PRESCHOOL DRAWING GAMES
If you’re like most parents or preschool teachers, you are always looking for new ways to keep your kids engaged. Drawing games can be a great way to do just that! There are endless possibilities for games that involve drawing, and the best part is that they can be adapted to fit any age group or level of ability. Here are some great ideas for preschool drawing games. Check out suggestions and tips on how to modify them too depending on your students’ needs.
HOW DO YOU TEACH PRESCHOOLERS HOW TO DRAW?
One of the simplest and most effective ways to teach kids how to draw at an early age is through exposure to drawings and different writing tools and paper throughout the classroom and at home. Letting them explore with crayons is a great way for them to understand how to make marks on a paper. These are the very early steps to handwriting!
When you want to keep it fun try using preschool drawing games. These games help children to develop their fine motor skills, as well as their ability to recognize shapes and colors. And since they’re games, they will bring great joy to both teachers and students! Here are some ideas for inspiration:
THE SHAPE GAME
Helping children to learn about basic shapes can be as simple as drawing them. To play, draw a few different shapes on a piece of paper (or use a whiteboard). Then, ask the children to name the shapes and see if they can draw them on their own.
2D Shapes Worksheets PDF, Signs, and Cards
THE COLOR GAME
If you want your students to learn about colors, coloring games are where it’s at! To play, start by drawing a simple picture on a piece of paper (or whiteboard). Then, ask the children to name the colors that they see. Next, see if they can add any other colors to the picture. For an extra challenge, see if they can name the colors in order from lightest to darkest or vice versa.
THE ART GAME
Art games are all about encouraging creativity! To play, simply give the children a blank piece of paper and some crayons or markers. Then, see what they create! For an added challenge, you can provide them with a list of items that they need to include in their drawings, such as a sun, a tree, and a house. Or this can be a wonderful opportunity to practice writing letters of the alphabet.
When they are done with their artwork, hang it up around the room and play Museum. Hang their names up next to their artwork to reinforce name recognition. You can have pretend tickets and the kids can walk around the room admiring each other’s pictures.
THE GUESSING GAME
The guessing game is great for developing problem-solving skills. To play, a child draws a simple picture on a piece of paper (or whiteboard). Then, ask the other children to guess what they’re drawing. As they make guesses, provide them with clues until they correctly identify the object. For an extra challenge, see if they can guess what you’re drawing without any clues! This game also focuses on effective communication skills. If they can not think of what to draw you can provide simple examples such as a smiley face, flower, sun, balloon, etc.
THE MEMORY GAME
Developing memory and concentration skills is easy with this game. To play, start by drawing a simple picture on a piece of paper (or whiteboard). Then, ask the children to look at the picture for a few seconds before covering it up. Next, see if they can remember what was in the picture and draw it on their own. For an extra challenge, try drawing a more complex picture or decreasing the amount of time that the children have to look at the picture before covering it up.
SILLY PRESCHOOL DRAWING GAMES
In addition to the games listed above, there are also a few silly preschool drawing games that are sure to get a giggle out of your students. These include:
THE CIRCLE GAME
This game is all about … you guessed it, circles! To play, have the first person draw a circle on a piece of paper (or whiteboard). Then, ask the next person to add something to the circle, such as a mouth or an eye. Next, see if they can turn the circle into a face. For an extra challenge, see if they can turn the face into a funny character!
DRAW WITH YOUR EYES CLOSED GAME
To play this game, have the children close their eyes and then draw a picture. Next, see if they can guess what you drew. For an extra challenge, try drawing a more complex picture or have the children draw with their non-dominant hand.
DRAW WITH THE PENCIL IN BETWEEN YOUR TOES GAME
Have children take turns drawing a picture with the pencil between their toes. Next, see if they can guess what the other children have drawn. Check out more silly drawing games for kids.
WHAT CAN PRESCHOOLERS DRAW?
There are endless possibilities for what preschoolers can draw! They should be able to scribble and draw different horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lines along with simple shapes. Remember, this is always about exploring the drawing materials and their creativity not about exact representation. It should always be fun and not stressful for the child. These suggestions are simply meant to spark ideas in your preschoolers:
– Flowers
– Trees
– Animals
– People
– Houses
– Cars
– Clouds
– Sun
– Moon
Maybe try this activity drawing animals using shapes.
TIPS FOR TEACHING PRESCHOOLERS HOW TO DRAW
If you’re new to teaching art to preschoolers, here are a few tips to help you get started:
– Start with simple shapes. Preschoolers can typically handle learning about basic shapes before moving on to more complex ones.
– Use lots of color. Preschoolers love color, so don’t be afraid to use it!
– Try many different tools – draw with crayons, markers, sidewalk chalk, colored pencils, dot markers, and more!
– Encourage creativity. Preschoolers are naturally creative, so let them be as imaginative as they want to be.
– Be patient. Preschoolers are beginners and will make mistakes, and that’s okay! Just help them to correct their errors and keep going.
– Have fun! The main thing to realize is that preschoolers are more likely to enjoy the process (and learn from it) if they’re enjoying it. So, make sure to keep things light and fun!
Do a Dot Printable Alphabet, Numbers, Lines and Shapes
PRACTICING HOW TO DRAW A PERSON
One of the most important things that preschoolers can learn how to draw is a person. After all, people are an important part of their lives! Here’s a simple way to get started:
- Provide preschoolers with lots of exposure to pictures of people through books and artwork. This is nothing formal just exposure throughout their lives.
- Start by drawing a stick figure of a head, body, arms and legs. Preschoolers will likely be familiar with stick figures from cartoons and other media. So, start with this simple version. You could use this free creative drawing for kids template to start.
- Next, add some basic details. Once the children are comfortable with the stick figure, you can start to add in some additional parts, such as detail to the head, arms, and legs.
- Finally, add more complex details. Once the children have mastered the basics, you can start to add in more complex details, such as facial features, clothing, and hairstyles.
- Encourage creativity! Preschoolers will likely want to add their own personal touches to their drawings. So, encourage them to be creative and have fun with it.
It really depends on the age and ability of each child when it comes to drawing a person. Usually around 3 to 4 years of age, a child can start to draw a very simple person. Sometimes this is just a head with legs. Around four years of age, the children will start to add arms, bodies, eyes, etc. Their skills will slowly improve with practice.
You can read more about age levels and prewriting skills here and other pre-writing activities for preschoolers here.
HOW TO MODIFY PRESCHOOL DRAWING GAMES TO MEET STUDENT NEEDS
All children are different and will therefore have different needs when it comes to learning how to draw. Here are a few ways that you can modify preschool drawing games to meet the needs of your students:
- For children who need extra help, provide them with a bit more guidance and assistance. You can start the drawing and they can complete it. Try simple shape pictures to color and they can draw the outlines.
- Allow them to draw very simple objects. Even scribbles can be progress for some children. Remember it is about the process, not the end result.
- For children who are struggling to follow directions, make the games, rules, and the language used in them simpler to understand.
- For children who are bored, make the games more challenging or add more complex parts.
- And for children who may have fine motor deficits, try placing the paper on an easel or slant board on the desk. Try out different adapted writing tools to determine what might be best for each student. Small crayons can sometimes help – try breaking the crayons in half for the child to draw with to encourage a functional grasp.
Whenever you’re teaching anything new, it’s important to be aware of the different needs of your students. By taking the time to modify preschool drawing games to meet those needs, you’ll be sure to engage all of your students and help them to succeed.
Drawing games for preschoolers can be a joyful way to help them learn about shapes, colors, new words, and how to draw people. There are so many different games that will help your child practice their drawing skills and have some fun too!