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Drawing using songs and rhymes in a Bookbug Session with Catherine Lindow

Learning type: Professional learning
Category: Get inspired
Programme: Bookbug
Language: English
Audience: Professionals
Topics: Support for Bookbug Session Leaders, Bookbug for the Home

Have you ever tried drawing along to a song? You can make your crayon dance on the page using your Bookbug songs and rhymes as inspiration. This is great for expressing rhythm and energy – and don't worry about drawing well or 'making a thing look like a thing'. With the crayons and paper included in the Bookbug Bags, we can offer families new ways to have fun with drawing materials and build moments of fun and connection, whether in a group, one-to-one or online.

Video

If you struggle to read the illustrations below, hover over the images for an alternative format:

How does drawing support literacy?

Infographic: How does drawing support literacy? Fast-track to the imagination - children can demonstrate their own stories. Unfolding the narrative. Changing the plot with a surprise contribution. Reinterpret something they've heard or experienced. Opening up conversations about what they have drawn. A communication tool - for ESL families, for less confident talkers... For everyone! Shapes understanding of illustration as a narrative tool in itself. Yellow for light - whoosh marks. Crayon control - trying out different marks & shapes. Grip. Creating symbols. Instagram handle: @catherixx. Twitter handle: @cathlindow.
- Catherine Lindow

Why is it good when adults and children draw together?

Infographic: Why is it good when adults & children draw together? Developing a shared language which is yours whenever you pick up a crayon! Adults & children responding to the same cues. Adults drawing using marks that children can follow easily. There is no wrong way! Listening and acting upon the child's ideas. Scraping, dotting, swishing, swirling, not just drawing with lines (though we love lines). Diffused intensity, focus on the page as well as on the person... you can contribute without speaking. Drawing can be your friend if you don't like to perform. Instagram handle: @catherixx. Twitter handle: @cathlindow.
- Catherine Lindow

How can we make the most of group drawing opportunities?

Infographic: How can we make the most of group drawing opportunities? Adults & children responding to the same cues... adults drawing with marks that children can follow. Music - Bookbug Song & Rhyme Library - Songs & rhymes as a framework - as tiny narratives and instrumental tracks underpin a mood or suggest a prompt for action/gesture. Responding to rhythm. Make your crayon dance! Instagram handle: @catherixx. Twitter handle: @cathlindow.
- Catherine Lindow

About the Youth Arts Fund

We gratefully acknowledge funding from Creative Scotland's Targeted Youth Arts Fund, which enabled Scottish Book Trust to commission mentors, artists and a young emerging artist to work alongside early years practitioners and families. Through working with artists and mentors, we have been able to develop a suite of specialist resources that support and enhance the principles of early book-sharing and music-making for use by the wider Bookbug community. The mentors gave support to Bookbug practitioners working with target groups of children and families through our Bookbug for the Home programme, addressing concerns around additional support needs and English as an additional language.