It started about two weeks ago when we had breakfast with some friends. To keep Ellie entertained, she was coloring on her menu. I asked her to draw a picture of herself and she looked down sadly and said "No, you do it! I don't know how." Oh, sweet girl! "Would you like me to show you how?" and her eyes lit up and she said yes.
And here it is. Ellie's first picture of herself. I told her what to draw, such as "ok, now we need a big circle right here..." and she did all the work. I don't think it turned out half bad, do you? Granted she looks much cuter in real life, but you have to start somewhere. She was so proud and even wrote her name (all by herself) on the paper to show everyone.
That got me thinking. Ellie CAN draw pictures... she just doesn't know how to break it down into simple steps. So I went out and bought her her very own box of crayons.
She was so excited when she saw it and was even more excited when I suggested writing her name on her very own box of crayons. Of course, it wasn't until after I wrote her first and last name that she told me she wanted to include her middle name, but she's proud of it all the same.
Now to use the crayons... "What do you want to draw, Ellie?" and her answer is "I don't know." Well... let's draw Merlin! And here is the result. Ellie concludes "Merlin looks funny!" Note that he's complete with legs, feet and even a tail and ears!
Next Ellie wants to draw flowers. I show her how you can turn the letter U into tulips. She drew all the U's and the stems. Then she helped me color them in. She was particularly proud of the upside-down flower at the bottom. Silly flower.
Ellie requested more flowers because that was pretty cool. This time I showed her how to turn a bunch of circles into flowers. She drew the circles and picked the colors. I drew the petals, making a WHOOPING sound with each one, but she did help me color a couple of them in. However Mommy did most of the coloring.
Her next request was a rainbow. Here is the result. She drew the lines and helped me color it in. Then I showed her how no rainbow is complete without the sun and some clouds. She insisted that I draw a Daddy cloud, Mommy cloud, Ellie cloud and Addie cloud. Of course, the clouds required more WHOOPING sounds. Then like the others, she rushed to go show it to Daddy.
The next day she wanted to draw a rainbow all by herself but asked very nicely if I would color it for her. "I draw it all by myself. It's for Daddy!" so I helped her write the words and she signed her name.
Then she wanted to draw another picture of Merlin. She knew that she first needed a body and legs. But then she started to draw lines across Merlin's body. "Silly girl, Merlin doesn't have stripes! Are you drawing a zebra?" Her eyes lit up as she realized that indeed, that's EXACTLY what she was drawing! I told her how to finish the zebra, then I colored the stripes as she drew grass for the zebra to eat (I showed her the trick to drawing grass - she's pretty good at it). She was a little upset that the zebra couldn't reach the grass but I explained how we had to pretend that the zebra could put his head down to eat the grass because it's just a picture. She confirmed by saying "Yeah, it's just a pretend picture, right Mommy?" Then she headed over to show Daddy her pretend zebra.
The next night Ellie was certain what she wanted to draw. Here is her ladybug. She drew the ladybug and I colored it in for her. She was particularly proud of this but was to excited about the butterfly to spend too much time bragging about it.
The butterfly was a tough one for Mommy. It's not easy to show a 3 year old how to draw things, but I showed her how you can make a butterfly out of the letter B and a backwards B. She thinks my little tricks and tips are pretty cool. Again, Ellie drew the entire butterfly and Mommy colored it in.
The next night Ellie really stepped it up a notch and requested that I help her draw Baby Addie on the swing. WHA??? You got it. I have quickly grown to love our drawing sessions but they are a test in patience, for both of us. It's not easy to show a young child how to draw something and it certainly isn't easy for Ellie to do the things I request her to do. Sometimes she does exactly what I ask her to but the result is just not usable. So here you have it... My first attempt at showing Ellie how to draw a baby on a swing. We decided it looked more like a Blue's Clues paw print so that's what we made it into. Whew. Nice save, Mommy.
Here is our second attempt at drawing a baby in a swing. Ellie drew everything except the hands and feet. I think she couldn't see the big picture in the steps I was telling her to do. After adding the hands and feet and then coloring it in, I was able to show her that yes we were actually drawing a baby on a swing.
But the challenge wasn't done yet. She wanted to draw a lion. Bring it on, Ellie! Bring it! She drew everything, including her patented squiggly tail and the upside down face (we decided that the lion was looking up and roaring). She colored in the body while I colored in the head. Then I told her that we needed some grass and asked if she remembered how to draw grass. She didn't even need me to remind her.
Is that all you've got, Ellie? What's next? Give me your best shot! An elephant? Ouch. That one hurt. Ok... here we go... take a deep breath... first we need a circle for a body.... I just love the result. My favorite is the squiggly trunk she drew. Too cute!
Last, but not least, she insisted that we draw a tree before going to bed. She even passed up the opportunity to read three books (we agreed to just one instead) to learn how to draw a tree. I told her that to make a tree we had to make the sound WHOOP while we drew an arch from dot to dot. She WHOOPED all the way around and made a wonderful tree. Then she drew a trunk, though she insisted that trunks are for elephants. She was happy with the idea of a hole for a squirrel to live in until I colored it in. Then she decided it was a door. "So dat he can open it and go in and hide from the animals so dat the animals don't step on his tail! Is dat a good idea, Mommy?" It's perfect, Ellie. It's absolutely perfect.
