Friday, July 4, 2014

How to Start Young Kids Drawing the U.S.

I wanted to begin to teach my daughter how to draw the United States.  She looked at the map with all it's squiggly shapes and jets in and out and didn't seem too keen on even starting!  The outline map seemed tedious to her at this point - so I put it away and took a new approach.   I knew I had to come up with a simplified way of having her see the map to get her engaged.  So we broke it down into four sections and then came up with things we could "see" or "imagine" in each section that would help her remember some of the bigger features to that section and how to draw it.  Here is what we came up with....


I used a tear off United States sheet I had from previous cycle 3 study and a sharpie pen with ruler to quarter off the US map for us.  You could easily use a dry erase map of the US or any other map of the US you have, that you can take a sharpie or dry erase marker to.  I had my daughter take her piece of paper and fold it into quarters.  (Just folding it in half and then in half again.)  Then she opened it up and had four sections to work with for drawing her map.
I would first draw what she saw on my map for her to copy.  Then she would look at my image and draw it on her paper in the correct quarter.  We would look at each section and talk about what we could see shape or image wise, on each quarter.  I would let her decide which idea she liked best for us to use.

The top quarter we decided looked like a "rectangle with the corner pulled up".  So she drew her own "rectangle with the corner pulled up" on her paper after I did mine on my map.
The next section we looked at was below our "rectangle with the corner pulled up" and we decided that this section looked like a "piece of pizza with two bites taken out of it"!  So my daughter drew her "pizza with two bites out"!
The right side of the map was a little more challenging and required us to use our imagination more to see something on that side.  We started with the top right and decided that it could be drawn like a "snail shell and snail body sticking out" as my daughter put it.  
Then our last quarter of the map we decided in order to see something we had to turn it sideways and then my daughter said she could see "Pinocchio with his mouth open"!  So we drew "Pinocchio with his mouth open" to complete our map!
We added a "cup" for Alaska and some "spills" at the end for the Island's in Hawaii!  
It was fun to take the map and break it down with our imaginations.  It helped my daughter feel like drawing the US map wasn't so formidable and it gave her a good beginning base for the general shape of the US.  It also changed her attitude about drawing it.  Once up in the Challenge levels they will be able to draw all the states inside the map...but for now, this is a good starting place for us to familiarize ourselves with drawing the US map for cycle 3.  I would encourage you to help break down the US map for your kids if they are younger, instead of just having them outline the map only.  It will make it much more memorable for them to free hand it later on.  Think "blobbing" the US, similar to what we teach when we "blob" the World map.  

I definitely plan to have my daughter outline the US map as well, don't get me wrong.  I think outlining the map is definitely needed and beneficial.  I believe using a combination of both free handing with shapes like above and outlining will be helpful though.  As she sees the four sections broken down and begins to learn the states and capitals, it will be easier for me to give her reference points based on her imagined drawings.  I imagine this would be even more true for younger children that are abecedarian or apprentice age.  For example, you could say "Where on the map is New York"?  Your younger child may have no clue initially but you could say "It's inside the snail's body"...or "Where is Florida"?  "It's Pinocchio's nose"!  They would much easier find it, then to explain it's in the North on the East Coast, or the South on the East Coast- this would be especially true for younger kids who are challenged to remember left from right and east from west!  

Just another way to use our imaginations to learn something new in the spirit of classically creative!

Leave a comment if your child comes up with some of their own imagined shapes to draw the US Map!  I'd love to hear them!  
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16 comments:

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    1. Thank you Carrie! I hope it blesses your homeschool. - Colleen :)

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  2. This is fabulous! The kids in our co-op are learning this this year and your post will be so helpful!

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    1. Pam - so glad this will help your co-op! Fantastic! Thank you for the comment. I appreciate it! Blessings - Colleen

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  3. What a fun idea! I just went to a CC practicum last week and saw what the elementary age kids did for their geo camp. They 'blobbed' but took it to another level by doing a circle/oval for each state. The maps looked amazing! I didn't take my kids, so I don't know all the details, but I'd like to try it =)

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  4. Amy - interesting - trying to picture how that would work with some of the State's shapes. Would love to have seen it. Blessings, Colleen :)

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  5. This...wow. This is awesome. I have been hitting my head trying to figure out a blob map activity for cycle 3, and here it is. I already tried to draw it out myself, and it was a success. Kids will love it! Thanks so much!

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    1. So glad this is helpful to you! I hope your kiddo's enjoy it and have fun with it, while they learn to draw the States! Blessings - Colleen

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  6. Wow! Do you mind if I post a link to this on my blog: http://storiesofourboys.com
    I'm a first year cc mom and always looking for great ideas.

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    1. Hi April - I appreciate your asking me. You may post a link back to this page on your blog. I am so glad this is helpful to you and your family. Many Blessings, Colleen

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  7. Hi Colleen! I love this! Our boys laughed and laughed about Pinnochio yelling! :) I showed David how to do this (he isn't ready yet to learn to draw the states individually), and then he decided that instead of a slice of pizza, he would make his look like a cockatiel. Thank you for the inspiration, and I will be linking back to this page! Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Brandy - so glad you stopped by and I'm glad the boys got a good giggle - it will stick in their heads then! Drawing the US is a lot of detail for younger ones! Tell David I like his cockatiel idea- fantastic imagination! Thank you for the link back. Blessings - Colleen

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    2. Love this. Can you share where you got your pad of blank U.S. maps?

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    3. Tracy - I would be happy to. I purchased them locally at Stone's School Supply store a few years back (last Cycle 3 actually). We didn't use them all so I am using them this year! Blessings - Colleen

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    4. Absolutely love this! We found it at the beginning of the year and started using the idea. Both my kids 10 and 7 can now draw the US map. I was at a lose on this one so your post helped SO much. Thank you!

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    5. Tammy - That's awesome! So glad this helped your kiddos! I appreciate your letting me know by commenting and blessing my day. Blessings - Colleen

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