Young Illustrators: Drawing People in Action!

As a long-time kindergarten teacher, I have discovered the many benefits of taking the time to teach children how to draw people. Many have been the times when I’ve witnessed children shedding tears or crumpling papers during Writer’s Workshop because they had already decided – after a few brushes of the pencil against paper – that they couldn’t draw the characters in their stories. And recognizing the importance of illustration as a developmentally appropriate step in the process of becoming a writer I thought, “why don’t I teach children how to draw?”

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 these sessions, 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. Together we will observe, name and discuss the human form as represented first with silhouette images of people in action poses – babies crawling, children dancing, adults running – then finishing up with more detailed images based on artist wooden figure models. Each session 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. The sessions 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 each class, the instructor will provide an optional assignment to use circles and ovals to explore and draw a designated silhouette figure. Children who complete the assignment will have an opportunity to share their creation at the beginning of the next class session.

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 course is for you! Join me!