Portrait Drawing Activity for Kids (she: Veronica)

We are nearing the end of summer here in Tennessee, so my kids have been especially antsy. On a big “I’m SO Bored I’m Going to DIE” day, I came up with a fun drawing activity for kids.  I asked each of my kids to draw three different pictures.

1. A picture of me.

2. A picture of Dad and Mom.

3. A picture of our family.

And they quickly went to work. My house became very quiet. They all found their own spaces and disappeared. After a while they all started emerging to show off their creations. They took time to point out little details, like the braid I sometimes wear in my hair, the brown spot I have in my eye, and details about each family member. Lucy put a flower in my hair because she knows I love flowers and Luke pointed out that he made sure he put lipstick on my lips to make them pretty. As each child waited anxiously to show me their masterpiece, it became more clear to me that they had all put a lot of thought and effort into this. In my mind, I thought this would be something that would basically be a boredom buster. But it became so much more. I feel like I got the chance to really see myself through their eyes. It was also fun to have them ALL drawing the same thing.

My kids all love to draw, but to have a very specific assignment to draw something that mattered to them, caused them to put all their effort into it. And in the end, I have artwork that means more to me than anything else hanging on my walls. I’ve already been to Vistaprint to order address labels, a notebook, and post-it notes using my new favorite artwork. There’s also lots of cute ideas of things to make at TinyPrints (see here for the latest coupons from Tiny Prints.) And I’ve already made a list of things for them to draw next. First on the list is grandparents! Ahhhhhh…the gift options that will be available. I can’t wait. 🙂