Grade 1 Appendix B: Introductory Drawing Activities

This curriculum guide does not advocate the teaching of drawing skills in discrete units of study. However, students need to be guided to develop their skills within the contexts of other units of study, and in ongoing daily activities such as visual journal keeping.

The following activities are intended to introduce grade 1 students to some of the concepts upon which drawing skills are built. They are to be used by the teacher where appropriate and as the need for them arises. More activities can be found in reference books on teaching drawing to children.

Teacher Note: Young students do not express a developed sense of perspective or size relationship in their drawing. This is fine. Encourage them to observe, but allow them to develop understanding at their own rate.

Size Comparisons

• Have the class line up in a row from the shortest to tallest in height.
• Create learning centre activities where students order objects according to size.
• As opportunities arise, have students make size comparisons with such things as chairs, cars, trees, and other familiar items. These activities lead to an understanding of proportion in later years.

Point of view

• Encourage students to look at people and objects from different points of view. For example, have the students look at your face in full frontal position. Have them describe what they see. Then turn to the side and have them list what they see. Do the same with many different objects. Turn objects over and look at the bottom view.
• Ask students to imagine what a bird sees when it flies over the playground, farm yards, or a lake. Do “bird's eye view” drawings.
• Look at sculptures. Discuss how they look from different points of view. Visit a large outdoor sculpture or statue. How does it look from different points of view? What does a bird see? An insect on the ground?
• Look at people and objects from close up and far away.

Ongoing Drawing Activities

• Encourage students to draw on their own time and to tell about the stories they have created in their drawings.
• Provide plenty of scrap paper or newsprint for students to use independently.