simon says, draw!

One of Owen's favorite (non-electronic) things to do around home is play simon says, draw.

I discovered this drawing game at The Artful Parent.

We could (and do) play this for hours.

We just take turns (I probably take more turns directing) saying "simon says draw...a heart, a rainbow, a starry night, 10-smiley faces", etc. 

I've learned so much about Owen doing this with him (Maya doesn't dig this game as much as us. She usually plays with her doll house or kitchen while we draw).

He and I lack talent drawing...we're very simplistic, but we make up for it in effort.

It's so interesting to me though how we interpret the directions, or chose to depict them, so differently.

I said to draw three squares. I drew three squares side-by-side. Owen drew 3 squares, one within another so they were all different sizes. Then I said draw 3 circles. I drew 3 circles under my squares. Owen drew his within his squares and one surrounding all of them.

I said draw a spider. I drew an 8-legged spider; Owen drew a spider hanging down from a spider-web. 

Fascinating! 

:)

Anyway, I recommend it.

I also read this post today (Elise switched blogs) and I thought it was very thought-provoking. 

I love the questions she asks. 

This is particularly interesting to me as we, as a family, move toward playing more and more board games. It's hard to find one that engages us all equally and there is probably something to our varying personalities influencing which games we enjoy. 

Also check out this (short) excellent video about art and creating with kids from Made by Joel.