Drawing With Circles and Ovals

As a long-time kindergarten teacher, I have discovered the many benefits of taking the time to teach children how to draw people, particularly because drawing is a developmentally appropriate step in the writing process.

Circles and ovals – shapes that can be drawn by nearly every child with relative ease – are the components of a simplified human anatomy that young children can engage in with success as they learn how to depict their characters in action. And once young children meet with a dash of success as illustrators of the human form, their pencils begin to fill their papers with the tales they spin from both their lived experiences and their magnificent imaginations!  

In this class, children will explore their understanding of how the use of circles and ovals – placed upon the page with some intentionality – can create the forms of the characters they want to star in their stories. Class will begin with a song of welcome and then proceed into a conversation prompt – both of which are designed to help build a sense of community as we learn together. Class will continue with a song about using circles and ovals to depict people in action, a short story about a stick figure who abandons her sticks in favor of the circles and ovals that she knows will provide her with both mobility and a more realistic form, and end with plenty of time to both observe how circles and ovals can be used to create figures in action and practice using these shapes in the context of a directed drawing experience. At the end of class, children will have an opportunity to share their circles and ovals creations.

Whether your young children are budding illustrators or simply want to place onto paper with a dose of realism the stories of their imaginations, this class is for you! Join me!