New Directed Drawing: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

Looking for a fun and easy If You Give a Mouse a Cookie activity for your primary students? This directed drawing lesson is the perfect companion to the popular read-aloud! It helps kids build listening, sequencing, and fine motor skills all while having fun.

I just added this mouse-themed directed drawing to my TPT store, and it’s now included in my Growing Bundle of Directed Drawings for K–2. If you already own the bundle, it’s ready for you to download!

New Directed Drawing (NO, David!) and Growing Bundle

I’m so excited to share my second Directed Drawing Bundle. This is a GROWING BUNDLE and it’s a good one! If you’ve been wanting to bring a little art-meets-literacy magic into your classroom, this is a good time to grab this!

At the moment, this bundle includes two Directed Drawings: No, David! and Piggie and Elephant.

The bundle is just $6 as of now before I add the next Directed Drawing later on this week.  That means you get the remaining 3 that will be uploaded within the next few weeks FREE. How cool is that? 

What are the next books to be added?  Drumroll, please!

1. The Recess Queen

2. Mother Bruce

3. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

These easy, book-themed directed drawings are perfect for:
✅ Morning work
✅ Literacy centers
✅ Art integration
✅ Sub plans
✅ Fun Fridays
✅ Early finishers
✅ Read-aloud extensions
✅ Bulletin boards
✅ Fine motor practice
✅ Indoor recess
✅ End-of-day wind down

Each one is easy to follow, super classroom-friendly, and helps students build fine motor skills, creativity, and confidence. 🖍️

Take a peek at my Complete Directed Drawing Bundle #1

Which one is your favorite? I admit to having a soft spot for David!

Happy drawing!

Piggie & Elephant to the Rescue! Directed Drawings

If your students are anything like mine, they’re obsessed with Mo Willems. And if you’re anything like me, you’re always on the lookout for activities that check all these boxes:

✅ Engaging
✅ Low prep
✅ Tied to literacy
✅ Actually FUN

Well, friend, consider it done! Let me introduce you to my Piggie & Elephant Directed Drawing Printables — aka: the magical combination of writing, reading, drawing, and "LOOK WHAT I MADE!" moments that will make you feel like a superhero (without the cape or paperwork).

What’s the Deal?
Your students get to follow simple, step-by-step directions to draw Piggie, Elephant, the Big Guy (hi, whale 🐳), Love Birds, a car, and a ship. That’s SIX different drawing options—differentiated FOUR ways—because you teach real humans, not identical robots.

Some pages are no-writing-required (perfect for kinders or “I lost my pencil” days), and some have sentence-writing options with different line types depending on your students' abilities or handwriting stage. There's even extra paper for your little novelists. I see you, future Mo Willemses.

Why Teachers Love This:

• It’s a sneaky way to reinforce comprehension. (“Let’s draw Gerald! But wait… what’s he feeling in the book again?”)

• It builds fine motor skills without a single clothespin or play dough in sight.

• Students become very proud of their creations. Like, “Please display this until I graduate” proud.

• It’s fun for centers, sub days, Fun Fridays, or “we finished math early and I am NOT starting a new lesson at 2:17 PM.”

Bonus Teacher Tips:

• Do all six drawings over a week while reading the books aloud = INSTANT cross-curricular magic.

• End the week by having students combine characters into one scene = hilarious and bulletin board-worthy.

• Let them record themselves reading their sentences on Seesaw. 

• Keep a binder of reusable directed drawings in sleeves = easy access, forever engagement, zero excuses.

Whether you’re team Piggie, team Elephant, or team “please let the pigeon drive the bus already,” this resource is a go-to gem you’ll use year after year.

Check out the other Directed Drawings I have in action and a full preview of how I format the packet...I think you'll recognize some cool characters your kids will love!

This is Bundle 1: Save $5 which saves you 33%  Piggie and Elephant will be available in Bundle 2 when it's ready...by the end of July.  Happy 4th!

Draw Like Dav Pilkey : Directed Drawings from Dog Man

If your students are obsessed with Dog Man, you're in good company! Dav Pilkey’s graphic novel series is a favorite in my classroom and from what my colleagues say, their classrooms, too. 

While, full disclosure, it's not a favorite of my personal taste, I am fully here for anything that gets kids excited about reading and this fits the bill!

I aim to please so please I did....my kids went WILD yesterday when I shared my latest Directed Drawing packet with them. (Thanks to my husband who actually makes the drawings for me.)

It was at the end of the day so I wasn't able to take too many pictures.

Take a peek at some of their art from past packets. I'll have to get better at taking pictures!

This resource includes step-by-step drawing guides for 6 Dog Man characters — perfect for beginning artists and young readers alike! Each drawing breaks down the character into simple steps. Build confidence for sure! Read about the benefits of Directed Drawings if you are new to them.

Characters Included

• Dog Man

• Petey

• Petey's Lab

• Mayor

• Hot Dog 

• Chief

 Why You'll Love This

• ✔️ No drawing experience needed — each step is scaffolded to support your youngest learners

• ✔️ Great for literacy connections — pair it with Dog Man read-alouds or independent reading time

• ✔️ Perfect for brain breaks, Fun Friday, art centers, sub plans, or bulletin boards, Do Nows, Fast Finishers, Summer Send Off, etc.

• ✔️ Inspires storytelling — students can write about their characters once they draw them!

Easy Prep, Big Engagement

Want to take it a step further? Let students create their own comic strips or Dog Man-style adventures using the characters they’ve drawn!

Ready to Draw Some Laughs?

Whether you’re a lifelong Dog Man fan or just discovering the world of Dav Pilkey, this directed drawing pack is a fun, low-prep way to build confidence, creativity, and giggles.

👉 Grab the Dog Man Directed Drawing Pack for K–2 now and unleash your students' inner illustrator! 

Lots more packets coming this summer.  Thinking Pete the Cat, Bruce the Bear, Pig the Pug, Fly Guy, Piggie and Elephant, David....any others?  Hmmm...thinking, thinking...

UPDATED:  I made a Pete the Cat Packet and made  MONEY SAVING BUNDLE! Save $5!

Knuffle Bunny Directed Drawing Activities

A few weeks ago, I introduced my Directed Drawing Series. Read about all the benefits of Directed Drawings and check out some of the results.

Here are a few Pigeon/Bus ones my students did as their first attempt.  (I should have grabbed more pics!)

I love the pink Pigeon!  Adorable! 

I thought this might be hard but he nailed it!  Impressed!

Love all of them. This is one of the activities the kids have an option of doing while I'm meeting with reading groups.  I have 3 GR Groups each day.  Each students gets TWO read to self on their own sessions (Stamina and RAZ Kids) and then they are either reading with me or doing a reading response activity.

I had options for the kids that you can see in this post but all students picked the ones that have a sentence on the bottom.  I was thrilled!  

In addition to Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and Creepy Pair of Underwear Directed Drawings available in my store, I've uploaded Knuffle Bunny which is a favorite of mine!  It's a Mentor Text for our Small Moments Writing Unit so we will use the Directed Drawing for the book next week.  Can't wait!

I'm going to start another Directed Drawing packet this week.  My husband said I should do Dragons Love Tacos but I'm not sure.  Maybe a Halloween Book?  A Kevin Henkes book?  Possibilities are endless!