Shelly tells us all about her favourite drawing activities using Activity Village printables in this guest post, with some lovely ideas for both younger and older children to try. You can find the links to the printables Shelly used here:
Three Drawing Activities using Activity Village Printables
By Shelly
A lot of people know about Activity Village's stunning Learn to Draw pages. We love them as they encourage kids to look at the shapes and components that make up an object.
Enjoying Activity Village's Learn to Draw pages
There are also many other pages on the Activity Village website that are great for drawing. I am sure I have not discovered all the pages yet! But these are a few of the ones that we like using for drawing activities.
Complete the Picture Pages
For younger kids I love the Complete the Picture pages. With my kids I have often found giving them a blank piece of paper and expecting them to draw something does not go down well. But if they have page with a starting point, they are much happier. Some of the Complete the Picture pages just have some wheels on the page or a pair of sunglasses and then it is up to the kids to complete the picture. I love these. My son once had a go at the Complete the Picture Monster Truck Wheels and turned the wheels into a digger.
There are also Complete the Picture pages where part of the animal or object has been started and then the kids can complete the picture. There is a finished example of the animal or object at the bottom of the page for their reference.
Complete the Monkey Picture - in progress
Complete the Monkey Picture - finished
Playdough Mats for Drawing
For younger kids I also really LOVE using Activity Village's Playdough Mats for drawing. They are perfect. We have really enjoyed the playdough mats where the whole background has been filled in and then the kids just add in details - like adding the fish, shells or crabs to an "under the sea" background. I have found these can be really successful with kids who do not have a lot of drawing confidence as they only need to add a few simple items and they have a stunning picture. And often with drawing it is all about giving the kids confidence so that they will go and try harder pictures.
Under the Sea Playdough Mat - before
Under the Sea Playdough Mat - after
But don’t just stick to the playdough mats where the backgrounds are filled in. Have a good look around and you will find that most can be used for drawing. This Pirate Ship Playdough Mat is a great one as the kids can create ship after ship after ship and add in all sorts of details!
Pirate ship playdough mat used for drawing
The Harvest Basket Playdough Mat is a very versatile page to print out and possibly laminate or use inside a Write and Wipe pocket. The kids can fill the basket with anything from fruit and vegetables, flowers, Easter eggs, chicken eggs, shopping, Christmas presents or toys!
Harvest Basket Playdough Mat filled with toys
Harvest Basket Playdough Mat filled with fruit
If you like the idea of laminating some playdough mats for drawing you might want to think about including the Autumn Tree Playdough Mat, which is great as the kids can turn it in any type of tree.
Grid Copy Puzzles
For slightly older kids I am a big fan of Activity Village's Grid Copy Puzzles. It does take some time for the kids to get used to the idea of drawing the lines in the correct blocks. But it really is worth while encouraging them to keep trying as it helps them with proportions and angles of lines.
A selection of grid copy puzzles
I hope that our favourite drawing pages might give you a few ideas to use yourselves!
This is a guest post from Shelly. Shelly is a home educating parent of two children aged 6 and 9. She blogs at ofamily learning together where she shares ideas on the different learning activities that they do including lots of hand-on Maths, arts and crafts and anything else that is part of their home educating lifestyle.
You can find more guest posts by Shelly, and a list of all our guest posts, here.
