shape people

These crazy-colored shape people are done by first grade students. They are an outgrowth of the bubble people I do with Kindergarten students. The goal is simply to move children away from drawing stick people and toward drawing people with whole bodies.

I introduce the lesson by having students name the shape of the head (oval, not circle), and talking about the elbow and knee as joints that join the upper and lower parts of arms and legs. We move our arms and legs in different poses. I then demonstrate the light drawing of a bubble person on a chart paper, using a pencil. I show how to outline the outside of the entire body shape with a marker, as this is a tricky thing for some students.

Students draw bubble people in pencil, one bubble at a time: head, neck, body, two-part arms, and two-part legs. I talk them through the body parts so that they don't leave anything out. Then they outline with marker around the outside of the "bubbles" to create a stylized person shape. They erase the pencil lines and "crazy-color" the resulting shape. If there's still time, they do a second one, either smaller or larger than the first. For this activity, we skip doing faces or other additions to the people shapes, and concentrate on bright colors and/or patterns. Some children have a hard time outlining the entire outside of the shape and outline each bubble instead, or cross through joints. I try to stay close and help them with their second drawing.

Other lessons in this activity are how to use and care for the markers (cap on the end while drawing, cap snapped shut when finished to preserve ink), how to use your empty hand to hold the paper still while outlining, and how to erase (just the line, not all over the paper), When there is fifteen minutes left (classes are one hour), I tell students that whatever they are doing right now, it is the last thing they will do: If drawing bubbles, they will outline and erase and stop. If they are outlining, they will finish and stop. If they are coloring, they will finish and stop. Some student work, then will have one or two "colored-in" shape people and one "blank" one. After putting away materials, students walk around the room looking at everyone's work. I ask them to look for something that is completely different from everyone else's. After they've seen everyone's work, they share what they've noticed.

Sometimes I display these in a long line across the top of the white board or over a window. Looks great!

shape tracing

These Kindergarten shape tracing designs are made by tracing the same shape template several times, overlaying the shape in different directions to create a variety of interior shapes and spaces. Each table group has a variety of sizes of cardboard or plastic squares, rectangles, triangles, and circles to choose from. When giving directions, I emphasize that they should use only one shape to do all their tracings; I demonstrate this for them using a dark colored crayon for the tracing lines. I point out the variety of shapes and spaces created by the overlapping contour lines of the original shapes, and invite them to color in the spaces however they want to. I also demonstrate cutting the entire design around the outside and gluing it onto a background color that is present in the colored areas.

Interestingly, students will tackle this activity in different ways. Some want to trace the shapes next to each other rather than overlapping. Some like to make large spaces while others will make small ones. Some students take the time to select certain colors for the coloring part, or approach the coloring in a methodical way: starting with the smallest spaces, or starting with the ones nearest the center and radiating out, or starting with the outside spaces and working their way to the center. Some students jump all over the place, switching colors with each new space, while other students might use the same color for several spaces before choosing a new color.

Some students need a contour line to help them cut all around the outside of the shapes, while others grasp the concept right away. It helps to ask each student to trace with their finger where they are going to cut. There are always a couple of students, at least, who cut into the design, so it's important to keep a watchful eye and to be available with scotch tape.

When sharing these, I like to show two or three at a time and ask students to compare the colors, or count the triangles, or find other shapes that have been created by overlapping the original shape. This activity takes less than an hour, uses no special materials other than the shapes for tracing, and can be extended in a variety of ways. Students can be given limited colors to use, they can use chalk or watercolors in the spaces instead of coloring them, or they can be asked to make patterns or do rubbings inside the spaces.