Natural talent is not a requirement when it comes to drawing. Anyone can learn the skills needed to draw. Kids can even start before they have the dexterity to hold a pencil, honestly.
Drawing is a mental exercise that you can use to relax any time you want to take a break from everything.
You can also draw with the children or grandchildren in your life. Anytime you want to spend time with the little ones, Caribu has got you covered with accessible and fun activities!
We live during a time when events and plans can get canceled at a moment’s notice. Drawing is a great way for kids to express their emotions about things that are impacting their lives both good and bad. Even small changes that happen because of the pandemic impact everyone.
We want to provide you and your family with lots of suggestions for fun and happy memories!
Panda Projects
Start With A Reference
Anytime you start drawing, it’s best to look at a reference first. Examples of a reference for a panda include a picture, a zoo visit to see a panda, or using a toy or stuffed animal panda.
When looking at a panda you can notice that the outline of pandas is very much like that of a teddy bear. They have short tails. The shape of a panda’s head is a simple circle with two smaller half circles on top. Their nose breaks the bottom of the circle where kids find their chin.
When you look at a reference, you can start to see what shapes and details make a drawing of a panda start to look like an actual panda.
Rice Finger Panda Face
The plan is to draw into the rice with your finger pushing the rice aside to reveal the black paper underneath the rice.
Outline of the Panda Head: Start by lightly drawing a circle. Add the ears by drawing two smaller half circles on top of the head slightly to the left and right. You can push more rice away on the inside of the ears to reveal more black (as the entire ear of a panda is black). You should have a basic outline of a round teddy bear head with black ears.
Adding the Eyes: Take two fingers and make two slash marks at opposite angles where the eyes will go. The rice will fall aside as you move it and the shape will soften. Add a pinch of rice to the center of your slash marks. Take your finger and draw an oval around the pinch of rice you added. You should have two eyes with the mask-like markings of a panda.
Nose and Mouth: Next draw a small triangle for the nose. The rice will fall, softening the shape. At the bottom point of your triangle draw a curve down and to the left. Next, put your finger where the tip of the triangle was and draw a curve to the right. The result brings the rice down the bottom of the circle and changes the outline of the face to be more panda-like. Now it’s time to admire the drawing of your panda’s face!
When you’re done, you can shake the pan side to side to start a new drawing (just be gentle or it will be a game of 522 Pick Up!).
Simple Pencil Panda
Ready to learn how to draw a basic panda? A suggestion to incorporate more complex details is: when working with your child, simplify these directions by concentrating on shading around the eyes and filling in the ears, hands, and feet.
If you don’t want to gather drawing and craft supplies, you can draw your panda in the Caribu app. Looking to make things even more fun? Have your child video-chat in Caribu with a grandparent so they can draw the panda together on the screen! Choose the How To Draw A Panda coloring sheet in the Play Library to get started.
- To make the panda, start at the top. The first part of the plan is to start the outline of a teddy bear. Drawing lightly, begin to draw the head with a circle and two half circles on the top for the ears. The ears should be on the panda’s head slightly to the left and right.
- Add two curved lines on either side of the panda under the head creating the sides and body shape of your panda. Join the curved lines on the bottom. Your child should have an outline of a head and body for the panda
- Next, add two ovals for feet to the bottom of your panda. Go ahead and lightly draw them so that they overlap with the bottom part of your panda. You want the top of the ovals to slightly point towards each other.
- Now, have your child add arm ovals to the sides of your panda using the same technique of overlapping into the body of the panda.
- Have them erase all of the lines they don’t want as part of their panda outline. Later, when they are comfortable with how their drawing is going and they know how much detail they want to incorporate, they can sketch over their markings making the outline more defined.
- If your child would like, they can think about adding some slight shading to one side or the other to indicate where the source of light is coming from in the drawing.
- Now it’s time to add the panda’s eyes. Start with two simple circles. Refer to the reference panda to see how to shade in around those circles to create the telltale panda mask.
- Now shade in the panda’s ears, hands, and feet. It is best to fill in those spaces. There is also some optional shading to do on the chest of the panda.
Adding Complexity
The more you analyze the shapes that make up the details of a panda, the more complex your drawing can be.
Try showing your child different reference photos to explore different positions of how a panda would sit or stand.Honestly, some of the funniest videos online involve pandas doing hilarious things so that should lead to some original and complex drawing opportunities!
They can focus on the following details adding form and texture to the panda drawing:
- Leaving space unshaded for the claws on hands and feet
- Add pupils to the eyes
- Sketch the outline with loose lines overlapping for a hairy outline
- Add shading in with short hair-like pencil markings
- Use dots to shade fine details in areas of your drawing
- Add more items around the panda in the background
Drawing During A Video-Call
Being creative with your kids does not need to be limited to when they are with you. You can plan to have drawing materials in both of your locations and simply video-chat while drawing a panda together. If supplies are not on hand you want less mess right now you can draw right away using our app.
Classic Drawing Materials
No special materials are needed to start drawing; pencil and paper will do. However, it is always nice to try new supplies. There are a variety of materials you can use, and it’s fun to play around with different things to see what your child enjoys the most. Be aware that some materials are messier to work with than others, and remember the Golden Rule of Painting… Don’t Eat The Paint!.
Kids and adults should try to also remember not to put their arms on their drawings. The drawing materials can smudge while working with some of the materials. Good luck lefties!
Panda Play Place
Research suggests that playing is an important part of childhood. Kids of all ages are learning while they play. The joy they experience helps to improve their overall well-being.
Drawing with your kids should be a relaxing time for everyone. You are now more than ready to gather supplies and start a creative journey with your children. Enjoy the time together as you make lifelong memories.
Creating a picture at a moment’s notice when you have no supplies is challenging. A great choice for creative activities is quickly downloading an app such as Caribu, where you can draw as well as paint, play games, and read books with your child!
Sources:
The Importance of Play: How Kids Learn by Having Fun | Healthline
How Art is Helping Children (and Adults) Cope with the Pandemic | PBS