Simple Drawing Exercise for Kids in Key Stage One Classes

A beginner’s version of taking a line for a walk can be used for children in preschool or those with poor hand to eye coordination. This drawing exercise is very simple and can yield satisfactory creative results regardless of ability. There are no pressures to make the drawing look like something or to practice exacting drawing techniques. The only lesson objective is to cover the paper with marks and/or colour.

A Perfect First Drawing Lesson for Young Children

Taking a Line for a Walk for Kids

This basic drawing exercise for kids can be used as a first art lesson at school and even for preschool kids. Little artistic direction is needed and many different effects can be produced without too much effort by the use of several colouring pencils and a sheet of paper. An ideal stepping stone into painting a first abstract, this art lesson would suit children of any ability, including those with poor coordination as there is room to explore different shading techniques and the use of line.

Art Lesson for Kindergarten Children

The art teacher may firstly instruct children to place their pencils onto the sheet of paper and then simply move the pencil around in a random fashion. Children may look away as they move their pencils over the page or to move the paper around beneath their pencils. The only rule is not to lift the pencil from the paper during this mark-making process until the line is complete. It doesn’t matter if the line is uneven, jagged or scribbled; just keep the pencil moving over the paper in one continuous line until a line of some kind inhabits a fair portion of the page.

Colouring Techniques for Early‑Years Art Lessons

Once children are happy with their random marks, it is time to colour in enclosed spaces. An enclosed space can be found on any part of the page where the line happens to create a ‘shape’ (see illustration). Children may choose any colour in order to shade in chosen shape. They may:

• Colour in the shape in one flat colour.
• Colour in the shape with two colours, one blending into the other.
• Colour in the shape with different marks, which might be cross-hatched, swirly or smooth.
• Colour in the shape via a blend of colours.
• Colour in the shape with any medium, be it felt-tip, crayon, pencil or pen.

It doesn’t matter if the shading is neat or scribbly, so long as each child expresses a colour and/or line over the entire page.

Simple Art Lesson for Stage One Learners

As there are no pressures to get the lines right, children will begin to enjoy exploring mark-making for its own sake. Various shading techniques can be explored and colour behaviour can be experimented with. The teacher may encourage children to:

Select a contrasting colour to shade in a neighbouring shape. Red and green, for instance will appear brighter when placed side by side.

Select a harmonizing colour to shade in a neighbouring shape.  Blue and green for instance will appear more low-key.

Select a contrasting tone to shade a neighbouring shape. Pale blue next to deep red will create a visually interesting partnership.

Place side by side colours of differing mediums, which might be pencil and felt-tip.

Art Lesson Plan Idea for the Start of Term

Kids of any artistic ability as well as those will poor coordination and low confidence will be able to take part in this art lesson, which involves taking a line for a walk. This means creating a long, random line over a fair portion of the page. It does not matter what the line looks like, so long as it inhabits a fair portion of the page in equal measure. Enclosed spaces can then be coloured in by the means of any drawing medium, colour or mark. Interesting effects can be discovered by colour exploration. The only art objective is to cover the entire page with line and/or colour. Interesting patterns and designs will often emerge.

Other Art Lesson Ideas for Early Years

Paint your first abstract
The best drawing materials for kids
Beginners guide to oil painting
Why won’t my student paint?
Raise art student motivation