Back to school activities can help establish your classroom community. Having students contribute to a classroom display by drawing, painting or writing is an effective way to both implement a meaningful activity and give students an early sense of belonging.
New kindergarteners may only be just learning to hold a pencil however. They could be new to drawing or making marks on a page. I'd love to share with you how you can encourage them to turn their scribbles into some of their first drawings.
They will draw themselves or some of their new friends at school! You can help them cut them out for display or to add to some craft projects - like this school bus craft!
Prior to your lesson, review some basic scribble patterns
- spirals - clockwise and counterclockwise
- circles
- downstrokes
- upstrokes
- side to side
- making dots/spots
- curved lines
- loops and bumpy/jumpy lines
Show them how to combine just a few strokes (using a crayon or thick pencil) to make a scribble kid.
Depending on drawing skills of your students, you could:
- practice drawing large scribble kids before you attempt these small ones
- practice with chalkboards/whiteboards before paper
- start each morning with a scribble picture / handwriting line practice as a daily warm up routine
I hope your children have fun drawing and making friends in the first weeks of school. Some other resources that you may like include: