Illustration coming soonThe Side of the Crayon
Miri draws a little house. Now she wants a wide patch of grass beside it. She picks up a green crayon.
The point makes a thin line. Miri makes another. White paper shows between them. "This grass takes a long time," she says.
Shaindy colors a scrap beside her. She lays her crayon on its side. A wide green mark appears. Miri leans nearer.
"How did you make that?" asks Miri. Shaindy shows her crayon. "This part touches the paper."
Miri finds a practice scrap. First she uses the point. Then she turns the crayon onto its side. One mark is thin. One is wide.
Miri uses the side to fill the grass by her house. She stays on her own paper. A little white patch remains beside the door.
She turns the crayon back to its point. A thin line becomes a stem in the grass. "I want this part for the flower," she says.
The crayon goes back into the box. Miri’s house has wide green grass and a small flower beside it. Shaindy puts away the practice scraps.
Activity 1
What does Miri want to color beside the house?
Activity 2
What kind of line does the point make?
Activity 3
What does Miri ask Shaindy?
Activity 4
Where does Miri try both ways first?
Activity 5
Which part does she use for the wide grass?
Activity 6
Which part does she use for the thin flower stem?
Activity 7
With a grown-up, try the point and side of a large safe crayon on spare paper. You may watch.
Activity 8
Draw a thin mark and a wide mark, or describe them.
Grown-up notes and answers
1. A wide patch of grass.
2. A thin line.
3. How did you make that?
4. On a practice scrap.
5. The crayon’s side.
6. The point.
7. No required identical marks. Adult checks an age-suitable crayon with no small broken pieces; use paper and work on your own drawing only.
8. Accept different marks by any safe adult-approved method; no perfection test.