Drawing Ideas for Kids

For children interested in art, drawing is a way to express themselves. These drawing ideas, which work best for children between the ages of 10 and 14, can help your child develop a more sophisticated and mature style.

Pick your favorite song or poem. Identify the line or lines that depict the most vivid image or that have the most meaning to you. Repeating the lines to yourself, contemplate the way they make you feel. Draw what you see in your head. As an alternative, write your own song or poem to illustrate.

Sit quietly in front of a mirror and study your face. Follow each line and contour. Draw your face as you see it, not as you think you see it. What does your eye really look like? What shape is it? Don't worry too much about making it look like you; just try your best to draw everything you can, and make it look as realistic as possible. Be patient. Don't be frustrated by your mistakes. Include as many details as you see: eyelashes, teeth, freckles and stray hairs.

Set up a bright reading light or a powerful flashlight on a table, and shine it on a large piece of paper taped to the wall. Sit sideways in front of the piece of paper to cast a shadow of your head. Have a friend or grownup trace your shadow to make a silhouette. Fill in the silhouette with all the things inside your head, whatever you think is in there. This could include your brain, or other things you can't see, such as your feelings, dreams, nightmares, and thoughts.

Think of a story, either a story you already know or a story that you just made up. It could be something true or something fiction. On a piece of scratch paper, divide the story into parts. (Example: 1. Amanda went to the store; 2. She met her friends Adam and Wendy; 3. Adam and Wendy told Amanda they were magic; 4. Adam and Wendy turned Amanda into a bird.) Draw each part of the story. Include talk bubbles and thought bubbles. Take the story from start to finish.

This is best done on a tarp or outside, wearing old clothes that you don't mind getting dirty. With charcoal and an eraser, draw an animal. Work from a picture, or draw from your imagination. Use the charcoal to create textures such as fur. Experiment with the eraser. Use the eraser to make lines, just as you would use the charcoal. Fill up the entire page. Create a background and a foreground. Don't be afraid to get your hands messy.