Art and artists
Line Safari
Go hunting for eight kinds of lines and draw one of each: zigzag, wavy, dotted, spiral and more.
Thinking sheet · Art and artists
Action Lines
Make a character run, jump and spin using the motion lines cartoonists use.
- Grades
- 1–5
- Time
- about 20 minutes
- Topic
- Art and artists
- Kids practice
- showing movement, cartooning, visual symbols
What kids do
“Cartoonists add little lines to show movement. Make your character zoom!”
- Running
- Jumping
- Spinning
- I used…
- Which action looks the fastest? Why?
How to run it
- Find motion lines in a comic or one of Kevin’s books first.
- Speed lines go behind the character, pointing where it came from.
- Keep the character simple so the lines stand out.
Talk about it
- What would the drawing look like without the lines?
- What other symbols do cartoonists use?
- Which line shows slow movement?
Take it further
Draw a whole comic chase scene using action lines.
Pairs well with
Free for home and classroom use. Print as many copies as you need.
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Color the wheel with three primary colors, mix the three in-between colors and record the recipes.
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Warm and Cool Twins
Draw the same picture twice: once in warm colors and once in cool colors. How does each one feel?
Free for teachers
Get the free Classroom Drawing Kit
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.