Look and wonder
Notice, Think, Wonder
Study a strange little alien, then sort your ideas into what you notice, what you think and what you wonder.
Teacher resources
Thinking sheets for kids
100 free one-page printables that get kids noticing, wondering, planning and reflecting with a pencil. Each sheet mixes drawing boxes with short writing prompts and one of Kevin Coulston’s characters, so it works for early readers and confident writers alike.
Look and wonder
Whose Shadow Is This?
A mystery shadow. Use clues to guess who it belongs to, then draw what you think it really looks like.
Look and wonder
Zoom In, Zoom Out
Pick one object. Draw a tiny part of it huge, then draw the whole thing small in its place.
Look and wonder
Same and Different
A cartoon velociraptor and a robot T. rex. Sort what they share and what makes each one special.
Look and wonder
Spot Ten Details
Find ten small details in one character. The last few are the hardest and the most interesting.
Look and wonder
What Happens Next?
A monkey is up to something. Use clues in the picture to predict what happens next, then draw it.
Look and wonder
Cloud Spotting
Look up and find animals, monsters and faces hiding in the clouds. Draw them before they float away.
Look and wonder
Question Storm
Write as many questions as you can about one elephant, then pick the best one to explore.
Look and wonder
Mystery Bag Detective
Feel an object hidden in a bag, describe it, draw your guess, then reveal and draw the real thing.
Look and wonder
Odd One Out
Four characters, one doesn’t belong. Or does it? Find more than one answer and explain each.
Look and wonder
If It Could Talk
Give an everyday object a face and a voice. What would your pencil, shoe or lunchbox say?
Look and wonder
What’s Inside?
Draw the outside of something, then imagine the inside. Robots, backpacks, eggs and volcanoes welcome.
Look and wonder
Ant’s-Eye View
Shrink down to the size of an ant and draw the playground (or your desk) the way a tiny creature sees it.
Look and wonder
Color Hunt
Hunt the room (or the yard) for things of every color, then draw the most surprising find.
Look and wonder
Texture Detective
Make crayon rubbings of six textures, guess what each one is from and describe how it feels.
Look and wonder
Day and Night
Draw the same place in the daytime and at night, then list everything that changes.
Feelings and kindness
My Feelings Weather Report
Show today’s feelings as weather: sunny, cloudy, stormy or something brand new.
Feelings and kindness
One Character, Four Feelings
Draw the same character four times: happy, worried, grumpy and proud. Eyebrows do most of the work!
Feelings and kindness
Build a Kindness Robot
Design a robot whose only job is to be kind. Label its parts and decide who it helps first.
Feelings and kindness
Thank-You Garden
Grow a garden of things you’re thankful for, then write a short thank-you note to one person.
Feelings and kindness
My Calm-Down Plan
Pick the calm-down tricks that work for you, draw your calm place and name who can help.
Feelings and kindness
Feed the Worry Monster
Design a friendly monster that gobbles up worries, then feed it one of yours.
Feelings and kindness
Recipe for a Good Friend
What goes into a great friend? Write the recipe with amounts, then draw you and a friend.
Feelings and kindness
My Proud Moment Trophy
Design a trophy for something you worked hard at, and write what it took to get there.
Feelings and kindness
In Their Shoes
It’s the new kid’s first day. Imagine how they feel and plan three ways to help.
Feelings and kindness
Kindness Bingo
A week of small kind acts. Color a square for each one you do, and draw your favorite.
Feelings and kindness
Compliment Chain
Write a real, specific compliment for five people, link them into a chain and draw one of them smiling.
Feelings and kindness
Little Things That Make Me Happy
List ten small things that make you smile, from warm socks to a good joke, and draw your favorite.
Feelings and kindness
Solve a Friendship Problem
Two friends disagree. Name the problem, how each one feels and the ideas that could fix it fairly.
Feelings and kindness
My Brave Badge
Design a badge for a time you were brave, even a little bit, and write how you did it.
Feelings and kindness
Ways to Say Hello
Collect ways to greet people (words, waves, languages) and draw a friendly hello.
Feelings and kindness
Colors of My Feelings
Pick a color for each feeling, explain why, and make a picture in today’s feeling color.
Feelings and kindness
Kindness Coupons
Make four coupons for kind things you will do, then cut them out and give them away.
Imagine and invent
Mix-and-Match Creature
Pick two animals, mix them into one new creature, then give it a name, a home and a special skill.
