Art Activities Archives

Easy Drawing Ideas | Kawaii Cute Penguin Drawing

Over the years I’ve heard from so many parents and teachers who want to support drawing skills for young children with easy drawing ideas. Along with that, I’m also asked about how to support drawing skills.

Here are a few of my favorite drawing tips that have worked for our family and countless others:

Follow the child’s interests. If the topic peeks their curiosity, there’s a better chance they’ll look forward to the drawing challenge.
Make it fun and light and keep the pressure low.
Make it playful. Play drawing games like playing with Art Dice or One-minute drawings.
Use interesting drawing materials such as feather quills or clay.
Model a drawing mindset. Show your own interest in drawing, and willingness to experiment and make mistakes.
Share easy steps that break down the drawing process, yet keep the end result open-ended (like those in this printable)

I will be the first to admit that I love cute things, and that passion has been passed down to my children who are obsessed with Japanese cartoons, Kawaii characters, Shopkins, and manga. Rather than run from this passion I decided to embrace it.

Scroll to the end of this post for a link to the free printable that you can download today.

How to Draw a Kawaii Cute Penguin

Kawaii (pronounced Hawaii) is the Japanese word for cute, lovable, and adorable. Interestingly, the word’s original meaning described someone who was blushing from embarrassment.

But for today’s purpose, we’ll go with cute and lovable. Well, that penguin below may be blushing…

One of the things I care most about as an arts educator is encouraging and supporting individual expression and ideas in art making. Prescriptive, how-to tutorials concern me as I worry about children taking them too literally.

This process, however, should be seen as an inspirational foundation or starting point from which to build personal and unique ideas. I gave the sheet to my five-year old tester, and you can see that she took it into completely original territory.

Printable for the Kawaii Cute Penguin

The penguin is drawn in six easy steps.

Download the printable here.

Once you’re done, feel free to add your own ideas, backgrounds, textures, and props.

Halloween in the Design Dorm

By Rachelle Leave a Comment

I hope your Halloween was festive and delightful. In addition to the usual costumes and trick-or-treating, we got a little crazy and hosted a lantern festival at our college dorm.

Here’s a snapshot…

As you might know, our family lives in a design theme dorm where we’re resident fellows. To amplify the spirit of design through pumpkins, we invited all of the residents in our quad to join us for lantern carving, inspired by the late design professor, Matt Kahn.

The students used everything from melon ball scoopers to power drills and they came up with over 100 creative ideas!

We were lucky to have John Edmark, who taught with Matt Kahn for many years, join us as a guest lecturer and lantern carving expert.

It was hard to capture this once the sun was down, but imagine this space activated with a fire pit + s’mores, karaoke, and 100+ glowing pumpkins. Pure magic.

I love hosting events, but sometimes slip up on promoting them and getting the word out. In that spirit, there are three upcoming TinkerLab-style events that I’d love to welcome you to if you’re in the Palo Alto area: Holiday Open Studios and two Book Launch events for Creative Adventures in Cursive.

If you’d like to be added to my local event list, which I use to promote all things happening around the Bay Area, you can add yourself to the local event list here.

Three upcoming events

Holiday Open Studios

Tinkerlab Studio, 4000 Middlefield Road, Studio U-5, Palo Alto, CA 94303

November 10

2-4 pm

Free crafts, book signing, hot cider, and holiday cheer

Book Signing and Party for Creative Adventures in Cursive at the Stanford Bookstore

Stanford Bookstore

November 11, 1-3 pm

Free crafts from the book and book signing!

Book Launch for Creative Adventures in Cursive at Habbi Habbi

Stanford Shopping Center

November 18

12-4 pm

Free crafts from the book and book signing!

ArtStart: Tape, Poster Paint, and Leaves

By Rachelle Leave a Comment

The air is getting super crisp here in NorCal. We’re bundling up, sipping tea, and enjoying the drama changing leaves, which is a certain kind of excitement I rarely experienced as a kid in Los Angeles. To get into the season, we’re sharing a favorite invitation to create, using leaves as the source of inspiration.

If you’re new to this, an invitation to create is a thoughtfully arranged provocation to make something from a set up of provided materials. One person sets up an inviting selection of materials, and another person makes something from these supplies.

The materials and the set up act as the main source of inspiration and the creation process could evolve into a number of different outcomes. There’s no right or wrong way about it. While the person who sets the supplies up may have an idea about how the other person will use the materials, the final outcome is totally unpredictable and creative.

Here at TinkerLab, we call these ArtStarters!

ArtStart: Tape, Poster Paint, and Leaves

This creative set up shows kids think outside the box while using materials other than paper as painting surfaces and helps connect children with nature.

