Go Online and Make a

This is an update to the column from the September 2012 issue of Children’s Technology Review.

Download this column as a one page PDF –>Dec 18-lc-final

All links and videos have been refreshed. When Walt Disney a young he loved to draw. After studying at the Chicago Art Institute, he made drawings for newspapers before experimenting with animation. See one of his first drawings https://dailym.ai/2G8jl0i. Want to learn to draw like Walt? Here are some sites and videos to show you how.

1. How can a wire help you learn to draw? At Artsy you’ll learn how a 15 inch length of wire can help you pay attention to drawing lines. You can also try sketching something upside down. Here’s the link http://bitly.com/2rrWiU7z.

2. How do I draw a horse? There are a lot of sites dedicated to drawing creatures … birds, cats and dogs. If you like horses or ponies, visit http://bitly.com/2G783JJ for some good tips.

3. How do you make curly hair? At Creativebloq http://bitly.com/2rtmVYL you can discover some easy visual sketching tricks, like how to make any two lines look like curley hair.

4. How do I make a cartoon? Start with a sack of flour, and then start adding features. Learn more at http://bitly.com/2G5TQN6

5. Draw a cartoon of yourself At the Artist’s Network bitly.com/lc1218link1 you’ll learn how to turn a selfie into humorous cartoon. Once you learn this trick, you’ll have an endless supply of birthday gifts.

APPLICATION: Grab some oil paints (here’s an affordable kit for $30 from Amazon.com https://amzn.to/2rvOO2o, and follow along with artist Bob Ross. He’s the guy who appeared on the PBS television series “The Joy of Painting.” See http://bitly.com/lc1218link2. If you want to try a follow along with watercolors instead of oils, we found this winter scene https://youtu.be/VmHc3xbqcGA

———————————————————————————————————————————————— LittleClickers.com (this page and the associated web site) is sponsored by Computer Explorers. Neither Children’s Technology Review (publisher of LittleClickers) or Computer Explorers has any vested interest in any of the sites listed on this page. Librarians and teachers are permitted to copy this page for non-profit use. To report a bad link, use this form, or contact us. Copyright 2018, Children's Technology Review.

Teachers and librarians — Download this month’s topic as a one page PDF.

Scratch is a free, easy to learn computer language that is growing in popularity. Did you know there are six types of projects you can make? Can you name them? Let’s take a closer look, at https://scratch.mit.edu/explore/projects/all

1. Animations. Use the camera and timing features to make things move on the screen. https://scratch.mit.edu/explore/projects/animations/

2. Art. Scratch has built in drawing tools that make it possible draw in freestyle. You can also create interesting geometric patterns, like this one. https://scratch.mit.edu/explore/projects/art/

3. Games. From Pong to Pokémon, you can find all sorts of games in Scratch. Maze games are good to start with, because they introduce you to motion and collisions. https://scratch.mit.edu/explore/projects/games/

4. Music. Scratch gives you a library of sounds, or you can record your own. https://scratch.mit.edu/explore/projects/music/

5. Stories. You can mix your writing with pictures, videos or recordings. In fact, Scratch makes it easy to narrate your story. https://scratch.mit.edu/explore/projects/stories/

6. Tutorials. What to teach somebody how to train a puppy or build a treehouse? Make your own tutorial, at  https://scratch.mit.edu/explore/projects/tutorials/

APPLICATION

How do I start with Scratch?  Scratch won’t work with mobile devices, so you’ll need a Chromebook or Laptop (Windows or Mac) plus good internet access. A camera and microphone is recommended. Follow these three steps.

Step 1: Find Scratch. On your computer, type the word “Scratch” into any search engine, or go to http://mit.scratch.edu

Step 2: Register. Think up a screen name and password. You’ll also need an email address in order to confirm the account. Login, and choose “Create.”

Step 3: Take the tutorials. We’ve linked to some tutorials in this month’s YouTube playlist. It’s also smart to preview samples. https://scratch.mit.edu/starter_projects/

———————————————————————————————————————————————— LittleClickers.com (this page and the associated web site) is sponsored by Computer Explorers. Neither Children’s Technology Review (publisher of LittleClickers) or Computer Explorers has any vested interest in any of the sites listed on this page. Librarians and teachers are permitted to copy this page for non-profit use. To report a bad link, use this form, or contact us. Copyright 2018, Children's Technology Review.

Want to dazzle your teacher and friends? Grab your pencils and visit these sites, which can help you learn the steps to drawing cartoons, faces and animals.

Rugrats Characters — Arlene Klasky and Gabor Csupo, creators of the Rugrats, Thornberrys, AAAHH! and Real Monsters, have a web site where they teach you the steps of drawing for animation, from creating characters out of basic shapes to adding colors and props. http://www.cooltoons2.com/rugrats/index.html

Draw a Mallard — You’ll find easy step-by-step instructions on how to draw these beautiful birds. You’ll know a lot about ducks and mallards before you’re done! http://www.exploringnature.org/db/detail.php?dbID=46&detID=2881

Faces, landscapes, crazy animals and wacky sandwiches –Just pick what you want to draw from the top of the page, and you’ll find easy to follow step-by-step instructions. http://library.thinkquest.org/J002045F/learning_to_draw.htm

Cartoon-like lions, cats, birds, lizards, frogs and bears – Click on your favorite animal and start drawing. If you don’t have time to follow the onscreen instructions, just print them out. (Parents&emdash;this site has some ads at the top of the pages that might be mistaken for clickables.)

http://www.billybear4kids.com/Learn2Draw/Learn2Draw.html

Rainforest scenes – You’ll create scary spiders, silly monkeys and pretty butterflies.

http://www.chunkymonkey.com/murals/murallessons.html

Cartoons. Just pick your favorite and copy each part of the drawing. The steps are given out one at a time, so they’re easy to follow! (Just click the “next” button each time you’ve finished a step.)

http://www.unclefred.com