Imagine and invent
Monster Recipe Card
Write the recipe for a food monster: ingredients, amounts and steps. Then draw what comes out of the oven.
Imagine and invent
The What-If Machine
Feed a big “what if?” into the machine and draw the world that comes out the other side.
Imagine and invent
Squiggle Starters
Three squiggles, three new characters. Turn each line into something nobody else would think of.
Imagine and invent
Design a Space Pet
Invent a pet that could live on another planet. What does it eat, breathe and play with?
Imagine and invent
Create a Superhero Sidekick
Every hero needs a sidekick. Invent one with a power, a weakness and a costume.
Imagine and invent
Invent a Gadget
Spot an everyday problem, invent a gadget to fix it and explain how it works step by step.
Imagine and invent
Dream Treehouse Plan
Plan the treehouse of your dreams: the rooms, the way in and the one secret feature.
Imagine and invent
Upside-Down Day
Today everything is the opposite. Draw your school on Upside-Down Day and write its new rules.
Imagine and invent
Invent a New Holiday
Make up a brand-new holiday: when it is, what it celebrates, the food and the decorations.
Imagine and invent
Build a Wacky Vehicle
Mash two vehicles together, choose a character to drive it and decide where it goes.
Imagine and invent
Design a Sneaker
Design a sneaker with a special power. Name it, label it and write the ad.
Imagine and invent
Underwater City
Plan a city at the bottom of the sea: where people live, how they travel and who their neighbors are.
Imagine and invent
Invent an Ice Cream Flavor
Invent a brand-new ice cream flavor, draw the cone and write a slogan that makes people try it.
Imagine and invent
Design a Theme Park Ride
Design the wildest ride in the park: the track, the cars, the height rule and the safety plan.
Imagine and invent
Through the Magic Door
A door appears in your classroom. Draw what’s on the other side and write the rules of that world.
Imagine and invent
Wild Pet for a Day
A wild animal is your pet for one day. Plan its schedule from breakfast to bedtime.
Plan and reflect
Plan My Drawing
Before you draw: choose your idea, shapes and colors. After you draw: look back and set a goal.
Plan and reflect
Climb the “Yet” Ladder
Name something you can’t do yet, then plan the small steps that get you to the top.
Plan and reflect
Be a Kind Art Critic
Look at a friend’s drawing like a museum critic: describe it, praise it, ask a question and give it a title.
Plan and reflect
Then and Now Drawing
Draw the same thing today and again in a few weeks. Compare them and spot what improved.
Plan and reflect
My Goal Map
Put a goal in the middle and map out everything that will help you reach it.
Plan and reflect
Art Exit Ticket
A quick 3-2-1 after any art lesson: three things learned, two liked, one question.
Plan and reflect
Drawing Practice Tracker
One small sketch a day for five days. Track the minutes and see what changes by Friday.
Plan and reflect
When I Get Stuck
Collect your best tricks for getting unstuck, then draw yourself using one.
Plan and reflect
My Best Mistake
Some mistakes turn into the best ideas. Draw one before and after, and what it taught you.
Plan and reflect
How Did Our Team Do?
After a group project: rate how the team listened, shared and helped, and plan one thing to do better.
Plan and reflect
My Week: High, Low, Next
Look back on the week: the best moment, the tough moment and something to look forward to.
Plan and reflect
My Portfolio Pick
Choose your best piece of art from the term and explain what makes it your best.
Plan and reflect
My Art Timeline
Draw how your drawings changed: a scribble from when you were little, up to the art you make now.
Plan and reflect
Two Stars and a Wish
Kind, useful feedback in three parts: two things that worked and one wish for next time.
Plan and reflect
Ready to Learn Checklist
Check that your supplies, body and brain are ready before a lesson, and draw your ready-to-go desk.
Plan and reflect
Know, Wonder, Learned
Before a topic, write what you know and wonder. After, write and draw what you learned.
Plan and reflect
What Helps Me Focus
Find what helps you concentrate and what pulls you away, then draw your best work spot.
Stories and words
Three-Box Comic
A character goes somewhere new. Tell what happens in a beginning, a middle and an end.
Stories and words
Postcard from Another Planet
You’re on vacation on a planet nobody has visited. Draw the view and write home about it.
Stories and words
Character Passport
Invent a character and fill in their passport: photo, name, home, favorite food, superpower and biggest fear.
Stories and words
Interview a Character
Pretend you’re a reporter. Ask a character four questions and imagine how it answers.
