Dot To Dot Activity

I have been using some some Dabber Dot Markers this week with many children in the clinic. One artist makes dots and the second artist draws lines between the dots. When I have two children together, they both find it easier to let the other co-create the artistic creation with this set up than they do if they both had regular markers and were each taking turns adding to a single drawing. This is because:

1. The roles are clear (Dot Drawer and Line Drawer)
2. It is harder for my more artistically skilled friends to imagine what the finished product will look like--so a friend is not ruining the art by doing something different than what was imagined.
3. There is a lot of structure because we usually count while doing dots and count while doing lines.
4. The finished art is interesting to look at because it has some visual structure--which is hard to achieve with youngsters who still mostly scribble, which some of my young artists still do.

One of the challenges has been that the motor skill of drawing lines is hard to overcome for some children and they use the dabbers to draw lines. I exaggerate the Dot Dot Dot motion and say Dot Dot Dot at the beginning for these children. I also have to model variations in order to get some variation. I make a big deal out of picking up my marker as I model drawing lines in between each dot to help children understand that each line is separate. I also used big grid paper--huge Post It paper actually. This makes it easier to keep some structure as the child and I use the grid to space dots for some drawings. I had to do hand-over-hand for some of the children.

Below are some of the results for children who are about five years old.