Themes, challenges, rainy days
Drawing activities for kids
Drawing activities that last longer than one picture: themed sets, a draw-a-day challenge and ideas for turning lessons into a game.
One lesson is ten minutes. An activity is an afternoon. The sets below group lessons around a theme so a child can build a whole scene, draw the pig, the cow and the barn, then put them on one big sheet, and the challenges give a reason to come back tomorrow.
Draw the farm
Draw each animal on its own, cut them out and glue them onto one big farm picture.
How to Draw a Cow
12 steps
How to Draw a Chick
11 steps
How to Draw a Horse
12 steps
How to Draw a Barn
12 steps
How to Draw a Tractor
11 steps
How to Draw a Hay Bale
10 steps
Under the sea
Draw the creatures, then a blue wash over the whole page for water.
How to Draw a Fish
13 steps
How to Draw an Octopus
13 steps
How to Draw a Shark
12 steps
How to Draw a Seahorse
13 steps
How to Draw a Crab
11 steps
How to Draw a Jellyfish
11 steps
How to Draw a Sea Turtle
13 steps
How to Draw a Starfish
10 steps
Space day
How to Draw a Rocket
13 steps
How to Draw an Astronaut
13 steps
How to Draw Earth
10 steps
How to Draw the Moon
10 steps
How to Draw Saturn
10 steps
How to Draw a UFO
13 steps
How to Draw an Alien Planet
11 steps
How to Draw a Star
10 steps
Weather journal
Draw today’s weather each morning for a week: sun, cloud, rain cloud, rainbow, snowflake.
How to Draw the Sun
10 steps
How to Draw a Cloud
10 steps
How to Draw a Rain Cloud
10 steps
How to Draw a Rainbow
10 steps
How to Draw a Snowflake
11 steps
How to Draw a Lightning Bolt
10 steps
How to Draw Wind
11 steps
How to Draw a Storm Cloud
11 steps
Draw your lunch
How to Draw a Sandwich
11 steps
How to Draw an Apple
10 steps
How to Draw a Juice Box
10 steps
How to Draw a Cookie
10 steps
How to Draw a Banana
10 steps
How to Draw a Carrot
8 steps
How to Draw a Pizza
10 steps
How to Draw a Lunchbox
12 steps
Pet parade
How to Draw a Kitten
13 steps
How to Draw a Puppy
13 steps
How to Draw a Hamster
13 steps
How to Draw a Goldfish
14 steps
How to Draw a Bunny
13 steps
How to Draw a Budgie
13 steps
How to Draw a Guinea Pig
11 steps
How to Draw a Tortoise
14 steps
More ways to play
- Draw-a-day challenge: Today’s squiggle picks one drawing a day, the same for everyone. Seven days in a row earns a gallery wall.
- Draw and guess: one child follows a lesson while the other looks away; the guesser has to name the drawing before the last step.
- Mix and match: draw a head from one lesson and a body from another, a cat-headed rocket is a fine thing.
- Scale it up: pick a face lesson and draw it on a huge sheet of paper on the floor.
Questions parents and teachers ask
What are good drawing activities for preschoolers?
Short face lessons with a grown-up drawing along, the weather journal (sun, cloud, rainbow) and big-paper drawing. The preschool page has more.
Do I need to print anything?
No. Everything works on a phone or tablet. If you would rather not use a screen, every lesson has a printable worksheet.