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Learn a sequenced panda drawing using circles, ovals, and simple lines. Includes a worked example, four practice tasks, and a clear rubric for self-checking.
Directed drawing breaks a picture into small, checkable steps. This lesson builds a panda from six parts: a circle head, two ear ovals, two eye patches, an oval body, four limbs, and a bamboo stalk. Each step is drawn lightly first, then adjusted. Use one unit (centimeters or grid squares) for every measurement you compare, and measure your own paper and pencil before drawing. All numerical values below are hypothetical examples chosen for practice, not printer or hardware standards.
Practice materials: Printable downloads are not available for this lesson yet. Use the instructions and four exercises below.
Draw a circle for the head in the upper middle of the page. A hypothetical diameter of 6 cm is one example; measure your own paper first and choose a size that leaves room for the body below and the bamboo beside it. Mark the center lightly. Place two ear ovals on the top left and top right of the circle, each about 2 cm wide and 3 cm tall, tilted outward. The ears should overlap the head circle slightly so they look attached.
Check that the ears are the same size and sit at the same height. If one ear is lower, erase and redraw it using the center mark as a guide.
Panda eye patches are oval shapes that slant downward toward the nose. Draw two ovals inside the head circle, each about 1.5 cm wide and 2.5 cm tall, leaving a gap of about 1.5 cm between them. This keeps both patches clearly inside a 6 cm head circle with margin to spare. Add a small nose oval below the gap and a short curved line for the mouth. The eyes are small circles inside the patches.
Use the midline of the head circle to keep the patches level. Hand-drawn styles vary, so the patches do not need to be identical; they need to be balanced and clearly inside the head.
Draw an oval body below the head, about 8 cm wide and 10 cm tall, overlapping the bottom of the head circle. Add four limbs as rounded rectangles or thick lines: two arms angled down and two legs angled outward. Keep the limbs short and thick so the panda looks sturdy. Before drawing, check fit on your own sheet: for example, on a hypothetical 20 cm by 25 cm sheet, a 6 cm head plus a 10 cm body with about 2 cm of overlap uses roughly 14 cm of height, and a 12 cm bamboo stalk placed beside the arm fits within the remaining space. Adjust sizes if your measured sheet is smaller.
Check that the body is centered under the head and that the limbs attach at the body edge, not floating. If a limb is too long, shorten it by erasing the end and redrawing a rounded tip.
Draw a bamboo stalk beside one arm: a vertical line about 12 cm tall with short horizontal lines for segments and two small leaf shapes near the top. The stalk should not cover the panda's face. Erase any guide marks that are still visible.
Final check: the head is a circle, ears are equal ovals, eye patches are inside the head, body is centered, four limbs are attached, and bamboo is separate from the face. Use the rubric to score each part.
A student draws a panda on a 20 cm by 25 cm sheet. The head circle has a 6 cm diameter. The body oval is 8 cm wide and 10 cm tall. The bamboo stalk is 12 cm tall. The student's rubric scores are: head 4, ears 3, eye patches 3, body 3, limbs 2, bamboo 3. What is the total score, and which part needs the most improvement?
Total score is 4 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 2 + 3 = 18 out of 24. Limbs scored lowest at 2, so the student should redraw the limbs with rounded ends attached to the body edge.
A panda drawing has a head circle with a 5 cm diameter and a body oval 7 cm wide and 9 cm tall. The bamboo stalk is 10 cm tall. What is the total of these four measurements in centimeters?
5 + 7 + 9 + 10 = 31 cm.
Why: Add the head diameter, body width, body height, and bamboo height. All units are centimeters, so the total is 5 + 7 + 9 + 10 = 31 cm.
Check: Recount each value from the prompt and add again in a different order to confirm 31 cm.
A student scores 3 on head, 4 on ears, 2 on eye patches, 3 on body, 3 on limbs, and 4 on bamboo. What is the total score out of 24, and which part scored lowest?
Total is 3 + 4 + 2 + 3 + 3 + 4 = 19 out of 24. Eye patches scored lowest at 2.
Why: Add all six rubric scores. The smallest value is 2, which belongs to eye patches.
Check: Add the scores again and confirm the smallest number is 2.
On a 20 cm by 25 cm sheet, a head circle uses 6 cm of the width and the body oval uses 8 cm of the width. If the head and body are centered, how much width remains on each side of the body oval?
The body oval is 8 cm wide on a 20 cm sheet, so 20 - 8 = 12 cm remains. Centered, each side has 12 / 2 = 6 cm.
Why: Subtract the body width from the sheet width, then divide the remainder by two for equal side margins.
Check: Add 6 cm + 8 cm + 6 cm = 20 cm to confirm the margins and body width match the sheet width.
A bamboo stalk is drawn as 4 segments, each 3 cm tall. The stalk is beside an arm that is 5 cm long. What is the total height of the bamboo stalk, and how much taller is the stalk than the arm?
The stalk is 4 × 3 = 12 cm tall. It is 12 - 5 = 7 cm taller than the arm.
Why: Multiply the number of segments by the height of each segment, then subtract the arm length.
Check: Add 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 12 cm, then check 12 - 5 = 7 cm.
No. Hand-drawn patches can differ slightly. They must be balanced, slanted downward, and fully inside the head circle.
Either is fine as long as you use one consistent unit for every measurement you compare. The centimeter values in this lesson are hypothetical examples; measure your own paper and pencil before drawing.
Yes. Measure your own paper and pencil first. The centimeter values in this lesson are hypothetical examples, not standards.
All six parts are present: head circle, two ear ovals, two eye patches, body oval, four limbs, and bamboo stalk. Guide marks are erased and the rubric score is at least 18 out of 24.