Dot Day drawing activities: make your mark

International Dot Day, celebrated around mid-September, is inspired by Peter H. Reynolds’s picture book The Dot, about a girl who believes she can’t draw until her teacher asks her to “make a mark and see where it takes you.” Great Dot Day drawing activities include turning a dot into a character, making dot monsters, collaborative dot art and talking about trying even when you’re unsure.

Why Dot Day matters

The message of Dot Day is the same one we care about most: everyone can make art, and the first mark is the bravest. It’s a perfect day to talk about kids who say “I can’t draw.” See when kids say “I can’t draw” and growth mindset art activities.

Start with the book

Read The Dot aloud, then ask:

• How did Vashti feel at the start?
• What changed her mind?
• What would you do with one dot?

Turn a dot into a character

Give every child a page with one circle in the middle. They turn it into anything: a face, a sun, a ladybug, a planet, a monster, a pizza. Then do it again with a dot in a different spot. It’s a great warm-up for drawing with shapes, and it’s how many step-by-step drawings start: a circle for the head, then more shapes added one at a time.

Dot monsters

Draw dots of different sizes, then add eyes, legs, teeth and horns. A big dot with six tiny dots for eyes. A cluster of dots that becomes a caterpillar. See monster drawing ideas.

Collaborative dot art

• Class dot wall. Every student decorates a paper circle; hang them together.
• Pass the dot. Each child adds one thing to a dot, then passes it on.
• Dot quilt. Squares of paper, each with a decorated dot, taped into a quilt.

Dot art techniques

• Dot painting with cotton swabs.
• Concentric circles in different colors.
• Patterns inside a dot: stripes, spirals, zigzags.
• A dot that’s made of tiny dots.

Sign your dot

In the book, Vashti’s teacher frames her dot and asks her to sign it. Have every child sign their work. It’s a small moment that says “you’re an artist.”

Keep making marks

Dot Day is a good kickoff for a year of drawing. Use the drawing prompt generator or step-by-step lessons to keep kids making marks all year. See directed drawing for classroom ideas.

Tip: Ask kids what their dot became, not what it is. “Tell me about it” invites a story. See questions to ask kids about their art.

The book that helps

The Shape Drawing Challenge turns simple shapes like circles into characters, which is exactly the spirit of Dot Day.

Shape Drawing ChallengeSee it on Amazon

How to Draw: Cute Cartoon MonstersSee it on Amazon

How to Draw: Silly FacesSee it on Amazon

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