Distinguished Drawings

Plan for the week of June 13th:

This week is Vacation Bible School.  This means the kids will be gone every morning (and I just got a call for a playdate for tomorrow afternoon), plus they will be tired from all the VBS fun.  So I decided on a topic that is nothing but fun! Distinguished Drawings!  Here is our list of activities:

• "I Can Draw"  The brilliance of this book is its simplicity.  They break down the look of an animal into basic shapes . . . and they don't add too much detail.  A great beginer's guide to drawing animals.  I think we will tackle an animal or two per day.
• "Sing, Sign, & Learn" This book has song to teach you sign language--all set to familiar nursery rhyme/songs.  We will do, "Who is Wearing?" (teaches colors) set to The Muffin Man.  We may also tackle "Rainbow Colors" set to Working on the Railroad.
• "Wildflowers"  This book is a field guide to wildflowers, but the main part of the book only has outlines of the flowers, you have to go to the back and see what colors need to be filled in.  You actually color your own field guide.  I think this will help the girls pay attention to the color of the world around them . . . and maybe learn the name of a flower or two.
• "Games for Learning"--Drawn to Order, pg. 4.  This activity teaches small motor control and pencil-holding skills (perfect for the 3 year old).  Mommy will draw a simple, small, squiggly shape for each girl.  The  girl then chooses a color and outlines the shape.  They choose another color and outline the outline.  They keep doing this until the whole paper is covered in repeating, ever-increasing rainbow colored shape.
• "Games for Learning"--Flash Looks, pg. 14.  This game is supposed to help kids distinguish between subtle visual differences.  Take strips of paper and draw a line down the middle.  On one side draw a simple picture, on the other side either draw the same simple picture, or one that is slightly different.  The child look at the strip of paper for only a few seconds and has to declare if it is the same or different.  Obviously the more subtle the difference, the more difficult the task is.  What a great way to make them more observant.
• Art History lesson!  I thought the children might enjoy a very basic introduction to some art movements.  I'm thinking we'll look at:
• The colors of Fauvism
• The subject matter of Pop Art
• The look of Cubism
• The subject matter of Surrealism
• The emotion of Expressionism
• More drawing fun. Very basic lessons on:
• Perspective
• Trying to imitate one (or more) of the above art movements

I think this week's plan has a nice mixture of activities that will help develop their visual observation skills and their drawing abilities.