Supplies:

Affiliate links to recommended brands below.

Fresh Leaves
Colorful Tape like this washi tape
Poster Paint. We love Colorations brand.
Scissors. Fiskars is the best.
Ice cube tray (or something to hold the paint)
Paint brushes. I love this Crayola set of round brushes.
Jar of water

The first thing you’ll want to do is go on a walk to collect leaves. Fresh leaves are best for this project because tape has a hard time sticking to dried leaves.

Next, set up a selection of tape and scissors and invite your child to add tape to the leaves. It’s always more fun when we get to play, so you you can join in, too! Why should kids have all the fun?

Then, set up paint brushes, a water jar, and an ice cube tray filled with poster paint. Invite your child to paint.

Have fun painting. Mix colors together, make patterns, blend paint. There’s no wrong way about it.

When the paint is dry, you can add these leaves to your table, weave them into a centerpiece, or hang them on the wall.

Free STEAM drop-in classes at Habbi Habbi

By Rachelle Leave a Comment

I’m thrilled to announce a new partnership with Habbi Habbi, an experiential toy store and playroom located in the Stanford Shopping Center. In the months of October, November, and December, we’ll host a series of creative arts classes, focusing on STEAM!

I love their new space and share their mission to raise kids who are happy, healthy, humble. Please join me if you’re nearby!

Visit their website at behabbi.com.

All of the workshops are free and design for children ages 3 and up. Come out and play with us!

Workshop Dates

Wednesday, October 10, 10-11 am: Nature Collage

Wednesday, October 24, 10-11 am: Straw Rocket

Wednesday, November 7, 10-11 am: Recycled Sculpture

Wednesday, November 14, 10-11 am: Wrapped Twigs

Wednesday, December 5, 10-11 am: Draw Bot

Wednesday, December 12, 10-11 am: Winter Shadow Box

October Art Challenge

By Rachelle Leave a Comment

Hello October!

We’re happy to bring you the October Art Challenge, filled with all sorts of prompts that get you into the spirt of the autumn season. Just yesterday we were hit with real fall weather – an overcast sky and sweater-wearing magic – and it felt amazing. I’m sure we’ll be ready for spring in no time, but for now we’re happy to bundle up and enjoy the spiciness of fall. If you’re in a warmer climate, the October art challenge prompts are still general enough that you shouldn’t feel left behind. 🙂

How to use the Art Challenge prompts

Print out the prompts. You can screen grab the image above or scroll down for a PDF printable.
Gather sketchbooks or paper
Gather art-making materials: markers, paint, collage papers, glue, etc.
Give yourself a few minutes each day for this challenge. Try the morning after breakfast, after school, after dinner, before bed, etc.
Interpret the daily prompt. Use your imagination, be free, don’t hold back, and have fun.

October Art Challenge

TinkerSketch is a daily sketchbook practice that invites you to experiment and play with ideas and materials in a low-stress, fun, and mind-stretching way.

You’ll start each day with a new prompt and it’s up to you to interpret it however you like. For example, if the prompt is “stormy”, you could draw a picture of a storm, use colors that remind you of a storm, or make expressive marks that feel like they were created in a storm. The possibilities are endless.

More Details

For more details on how the TinkerSketch Art Challenge works, click here to read for a full list of recommended resources and ideas on how to get started with this challenge.

Printable of the October Art Challenge

Grab your printable here >> Download October Art Challenge Printable

September Art Challenge

By Rachelle 1 Comment

We’re inching up on September, which means it’s time to release details for the September Art Challenge. This month brings us a brand new set of art prompts to inspire creativity in your family or classroom this month. With summer ending and school beginning, this time of year is a season of relaxation and business. In that spirit, the September art prompts reflect the ying/yang of this experience.

How to use the Art Challenge prompts

Print out the prompts
Gather sketchbooks or paper
Gather art-making materials: markers, paint, collage papers, glue, etc.
Give yourself a few minutes each day for this challenge. Try the morning after breakfast, after school, after dinner, before bed, etc.
Interpret the daily prompt. Use your imagination, be free, don’t hold back, and have fun.

September Art Challenge

TinkerSketch is a daily sketchbook practice that invites you to experiment and play with ideas and materials in a low-stress, fun, and mind-stretching way.

You’ll start each day with a new prompt and it’s up to you to interpret it however you like. For example, if the prompt is “tiny”, you could draw an object with tiny marks, make a small pattern, or paint a picture of small things like snails, sand, or chihuahuas. The possibilities are endless.

More Details

For more details on how the TinkerSketch Art Challenge works, click here to read for a full list of recommended resources and ideas on how to get started with this challenge.