Free Draw Day in the Art Room

I would like to pose a topic and get your input about it. Let’s chat a little bit about free draw day in the art room.

Do you love it?

Do you hate it?

Are you scared of it?

In this video I share why I love it so much and how you can get started with Free Draw Day in your own art room. The video transcript is also outlined here in this article if you prefer to read instead of watch.

 

How do you feel about scheduling free draw time for children in the art room?

I personally am a huge fan of free draw time, and I would love to explain why I am a huge fan and share how I set up free draw time in my space.

But I would also love to hear your feelings. Do you call it something else?

Do you set it up totally differently?

Please don’t hesitate to listen to what I have to say, but then be honest and speak your mind about how you feel about it too, if you’re willing.

How I Use Free Draw Time in the Elementary Art Room

OK, so here’s how I use it.

How long and how often is Free Draw Time?

I try to include one or two 30-minute free draw sessions per quarter.

I see kids once a week on a rotating basis. Wednesdays are shorter sessions because we get out an hour earlier on Wednesdays.

So one quarter is 9 weeks long, so in every nine week window I try to include one or two 30-minute dedicated free draw days.

I find thirty minutes to be an ideal time because it keeps the kids wanting more. It’s not too much, not too little, but it keeps it kind of concise. The novelty to it doesn’t get lost in there. You don’t want to let it linger for too long, and you don’t want them getting bored with free draw time.

What does Free Draw Time include?

Included in that 30 minutes is:

set up,

drawing time,

clean up,

and a quick share what you made option.

It’s packed in!

What supplies are offered during Free Draw Time?

I offer a very humble selection of supplies.

Copy paper – Literally two pieces of copy paper. That’s it.

Markers

Crayons

Colored pencils

Scissors

Glue sticks

Rulers

That’s it.

For my older kiddos, second and higher, I also put an iPad at every table.

I don’t like to do it for the little guys because I want them really getting into the practice of listening to their own interests and their inner voices about what they want to make art about, and they seem quite content to do that.

The older kiddos seemed hungry for drawing tutorials. I don’t make time for that in my instruction, so I use free draw time as an option for kids who want a drawing tutorial activity. That’s where they can kind of pursue that. The only thing that use iPads for is YouTube drawing tutorials, so if they are just dying to do a tutorial on how to draw a dragon or how to draw an Among Us character, that kind of thing, this is a chance for them to do that. They can work with partners or find other kids who have similar interests and kind of camp out in front of an iPad and do a step-by-step drawing tutorial.

That’s it for supplies though.

Are there any rules for Free Draw Time?

I do present 4 rules.

They cannot use the materials to make anything that resembles a weapon. Lots of little kiddos want to make swords. Can’t do that.

I also say that they can’t make anything super creepy. I tell them I’m a scaredy cat. I don’t want anything that’s going to creep me out, and they’re pretty respectful about that.

And then I tell them no paper airplanes. Now that’s something specific to my space, because my art room has a lot of high level ledges and stuff. Kids tend to want to throw the paper airplanes, and they get stuck up there. Then they get upset, because I can’t reach. I can’t get it down for them, and then they’ve got nothing. And they are disappointed by that, so that’s very specific to my room.

I’m curious if you have any other weird little rules that are specific to your space.

The only other rule is whatever they make on free draw day they need to take with them out of the room.

Now my really littlest guys, they’re so process oriented. They’re just totally engaged while they’re working. But then once they’re done, they want to give their stuff to me. I don’t let that go to my head or anything. I don’t think it’s that they love me. I don’t even think that’s about me. It’s because they don’t really know what to do with the picture once it’s done. They love to make it, but after that its meaning has faded for them. So they like to give it to their mom, or they like to give it to me or give it to their teacher. They don’t care as much about the product when they’re done as the older kids do.

The older kids, I tell them it’s gotta go because a lot of them will work in a group and they kind of start to make something big and three-dimensional and involved. And I don’t have a space for it, so I’m like, “You can start that here, but it’s gotta go at the end of the session.”

And as long as you tell them that in advance, they seem to be OK with it.

So that’s it.

Incorporating Drawing Prompts as Part of Free Draw Time

Many kids love to doodle, but sometimes they find themselves in need of a bit of inspiration. This is one of the reasons they often turn to step-by-step drawing tutorials. As an alternative option

I have started including a monthly free draw challenge as part of our free draw day options. So far it has been a tremendous hit!

If you want to inspire your kids to draw without turning to step-by-step tutorials I’d love for you to join in!

Given a set of words students are encouraged to create their own drawing using at least three of the words for inspiration.

These are some of the drawings inspired by the words from our August challenge words.

So far I’m loving their creativity!

Here’s how to join in:

1. Display the monthly challenge words for students.
2. Invite students to create a drawing using at least three of the words.
3. Use #FreeDrawChallenge to showcase your students’ creativity. Add a second hashtag with the month followed by FreeDrawChallenge, for example #SeptemberFreeDrawChallenge so that it is easy for everyone to see the specific drawings associated with the specific words for the month.
4. Check the monthly hashtag to show your students what others came up with for this month’s challenge.

Let’s make free draw a habit together!

What are the benefits of Free Draw Time for students?

To me free draw time is a win-win.

Here’s why my students seem to love it.

They love that free draw days are child-centered. Of course they don’t call it that, but as opposed to my typical teacher led sessions where I’m selecting the topic, the materials, the skills, the art history connection, child-centered for them is really where they get to call the shots.

They get to be their own art teacher.

They get to decide what they’re going to focus on.

They get to sit with friends.

They can work collaboratively.

They can use the supplies in any way they want.

They can focus on whatever skills are interesting to them at that moment and they like the idea of being able to take it that day.

A make and take for them is a novelty, because for me, a lot of times it takes three or four sessions before we actually get done with something. So being able to take something home that day is exciting to them.

What are the benefits of Free Draw Time for teachers?

I also love free draw for many reasons.

It gives me a chance to catch my breath.

It gives me time to kind of sit amongst them and:

Get to know them a little bit and make some observations about what interests them, what characters do they like, what shows do they like, what songs are they talking and thinking about

Make some little observations about the social dynamic in the room.

Get to notice little things, like are there certain kids who seem to be struggling with certain supplies and it gives me a chance to kind of sit with them one-on-one and kind of work through whatever it is that they’re finding challenging.

That’s all stuff that can then inform my instruction during the teacher led sessions, so it’s kind of this weird little invisible, invaluable layer to free draw day. It gives me, as an instructor, time to scan the room, make sure I’m aware of the dynamic of this class so that I can use that then when I am attempting to inform my instruction.

So they love it.

I love it.

It’s kind of a win-win around my school. Everybody loves free draw days.

I’m curious.

How do you feel about free draw days?

Do you call it something else?

Do you set it up a different way?

Do you do it less frequently or more frequently?

Is it only for substitutes?

Would love to hear your thoughts about free draw day in the comments.