Art: Self Portraits

Teaching young children to draw is important not only because we are building fine motor/writing skills, but also because young children think, learn, and "read" with pictures before they can do the same skills with symbols. For example, when we play a rhyming game with preschool children, we will match cards with the pictures pig and wig. We do not use cards with just the symbols p, i, and g. 

By learning to draw, these children are developing another way to express themselves. 

As an introduction to the lesson, the children looked into the mirrors and answered some questions. 
"What do you see?"
"How many eyes do you have?"
"What is above your eyes?"
"Is your nose wider than your mouth?"
"Is your neck really skinny or about as wide as your head?"
"What happens when you move your shoulders?"
"What parts of your body can you bend?"
"Touch your hands to the side of your body. Where do they touch?"
We wanted to give the children some sense of proportion before they began. 

As they finished their drawing, they were encouraged to add lots of details.
"What are you wearing?"
"Does your outfit have any zippers or pockets?"

These kids did a fantastic job! As you can see, we have necklaces, hairbows, boots, freckles and fingernails on some of our drawings.