“I can draw a cat or a dog. That’s easy.
But not a WOLF….no way!”
Even if their ideas of a real wolf might be unsettling, children are naturally enthusiastic about learning new things. Any new skill adds to their general self esteem. They don’t overthink or edit themselves much. The sense of adventure is contagious; they’re always up for fun and I love to improvise with them.
“Who knows what a wolf is? Tell me one thing about a wolf.”
To find out what they already know about wolves, I invite them to take turns sharing any attributes, experiences, or opinions they have about wolves.
I make a list of each contribution on a big poster. This becomes a record, a group memory.
I ask for brave volunteers to howl like a wolf. We all try moving through a forest stealthily. We imagine and pantomime getting across a patch of deep snow.
Now we are excited about drawing a wolf; I show them an easy way to get started!
With large paper, pencils, and sharpeners in front of them, I reveal a poster of a wolf’s head looking into the camera. Oohs, ahs, and more howling.
With a pointer, wand, sword, or dowel, volunteers help us locate the five key points on the face: two for the tips of the ears; two for the pupils of the eyes; and one for the dark of the nose.1
Volunteers help us locate the five key points on the Wolf’s face.
This gets us a familiar triangle of points to start with, and we begin to notice the distance and position of these points, relative to each other, and to the size and shape of our ‘canvas’.
Depending on each brain’s perceptions and interpretations, portraits begin to emerge! There is scratch paper to practice making marks for the fur. We try changing pressure, length of strokes, and speed of repetitions, to get different textural effects with the pencil.
For those who balk at drawing such a complex animal, I turn the wolf poster upside down to get the basic triangle. This reduces the emotional context so they can find the initial points of reference without fear. It adds humor, reduces anxiety, and dissolves the obstacle. Everyone is included in this “I Can Draw a Wolf!” rite of passage.
For those who balk at drawing such a complex animal, I turn the wolf poster upside down to get the initial triangle.
By the end of a thirty-minute session we generally end up with a collection of unique and amazing wolf portraits. They go on our gallery wall first, then are saved in each student’s portfolio.
So, what’s an art lesson good for? To become a famous commercial artist? Maybe. But for now: Capacity building, confidence, self-validation, courage!
No need to give the drawings a grade, or an award, or lavish praise.
Look at the kids’ faces. No one can take this experience away.
(Since we have created a shape with three sides, we might shout together: “TRIANGLE! TRIANGLE! TRIANGLE!” at this point, to reinforce the math vocabulary.)
Teaching art to children is such a joy and what a fun lesson you did with them! It's such a shame that art is not a part of every student's elementary school experience on a regular basis. It is a hit or miss subject that if a child was lucky, they got a teacher who would teach it. Same with music. (Admittedly, my students got no music instruction - but they did get visual arts!) Thanks for sharing!