Directed Drawing Ideas - Drawing Forest Animals with Algorithms

Your children will enjoy exploring the directed drawing ideas available in this free set. The set features forest animals. You will find an owl drawing set. After that, you will find a raccoon and a rabbit. The directions on each of the directed drawing worksheets feature Blockly blocks. (Blockly blocks are a coding language featured on Code.org and Scratch.) Each set has a worksheet that features only pictures. You will also find a set that features pictures and words.

Wait! What is Blockly code?

Blockly is a visual coding language. It features coding blocks that can be stacked to create an algorithm or series of steps.

Now Tell Me About Algorithms

Algorithms are a set of directions or a series of steps a computer is given to complete a task. You need to put the directions or series of steps in order to accurately complete a task. If you don’t do what needs to be done first, second, and third, in that order things can go wrong.

Let’s look at getting cereal ready to eat. If you pour the milk in the bowl before adding cereal, things will be okay. If you pour the milk before taking out a bowl, you will have a big mess. The correct order of steps in a task is super important.

When your children work on these directed drawing ideas, there are some steps that could be done out of order. Other steps can’t be done out of order. You will probably want to encourage them to follow the steps in order.

Building Background

You may want your children to read a book about forest animals before they start drawing. Here are some wonderful books about forest animals.

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Getting Ready to Explore the Directed Drawing Ideas

First, you will need to download the How to Draw Forest Animals with an Algorithm. Warning! This set is a PDF. You need to have Acrobat Reader or another PDF reader to open the set.
Second, you will need to open the set and decide which animals you want your children to draw.
Third, you will need to decide which version of the worksheets your children need. Some children may need the word version to know what to draw. They may not notice what has been added to the animal in each step. Other children will find the words a distraction and will do better without them on the page.

Exploring the Worksheets

You can decide if you want to have the children work on the drawing ideas on their own or with you. If you know that your children will have trouble following the algorithm or steps, then you will want them to work with you. They can work on them on their own. When they are done, you can check to make sure they haven’t skipped a step.