Drawing using perspective is not always easy. It can be confusing to draw the three-dimensional aspects of nature on a flat piece of paper, but it is the perfect skill to stretch drawing skills for third or fourth grade students.

This lesson is a fun way to get kids thinking about what they see as opposed to what they think they see, which is half the battle with perspective.

We’ve created a guide to drawing and cutting out the bats and crows for this lesson. Click the yellow button for you drawing guide below!

Take it Outside

If you have lots of trees around you, take children outside and lay down under the base of a large tree. It works best if the tree is the type that has a wide base and narrows as it grows taller. Not all trees are like this.

The idea is to recognize that as a tree grows taller, it narrows. You can replicate this on a piece of paper with some oil pastels, some paint and a bit of black scrap paper.

What You’ll Need:

– 12″ x 15″ piece of sulphite paper

– Black oil pastel

– Circle tracer

– Liquid tempera paint (white, brown, blue or purple)

– Medium round paintbrush

– Scissors

– 4.5″ x 9″ black sulphite paper, or scraps

How to Draw Trees in Perspective

Place the oil pastel on the right side of the paper, near the bottom. Draw a line that curves inward slightly toward the top of the paper, near the middle.

Repeat on the left side to make a tree trunk that comes from the right corner of the paper and things as it goes upward.

At the end of each line, draw a short, curved line back out toward the edges of the paper.

Now for the hard part: draw the three main branches. I showed my students how to draw the branches so that the ends grow smaller. Smaller tree branches will extend off the ends. Most students in second grade will have a tendency to round the tips of the branches.

Use a circle tracer or container top to trace a moon behind the tree branches. The moon can be as big or small as you wish. Bigger is a lot easier.

Paint the moon using white liquid tempera paint.

Paint the tree brown, then fill in the sky with blue or purple, or a mixture of both. Painting typically makes the end of the first session for this project.

For less mess, you can use cake tempera paint if you’d like.

Using black oil pastel, draw lines to represent the bark of the tree. Add lots of small branches growing from the main branches and outline the moon.

If you have extra time, use some scrap paper to cut out some bats or crows to place on the branches or in the sky. The kids LOVED this part, so don’t skip it if you can.

We’ve created a guide to drawing and cutting out the bats and crows for this lesson. Click the yellow button for you drawing guide below!

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