Easy Drawings for Kids

3-D Shapes

First, have pencils ready. Second, make sure these pencils have large erasers because you're going to need this part. Drawing 2-D objects is simple, but stepping into the world of 3-D adds a new dimension to children's drawings. Start with boxes. Make two squares -- they should overlap; however, like any real-life box, they should only partially overlap. Connect each corner of the box to the other box's adjacent corner. Use the eraser to get rid of the lines that should be "invisible."

Drawing realistic animals might not be most children's forte; however, simplistic, cartoon versions of animals are right up most kids' alley. One example is a cow. Start with a large circle, which will be the body. Then add a triangle in the middle, which will act as the head (pretend the head is looking at you). The bottom portion of the triangle can be changed into an oval, acting as the nose. Turn the other corners of the triangle into ears and add horns to the top. Four rectangles can serve as legs and round, or cloud-shaped designs, on the largest circle can serve as spots.

Cities sound tricky, but drawing them is easier than you might think. The secret lies in a ruler. To set up a cityscape, first lay a piece of paper horizontally. Create a horizontal line roughly two-thirds up on the page. Place one dot in the center of the page, roughly one-third up from the bottom. Place one more dot in the center, roughly halfway up on the page. At the furthest edges of the horizontal line -- which will be the end of the page -- use the ruler to draw a straight line to both dots, then repeat on the opposite side. Draw a vertical line to connect the dots. This lays the basic outline of a horizon and cityscape. Allow the bottom lines to act as your building bases; vertical lines will always start from here. The top line will alter and vary, depending upon the length of each vertical line. The key is ensuring each vertical line connects to the horizontal vanishing points, which have now become your "horizon line."

Drawing people is extremely hard -- at least if you're going for realism. You've got a bit of flexibility, though, as people can be drawn in an assortment of ways. The starting place lies in symmetry. Allow the child to understand the basic symmetry of the face. Start with an oval, creating an upside-down triangle in the middle of the face. The top two corners will be where the eyes will be placed. The bottom will be the mouth. Place a dot above the mouth and connect the eyes with another triangle to this point, which will represent the nose. A horizontal line below eye level shows the location of the ears. The child can then fill in the rest of the face as he sees fit, not worrying about realism.