This will discourage his craving for creativity. Remember one simple thing: the child should only do what he is really passionate about.

Master class: We draw in parts.

Create fun drawings by asking each child to draw a different part of the person’s body.

Materials:

• Paper. • Pens, pencils or markers.

1. Draw the head and neck of a human, animal, or alien at the top of a vertical sheet of paper. Do not show anyone what you have done. (All participants must do the same.)

2. Fold the top edge of the sheet so that only the bottom of the neck is visible.

3. Pass the drawing to the seated person on the left.

4. Add the person’s body and arms, using the visible part of the neck as a guide. Fold the paper back over to cover the image, leaving only the bottom of the waist in view. Pass this sheet to the one on the left.

5. Draw the person from the waist to the knees. Fold the sheet again and pass it to the person on the left.

6. Finish the picture by depicting the legs from the knees, fold the paper and pass to the person sitting on the left.

7. Older children and adults like to sign the drawing before unfold it. For example, “Grandma,” “Brad Pitt,” “Queen of England,” etc. Do this and pass the sheet over again.

8. Now everyone unfolds the resulting sheets and see what happened. Have everyone see the images and read the captions.