Drawing Dinosaurs

How-to-draw books have been big over here lately. I know it's not process-oriented *real* art, but the kids love them and they're great for advancing fine motor skills, especially for Will, who doesn't often choose to do a lot of that type of work.

For handwriting once a week, when the girls don't have any letters to answer (which I always refer to, to them, as "catching up on your correspondence"--cracks me up!), they've been choosing a page from the Draw Write Now series, and Will, especially, has gotten really into drawing and coloring fantastical creatures (she specifically requested that I inter-library loan her this how-to-draw dragons book). Sydney's big passion, however, is the iLuv Drawing Dinosaurs app that she was given by Three Girls Media. It's a step-by-step drawing app that shows each step in the process with visible lines, but when you trace over the lines,  you're the one who's making the drawing:

For my kid who loves to get everything "right" the first time, it's very peaceful and comforting entertainment, and VERY satisfying for her.

Don't believe me? Look what I dumped off of the ipad this morning: