See Shapes, Build Confidence, Create with Hearts!
Hello, arty teacher friends!One of my favourite ways to help young artists grow in confidence is to encourage them to see the simple shapes hiding inside everyday objects. When children begin to recognise these shapes, drawing suddenly feels much more achievable—and much more fun!
That's exactly why I created my Start with an Oval directed drawing pack. It helps children notice ovals in the world around them, use them as the starting point for drawings, and connect art with observation, imagination, and even mathematics. After drawing, they can write about their creations too, building both creativity and literacy together.
Today I have a quick bonus drawing idea you can try with your class!
Heart Drawing from Two Ovals
1. Warm up with ovals.
Use scrap paper or mini whiteboards and practise drawing lots of ovals. Talk about how an oval is like a gently squashed circle with two smooth curves.2. Draw, draw, draw!
Fill the page with ovals—big ones, little ones, long ones, wide ones, and everything in between. The more children practise, the more confident they'll become.3. Combine two ovals.
Now overlap two ovals to create a heart! It's a wonderful way for children to discover how simple shapes can become something completely new.4. Add color.
Invite children to create two-tone or two-color hearts. They might blend colors together, paint one half in each color, or use shading to create depth before carrying those colors into the rest of their artwork.
Children can fill an entire page with colorful hearts, adding dots, lines, or other simple shapes between them before painting. Every page becomes wonderfully unique!
I hope you enjoy this free drawing idea. I'll be sharing more simple shape-based drawing activities here on the blog and over on Instagram throughout the year.
If you'd like a ready-to-print resource with guided drawing and matching writing activities, you'll find the complete Start with an Oval pack in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.
Happy creating!