Drawing at the Zoo

This week we went to the zoo and we took sketchpads. Kids are asked to draw things frequently but rarely given reference material. I once worked with a teacher who would always give the kids a picture to look at if she asked them to draw something and I loved that because that is how I draw. Art by kids is great no matter what, in my opinion, but it’s fun to give them the option to draw from life.

A bonus was that it made the zoo more fun and made us slow down and document the process. I wish I could have sketched too but I was too busy keeping track of everyone and their pencils. My 9 year old would really take his time and use his eyes. My 6 year old would glance at it and then quickly draw it. My 4 year old took it pretty seriously and looked hard. I love how their drawings turned out.