Kids love to draw. It's not hard to find a bird flying or perched in a tree to observe. Teaching children how to draw birds is a great activity to get children outdoors as well as involved in using their natural creative impulse to draw.
Bird Drawing: Basic Shapes
Keep in mind that you and your children will be working with simple geometric shapes, such as circles, ovals and triangles. When you understand that you only have to modify these basic shapes, you can have confidence that you can draw a great-looking bird!
You will draw a simple line drawing of a bird in three easy components:
- Head -- a circle for the head, eyes and then a triangle for the beak.
- Body -- a large oval for the body, tail and wing.
- Feet -- straight lines for the legs and ovals for the feet.
The bird that we will draw will be a profile drawing of a bird from the side. Use a pencil so you can erase and modify your drawing.
Drawing Your Bird's Head
Begin by drawing a circle for the bird's head. Then add another circle for an eye. If you'd like to add more detail, add the bird's pupil -- another small circle.
Now add the bird's beak. The beak is simple to draw as well. Draw a triangle to one side of the circle you just drew for the bird's head. If you'd like, erase the portion of the circle that intercedes between the beak and the bird's head. Add a line through the bird's beak for added detail if desired.
Draw Your Bird's Body
To draw your bird's body, simply sketch a large oval underneath the bird's head. Next, draw the bird's wing. Simply draw another oval for the wing, but do not connect the top of the oval. To draw the bird's tail, you guessed it, draw another small oval. If you want, again erase where the two ovals of the bird's body and tail intersect. Lastly, for added detail, draw the bird's breast. Simply form an oval from the outside line of the body's oval outline inward.
You can add a few straight lines in the wing and tail for feathers for added detail.
Draw Your Bird's Feet
Lastly, we'll draw the bird's feet. You may draw one or both legs. Form two straight lines for the bird's leg. Then draw an oval for the bird's foot.
As you and your children practice drawing a simple bird, you will find that it becomes easier to correctly proportion the shapes for the bird's basic components. To learn how to draw more birds, there are various videos and step-by-step instructions available.
Observe birds and as you look at them, try to break down their shapes into components such as ovals, circles and straight lines. Then practice drawing them! It is a fun activity that sharpens both drawing and observational skills.
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