New Directed Drawing Fun: Lovely Lemon Yellow Lion!
Hi arty teacher friends!I have an exciting new drawing to share! Yellow Lion has joined my Directed Drawing Fun Bundle 3 — and this lovely lemon-yellow lion has SO much potential for drawing, handwriting, phonics, vocabulary and storytelling!
The drawing begins with a simple capital L, repeated four times. Add just a few extra lines and shapes and — ta-da! — those four letter Ls become a memorable little lion.
I love activities like this because children aren’t just writing a letter. They’re noticing its shape, direction and movement, then using that familiar shape as part of something imaginative.
And there are so many lovely opportunities to connect language, letters, sounds and art along the way!
Start with some lion language 🦁
Before you draw, read a few lion books together or look at photographs of lions.Talk about what children already know. Where do lions live? How do they move? What might their fur feel like? What sounds do they make?
Listen closely to the language your students use and notice those lovely L words that pop up. You could collect them together before or after your drawing.
lion • long • loud • lazy • leap • lick • lovely • little
It’s an easy way to build vocabulary and phonemic awareness while giving children plenty of ideas for their later writing.
Make long, lovely L lines!
Before beginning the drawing, practise making long L lines.You might imagine long lion legs, long claws or a lion having a gigantic morning stretch!
Talk about how the line travels from top to bottom, and notice its length, direction and proportion.
Children could practise their Ls on whiteboards, in the air with giant arm movements, on lined paper or directly in their drawing books.
Then those very same letter shapes become part of their lion!
Have some fun with YELLOW 💛
Our lion is a lovely lemon yellow, so there’s another little literacy opportunity hiding in the colour!
Follow the directed drawing together, then give children plenty of freedom to make their lions their own. Add colour, patterns, backgrounds, funny details, habitats or even an entire lion family.
When everyone has finished, let your little lions prowl around the classroom and visit the other lions in the den!
Children can look for similarities and differences, talk about details they notice and celebrate how the same starting shapes can lead to completely different artworks.
Where is this lion going? What does it want? Is it loud or lazy? Is it lost? Does it live in a lemon-yellow land? What happens when it meets another animal?
Use the activity as a full art project, a quick handwriting warm-up on whiteboards or lined paper, a phonics connection, or the starting point for imaginative writing.
There really are so many ways to play with language, sound, shape, letters and creativity in one simple drawing.
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Letter-L-Lion-Directed-Drawing-Writing-Alphabet-Phonics-Fine-Motor-17651835
And if you already have the Directed Drawing Fun Bundle 3, exciting news — you get instant access to this new project as part of your bundle! 🎉
Happy drawing, writing and roaring, arty teacher friends!
🦁 L is for Lion!
- Write yellow together and look closely at the word.
- Can children spot the double L?
- Two Ls sitting side by side — but we don’t say the /l/ sound twice!
- You could compare this with the four lovely long L shapes hiding in the lion drawing.
- Four long Ls… but the lion only needs one ROAR! 😂
Draw, create…and visit the lion den!
Now it’s time to draw!Follow the directed drawing together, then give children plenty of freedom to make their lions their own. Add colour, patterns, backgrounds, funny details, habitats or even an entire lion family.
When everyone has finished, let your little lions prowl around the classroom and visit the other lions in the den!
Children can look for similarities and differences, talk about details they notice and celebrate how the same starting shapes can lead to completely different artworks.
And don’t stop at drawing…
Your finished lion can also become the beginning of a writing activity or story.Where is this lion going? What does it want? Is it loud or lazy? Is it lost? Does it live in a lemon-yellow land? What happens when it meets another animal?
Use the activity as a full art project, a quick handwriting warm-up on whiteboards or lined paper, a phonics connection, or the starting point for imaginative writing.
There really are so many ways to play with language, sound, shape, letters and creativity in one simple drawing.
Grab the new Letter L Lion printable
The Letter L Lion Directed Drawing & Writing printable pack is available here:https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Letter-L-Lion-Directed-Drawing-Writing-Alphabet-Phonics-Fine-Motor-17651835
And if you already have the Directed Drawing Fun Bundle 3, exciting news — you get instant access to this new project as part of your bundle! 🎉
Happy drawing, writing and roaring, arty teacher friends!
🦁 L is for Lion!