I can't hardly believe it, but Victor turned 8 years old today. I drew an 8 scoop ice cream cone for his 8th birthday. Last year it was 7 cupcakes. The year before, I drew a birthday cake. As usual, I didn't tell him what I was going to draw. I just got started.
As soon as I was finished, I showed it off and asked, "What do you think?"
"It's good!" he said with a big smile.
His new school doesn't support sending in treats to celebrate a kid's birthday. Instead, they've asked us parents to think of creative ways to celebrate in the classroom. Naturally, I thought of coming to school to celebrate with him and teach the kids about drawing. Since the school didn't want real treats, I planned for the kids to learn how to draw treats...things like candy, cup cakes, and ice cream.
I arrived at his classroom about an hour before lunch. The kids were excited to have a visitor, as was Victor. I brought in a bunch of classic snack sacks to share. Victor joined me at the front of the classroom. We started by explaining our project and browsing through the physical sacks as well as the photos. He was thrilled to flip through them all pointing out little notes about each. The class was very engaged.
Just about everyone raised their hand when I asked how many kids wished they were better at drawing. I handed out worksheets with drawing samples of the various sweets. I explained how starting from basic shapes can be a good technique for breaking down a drawing you want to copy. We worked together as I drew on the whiteboard and they drew on paper. Even Victor's teacher joined in for the lesson. I gave a few more tips on drawing mechanics and then let them loose.
I handed out some more paper and some blank snack sacks. I asked the class to draw creatively with the suggestion to incorporate sweets into the scene. The kids were quite enthused. Minus two exceptions (one girl wasn't interested for whatever reason and hardly participated and one boy got frustrated and emotional as he struggled to copy the sweets to his own satisfaction), the energy was overwhelmingly positive with kids thoroughly enjoying the creative session.
The hour flew by and it was a challenge for the kids to settle down, clean up, and prep themselves to head out for lunch. They finally left the classroom well after their lunchtime had officially started. I shuffled on out myself happy to have made Victor's day a bit more special.
As soon as I was finished, I showed it off and asked, "What do you think?"
"It's good!" he said with a big smile.
His new school doesn't support sending in treats to celebrate a kid's birthday. Instead, they've asked us parents to think of creative ways to celebrate in the classroom. Naturally, I thought of coming to school to celebrate with him and teach the kids about drawing. Since the school didn't want real treats, I planned for the kids to learn how to draw treats...things like candy, cup cakes, and ice cream.
I arrived at his classroom about an hour before lunch. The kids were excited to have a visitor, as was Victor. I brought in a bunch of classic snack sacks to share. Victor joined me at the front of the classroom. We started by explaining our project and browsing through the physical sacks as well as the photos. He was thrilled to flip through them all pointing out little notes about each. The class was very engaged.
Just about everyone raised their hand when I asked how many kids wished they were better at drawing. I handed out worksheets with drawing samples of the various sweets. I explained how starting from basic shapes can be a good technique for breaking down a drawing you want to copy. We worked together as I drew on the whiteboard and they drew on paper. Even Victor's teacher joined in for the lesson. I gave a few more tips on drawing mechanics and then let them loose.
I handed out some more paper and some blank snack sacks. I asked the class to draw creatively with the suggestion to incorporate sweets into the scene. The kids were quite enthused. Minus two exceptions (one girl wasn't interested for whatever reason and hardly participated and one boy got frustrated and emotional as he struggled to copy the sweets to his own satisfaction), the energy was overwhelmingly positive with kids thoroughly enjoying the creative session.
The hour flew by and it was a challenge for the kids to settle down, clean up, and prep themselves to head out for lunch. They finally left the classroom well after their lunchtime had officially started. I shuffled on out myself happy to have made Victor's day a bit more special.
