This exercise is for children ages 9 and older. As with all drawing exercises, proper seated posture and pencil grip is important. It is aimed at coordinating the hand and the eye so the head should be still. this exercise also supports the child’s feeling space and boundaries.

They should practice it several times in the air before they put pencil to paper. You can do it with hand, feather, finger, one eye closed (dominant eye open), etc.

after demonstrating it, you can invite the children to look at your drawing and talk about what they’re noticing. Then invite the children to practice it 3 times with their finger on the paper.

For older children or to differentiate for children that are doing well, you can challenge them by doing heavier strokes on the way down and lighter strokes on the way up.

See page 144 in The Extra Lesson by Audrey McAllen for further procedures and contemplations.