Stories and words
Story Mountain
Plan a story that climbs to an exciting top and slides down to a happy (or funny) ending.
Stories and words
Letter to Future Me
Write to yourself ten years from now and draw what you think you’ll be doing.
Stories and words
Five Senses Poem
Pick a place or a season and write one line for each sense. Then draw it.
Stories and words
Wanted: Missing Monster
A monster has gone missing! Make a poster so good that anyone could spot it.
Stories and words
Breaking News!
Be a reporter: write a headline, draw the news photo and answer who, what, where, when and why.
Stories and words
Six-Panel Comic
A longer comic with room for a twist: six panels, speech bubbles and a surprise ending.
Stories and words
Fairy Tale Twist
Take a fairy tale you know, change one thing and see how the whole story changes.
Stories and words
Draw a Story Map
Draw a map of where a story happens, with a dotted path showing the character’s journey.
Stories and words
What Are They Saying?
A velociraptor meets a unicorn. Fill the speech bubbles with their conversation.
Stories and words
Design a Book Cover
Make the cover for a book you’d love to write: title, picture, author name and the blurb on the back.
Stories and words
Describe It, Draw It
A partner game: one describes a secret monster, the other draws it. Then compare!
Stories and words
My Initial Monster
Turn the first letter of your name into a monster, then describe it with words that start with that letter.
Math and science
Shape Detective
Count the circles, triangles and rectangles hiding in a robot, then build your own character from shapes.
Math and science
Home Sweet Habitat
Draw an animal in its habitat and label the four things it needs: food, water, shelter and space.
Math and science
Measure a Monster
Draw a monster on squared paper, then count how tall and wide it is and how many squares it covers.
Math and science
Class Survey Graph
Ask your classmates a question, tally the answers and draw a bar graph of the results.
Math and science
Seed Diary
Plant a seed and draw it four times as it grows. Measure it and write what changed.
Math and science
Mirror Robot
Only half of this robot is here. Draw the missing half so both sides match like a mirror.
Math and science
Weather Watcher Week
Draw the weather every day for a week, record the temperature and find the pattern.
Math and science
Pattern Parade
Continue the shape patterns, then invent a pattern parade of your own.
Math and science
Float or Sink?
Predict which objects will float, test them in water and draw what surprised you.
Math and science
Ways to Make Ten
Draw groups of bugs, dots or monsters to show different ways to make 10.
Math and science
Paper Bridge Challenge
Build a bridge from one sheet of paper. Predict how many coins it will hold, test it and improve it.
Math and science
Shadow Tracker
Trace the shadow of the same object three times in one day and find out how and why it moves.
Math and science
Sort the Animals
Pick six animals, record their legs, body covering and home, then sort them into groups.
Math and science
My Day in Clocks
Draw four things you do every day and show each time on a clock face.
Math and science
Art Supply Shop
You have $10 to spend at the art supply shop. Choose wisely, add it up and count the change.
Math and science
Life Cycle Circle
Draw the four stages of an animal’s life cycle around a circle: frog, butterfly or chicken.
What is a thinking sheet?
A thinking sheet is a single printable page that asks a child to think something through on paper: look closely at a picture, name a feeling, plan a drawing, invent a creature or explain an idea. Drawing comes first, so kids who aren’t confident writers can still show what they think. Older kids add sentences, labels and lists.
Every sheet here is original to FirstArtBooks and links to free drawing lessons and books on the same theme.
Ways to use them
- Morning work or bell ringers: the feelings and wonder sheets take about 15 minutes.
- After a drawing lesson: use Plan My Drawing or Be a Kind Art Critic.
- Early finishers: keep a stack of Squiggle Starters in the art center.
- Sub days: any sheet works with no prep; pair it with the no-prep sub plans.
- At home: great for a rainy afternoon, a car trip or a homeschool writing day.
Look and wonder
Slow down, look closely and ask good questions.
Feelings and kindness
Name feelings, practice kindness and say thank you.
Imagine and invent
Mix ideas together and make something new.
Plan and reflect
Plan a drawing, look back on it and keep growing.
Stories and words
Turn drawings into comics, postcards and characters.
Math and science
Count, measure and explore with a pencil.
All sheets are US Letter, print well in black and white, and are free for home and classroom use. More for teachers: the lesson plan builder, early-finisher cards, the drawing guides and Story Studio for story writing.
Free for teachers
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12 printable pages: six step-by-step lessons, a grid activity, draw-and-write sheets and teacher notes, sent with your welcome email. After that, new classroom printables by email.