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Activity 6: Spirals


Most of the time, a drawing activity is as much about technique as it is about confidence building. That’s why I prefer to pick simple patterns that the child can complete successfully. It will not only give them a sense of achievement but will motivate them to draw more.
The spiral shape is found in plenty in nature; in the shells of snails, in seashells, formed by the tails of certain lizards, a coiled snake, the formation made by the petals of a rose … if you think about it, the universe is moving away from its center in a spiral formation.
Drawing spirals improves motor skills as the child must control the gap between the curves and continue drawing without taking their hand away from the paper. So it is concentration, patience and judgment all rolled into one simple pattern.

Materials Required:

1. crayons / colour pencils
2. papers to draw on

Procedure:

1. First, demonstrate the drawing of a spiral to the child.
Draw their attention to these aspects:
·         Start from the center of the paper so that you have sufficient space to draw the bigger curves towards the end.
·         Try to maintain uniform distance between the curves.
·         Initially it is OK to have a lot of space between the curves but gradually try to reduce the space.
·         Don’t take your hand away from the paper till you have finished the spiral.
2. Allow the child to keep practicing till their work begins to look like a spiral.
3. Drawing three spirals, with some leaf-life shapes around them, makes a bouquet.
4. Once they are able to draw neat spirals, get them to draw a bigger bouquet like the one shown in the picture. You could frame it for their bedroom or add it to their photo album.

Extra:


Collect natural items like seashells and roses to showcase the appearance of the spiral pattern in nature. Explain to the child that patterns in nature are often geometrically accurate. It is easier to explain this through the concept of symmetry. For example, you could say, “Look how neat all the curves of the seashell are! There are no crooked lines.” Or, “See how all the flowers on this plant have the same number of petals! Count and see for yourself.”

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