An article for children to read with an adult
Hello, young artist!
Have you ever drawn rain, a wheel, a rainbow, or a winding road?
Then you have already played with lines and shapes!
Your pencil can travel up, down, across, and around. Let’s discover what it can make.
Meet Standing Line
Standing Line goes up and down. Its grown-up name is a vertical line.
Look for it in a tree trunk or the side of a door.
Now imagine a cloud. Can you draw a few standing lines beneath it?
You have made falling rain!
Meet Sleeping Line
Sleeping Line goes across. Its grown-up name is a horizontal line.
Look at a shelf or the top edge of a table.
Draw two standing lines and join them with a sleeping line across the top.
Could this become a little table? What would you put on it?
Meet Slanting Line
Slanting Line leans to one side. Its grown-up name is a diagonal line.
You might find it along the side of a roof.
Try drawing one slanting line and then another that meets it at the top. Add the rest of a house underneath.
Who lives in your house?
Meet Curved Line
Curved Line bends gently.
It can become part of a rainbow, a banana, or a smile.
Draw a happy face with a curved smile. Can you make a different face by changing the curve?
Tell someone how your face is feeling.
Meet Circle
Circle goes around and joins back to its beginning.
A circle can become a wheel, a flower centre, or part of a face.
Draw a big circle and a little circle. What could they become?
Your circles may look wobbly. You can still use them in your picture!
Meet Wavy Line and Zigzag Line
Wavy Line bends one way and then the other. It can become a river.
Zigzag Line makes sharp turns. It can become a row of mountain peaks.
Draw a wavy river below some zigzag mountains. Now you have the beginning of a landscape!
Why Do We Play with These Marks?
When you draw, you practise moving your hand in different ways.
You learn how to:
- Begin a mark.
- Move across the page.
- Turn in a new direction.
- Stop where you choose.
- Join marks to make a picture.
You will use some of these movements when you learn to write letters and numbers, too.
You can also use your marks to tell a story right now.
Try the Little Picture Challenge
Take a blank sheet and choose a crayon.
- Draw a circle for a sun.
- Add lines around it for rays.
- Draw a wavy river.
- Add a tree with a standing trunk.
- Draw anything else your picture needs.
Perhaps there is a boat on the river. Perhaps a bird is flying over the tree.
Your picture belongs to you!
Draw in the Air
You do not always need paper.
With enough space around you, use your finger to draw a big circle in the air. Try a sleeping line, a curve, and a zigzag.
Ask a friend or grown-up to guess which one you made. Then swap turns.
Every Artist Starts Somewhere
Some lines will be long. Some will be short. Some circles will not quite close.
You can try again, change the picture, or take a break. If your hand feels tired or uncomfortable, tell a grown-up.
When you finish, tell someone about your drawing.
A small mark can begin a wonderful story—and you get to decide what happens next!