The Thoughtful Mark Making is a great exercise to introduce to children, and one which can be usefully referred to in future drawing lessons. It is suitable for all ages from 5 upwards. Benefits include:

• Helps children develop mark making skills to improve drawing outcomes.
• Helps children “look” more closely.
• Helps children understand how they can use a single drawing medium in many different ways. 
• Helps children become confident in making their own creative and informed “drawing decisions”.

• A set of cards with different marks on: Simply fold and tear a sheet of paper until you have 8 or so “cards”. On each make a particular type of mark: a dash, a dot, single line cross hatching etc…
• A sheet of paper for each child.
• An object to draw near each child: a fossil, a key, a piece of fruit, or a feather…
• A handwriting pen or a sharp B pencil for each child.

• This exercise will take between five and fifteen minutes*.
• Invite the children to look carefully at the subject matter (which should be a single object placed near to each child).
• Hold up a card and invite the children to begin to draw their object, using only the type of mark on that card.
• Repeat with each card until the children have made a single drawing comprising lots of different types of marks.

*Read from the “Thoughtful Mark Making” section down the page.