As Few Lines As Possible

Conserve your energy -- and have a ton of art fun with your kids!

ADDED September 15, 2009

Length:  Fifteen to forty-five minutes.

Parental Involvement: Explain the idea and give a quick demonstration.  Play with the kids and guess it up!

Kids Should Be Able to:  Draw.  Count lines.  Interpret drawings and be creative.

Look at the picture above.  Do you know what it is?  If you guessed a cat, I thank you!  Every artist appreciates being understood and recognized.  Now have a look again, please, and count how many lines are up there.  If you counted five, good job and congratulations.  I used only five lines to create that kitty.  And that's the idea here today:  how few lines do you and your kids need to depict common objects and animals? 

When we do this one, everybody in our house starts with their own paper and pen and five lines. 

We all take a minute or two and, when a drawing is ready, yell "Done!"

Everyone shows their drawing, and we all try to guess what it is.

(For the record, we call it a "line" that someone is drawing until that person lifts their pen up off the page.  So one line could be wavy, squiggly, a spiral, etc.)

Sometimes we also start drawing and counting lines.  We try to draw in a way that people can guess the subject of the drawing by using as few lines as possible.  Believe it or not, my fine, bright kids correctly guessed a shark and a chess king after I drew only two lines!  We're all very proud.

(One of my boys has somehow invented an opposite of this game.  He is very proud that I have not yet figured out his drawing.  He keeps adding lines each day -- were up to about seventy now -- and I still don't know what it is.  He's delighted.  I'm confused -- but we're both busy and having fun.)

It's fun for kids and adults to see how much can be communicated with as little information as possible.

With this fun activity, kids will be *lining* up to participate again and again!

art supplies needed,

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