How to draw a possum

Last week I did another Australian-themed drawing activity with my Grade 2 class. It was inspired by this entry on the Use Your Coloured Pencils blog.

We've been learning about various Australian animals over the last few weeks, so I thought that getting the kids to draw some cute possums would be fun.

Rather than just showing the kids a completed picture and getting them to copy it, I decided to get them to follow the drawing process with me step-by-step. This was beneficial for two reasons. Firstly, it helped to keep everyone in the class going at the same pace. Secondly, it provided an opportunity to reinforce existing vocabulary and introduce new words during the drawing process.

This is a really simple project that only requires ordinary white paper, greylead pencils, crayons, scissors and glue. It's also very quick - all 20 students in the class managed to finish in 40 minutes. 

Here are some of the finished results:

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the possum drawings in progress, but I have included the language/instructions that I gave the students. Click "Read more" to see them.

1. Write “Possums” on the board
   Underneath write the list of supplies and get the kids to take them out quietly
   
   
2. Ask the kids “What is a possum?”
   If any of them know, get them to draw one on the board
   Otherwise show them pictures of possums
   I also used the following words to describe possums to the kids:
   Possums are Australian animals. They are about the same size as a cat. They are grey or brown. Sometimes they have a black tail. They eat bugs.
   
   
3. Draw a rectangle on the board to represent the paper
   Draw a small possum in the centre of the rectangle – ask the kids “Is it good?”
   Elicit the response or explain “No, it’s too small”
   Hand out a piece of paper to each student
   
   
4. Start drawing the possum on the board
   Begin by drawing a big oval body, a round head, two big ears, long arms reaching above the head and two legs
   As you draw each part, say the names of the body parts or draw them and then ask the kids "What is it?" and get them to supply the words instead
   
   
5. Next, draw the possum’s face
   Again use the words to explain what you are drawing or draw each part of the face first and then ask the kids to say what it is
   If there is new vocabulary (such as "whiskers") get the kids to repeat the new words a few times
    
6. Get the kids to carefully cut out their possum
    
7. Hand out long pre-prepared strips of paper for the possum's tail
   Show the kids how to glue it to their possum and get them to do this
    
8. Tell the kids to hold up their black and pink crayons
   Get them to colour the possum's nose and inner ears pink
   Then get them to outline the face in black crayon
   Draw the possum’s fur and get the kids to use their black crayons for this too
    
9. Ask the kids "What colour is a possum?"
   Hopefully they remember! If not, say "Possums are grey or brown. Sometimes the tail is black"
   Get the kids to colour in their possums carefully
    
10. When the kids are finished colouring, hand out pre-prepared nametags for the possums to hold - my nametags said "G'day! I was made by....."
    Get the kids to attach the nametags to the possums with glue

All in all, I think the possums turned out really nicely! This lesson would also work just as well for drawing any other simple animals, such as monkeys or cats.