And here it is. Ellie's first picture of herself. I told her what to draw, such as "ok, now we need a big circle right here..." and she did all the work. I don't think it turned out half bad, do you? Granted she looks much cuter in real life, but you have to start somewhere. She was so proud and even wrote her name (all by herself) on the paper to show everyone.
That got me thinking. Ellie CAN draw pictures... she just doesn't know how to break it down into simple steps. So I went out and bought her her very own box of crayons. 
She was so excited when she saw it and was even more excited when I suggested writing her name on her very own box of crayons. Of course, it wasn't until after I wrote her first and last name that she told me she wanted to include her middle name, but she's proud of it all the same.
Now to use the crayons... "What do you want to draw, Ellie?" and her answer is "I don't know." Well... let's draw Merlin! And here is the result. Ellie concludes "Merlin looks funny!" Note that he's complete with legs, feet and even a tail and ears!
Next Ellie wants to draw flowers. I show her how you can turn the letter U into tulips. She drew all the U's and the stems. Then she helped me color them in. She was particularly proud of the upside-down flower at the bottom. Silly flower.
Ellie requested more flowers because that was pretty cool. This time I showed her how to turn a bunch of circles into flowers. She drew the circles and picked the colors. I drew the petals, making a WHOOPING sound with each one, but she did help me color a couple of them in. However Mommy did most of the coloring.
Her next request was a rainbow. Here is the result. She drew the lines and helped me color it in. Then I showed her how no rainbow is complete without the sun and some clouds. She insisted that I draw a Daddy cloud, Mommy cloud, Ellie cloud and Addie cloud. Of course, the clouds required more WHOOPING sounds. Then like the others, she rushed to go show it to Daddy. 
The next day she wanted to draw a rainbow all by herself but asked very nicely if I would color it for her. "I draw it all by myself. It's for Daddy!" so I helped her write the words and she signed her name.
Then she wanted to draw another picture of Merlin. She knew that she first needed a body and legs. But then she started to draw lines across Merlin's body. "Silly girl, Merlin doesn't have stripes! Are you drawing a zebra?" Her eyes lit up as she realized that indeed, that's EXACTLY what she was drawing! I told her how to finish the zebra, then I colored the stripes as she drew grass for the zebra to eat (I showed her the trick to drawing grass - she's pretty good at it). She was a little upset that the zebra couldn't reach the grass but I explained how we had to pretend that the zebra could put his head down to eat the grass because it's just a picture. She confirmed by saying "Yeah, it's just a pretend picture, right Mommy?" Then she headed over to show Daddy her pretend zebra.
The next night Ellie was certain what she wanted to draw. Here is her ladybug. She drew the ladybug and I colored it in for her. She was particularly proud of this but was to excited about the butterfly to spend too much time bragging about it.
The butterfly was a tough one for Mommy. It's not easy to show a 3 year old how to draw things, but I showed her how you can make a butterfly out of the letter B and a backwards B. She thinks my little tricks and tips are pretty cool. Again, Ellie drew the entire butterfly and Mommy colored it in.
The next night Ellie really stepped it up a notch and requested that I help her draw Baby Addie on the swing. WHA??? You got it. I have quickly grown to love our drawing sessions but they are a test in patience, for both of us. It's not easy to show a young child how to draw something and it certainly isn't easy for Ellie to do the things I request her to do. Sometimes she does exactly what I ask her to but the result is just not usable. So here you have it... My first attempt at showing Ellie how to draw a baby on a swing. We decided it looked more like a Blue's Clues paw print so that's what we made it into. Whew. Nice save, Mommy.
Here is our second attempt at drawing a baby in a swing. Ellie drew everything except the hands and feet. I think she couldn't see the big picture in the steps I was telling her to do. After adding the hands and feet and then coloring it in, I was able to show her that yes we were actually drawing a baby on a swing.
But the challenge wasn't done yet. She wanted to draw a lion. Bring it on, Ellie! Bring it! She drew everything, including her patented squiggly tail and the upside down face (we decided that the lion was looking up and roaring). She colored in the body while I colored in the head. Then I told her that we needed some grass and asked if she remembered how to draw grass. She didn't even need me to remind her.
Is that all you've got, Ellie? What's next? Give me your best shot! An elephant? Ouch. That one hurt. Ok... here we go... take a deep breath... first we need a circle for a body.... I just love the result. My favorite is the squiggly trunk she drew. Too cute!
Last, but not least, she insisted that we draw a tree before going to bed. She even passed up the opportunity to read three books (we agreed to just one instead) to learn how to draw a tree. I told her that to make a tree we had to make the sound WHOOP while we drew an arch from dot to dot. She WHOOPED all the way around and made a wonderful tree. Then she drew a trunk, though she insisted that trunks are for elephants. She was happy with the idea of a hole for a squirrel to live in until I colored it in. Then she decided it was a door. "So dat he can open it and go in and hide from the animals so dat the animals don't step on his tail! Is dat a good idea, Mommy?" It's perfect, Ellie. It's absolutely perfect.
3 comments:
Jen, children's art is my absolute favorite!!!!!!!! Thanks soooo much for sharing. She is VERY advanced for her age in conception (and you're bringing it out). Please continue your sharing. I love it and you al
I'm not positive that she's advanced for her age. These pictures are A LOT of Mommy saying "Ok, now draw a straight light right here for his leg. And how many legs does he have?" She's just following directions, but thanks for the compliment.
Toooooo Cute! Just adorable. You get the best mommy in the world award!
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