A coloring book and some crayons are fine, and drawing whatever a little mind can imagine is also good for creativity, but learning to draw is even better. It’s fun to learn and kids will love creating easy to identify pictures that they can show off to family and friends.
Drawing is not as difficult as it might seem, especially when it comes to simple objects and cartoon like images. The trick is to look at things in a different way, and then draw what you see. You can help your child learn this process at a young age and develop his or her talent.
Many young children can draw very well for their ages. They know what they want to express and even though it may not be perfect, and may not even be realistic looking, you can tell what they were trying to create. This is a good sign of artistic ability. Even the child who seems to “scribble” rather than draw, often has at least some artistic ability. It may just require a bit more development.
By helping children learn to decipher what they see, and break images down into smaller portions and more distinct shapes, you can help your kids learn to draw better. Start with simple shapes and images.
For example, can you draw a kitty? Sure, you can. Look at the images for a very simple drawing.
All you have to do is use the shapes that are there. Here we have an upside down pentagon, some triangles and circles. Very simple, yet it gets the idea across. Your child can lightly sketch the basic shapes, and then go over the outline more heavily to tie the shapes together. When the picture is colored and the hard lines disappear, the big picture looks like the desired image.
Cartoon Critters is a good site to visit for drawing lessons, with five pages of step by step instructions for specific pictures. It also offers over 3,000 different coloring pages as well as other activities!