Drawing Book of Faces by Ed Emberley

Drawing Book of Faces - Work on precision with a writing tool and reading facial expressions.

In the book: Faces, faces, and more faces

Drawing Book of Faces by Ed Emberley is a fun and simple book with step-by-step instructions for drawing expressive faces. Most faces start off with a square or circle. Then over the course of six steps, simple features are added, lines and shapes, and a funny face is the result. Many kids are surprised and pleased when they see what they can do using this approach.

From his book page on Amazon.

I like to use this book with kids who are working on writing smaller with distal rotation, holding a writing tool, precision with a writing tool, bilateral integration and/or drawing shapes, spatial relations, visual closure, the list is long. If I want the person to work on making small marks, I control how big the face is by drawing the starting circle or square.

Drawing Book of Faces has 32 pages and over 100 faces. It's also a fun book to use if you are working on reading facial expressions, as there are lots of faces that would help with that. Expressions include happy, sad, embarrassed, angry, scared, mischievous, defeated, determined, conceited, grumpy, neutral, and many more. In the back of the book there are a couple of pages of completed faces, no step-by-step instructions, so you can try your hand at putting it all together once you've learned the step-by-step process. There are also a couple of pages with sections such as eyes, mouths, ears, hair, etc. so you can create your own custom faces.

The faces represent all kinds of occupations and actions and include Laughing Lena, Sly Sid, Sleeping Simone, Black Eye Bob, Freckles Frieda, Earmuff Earl, Engineer Eric, Diver Dick, Donkey Don, Bulldog Brunhilda. You get the idea. I like to use colored pencils or an ultra fine dry erase marker (more about that here - EXPO Dry Erase Boards and Markers) for kids who are working on writing. 

I love using the Ed Emberley books and the kids loved them too. I have blogged about several of his other books:

• Make a Face with Ed Emberley - The basic shape is already supplied. You fill in the details.
• Goody Gumdrops by Ed Emberley - My favorite for beginners. Each animal starts out with the exact same shape, a gumdrop.
• Ed Emberley's Christmas Drawing Book -  It's all about winter and Christmas.
• Ed Emberley's Fingerprint Drawing Book - Use an ink pad and start with a fingerprint shape.
• Ed Emberley's Great Thumbprint Drawing Book - Use an ink pad and start with a thumbprint shape. 

From his book page on Amazon.

If you would like to read more about games that require writing or drawing in some form, check out my post Games That Require a Writing Tool. 

Try this:

• Use colored pencils. Adds just a bit more fun to be able to change colors.
• Let the individual choose the face to make the experience more positive if the person does not like drawing or writing.
• Look at each new step and, before drawing, ask the individual what has changed, what has been added.
• If the individual makes a mistake or omits something, note that his picture is a little different from the book and ask him to find the difference. Can he compare and spot it without help?
• Open the book to a page and ask the child to look at each finished face and name the facial expression (i.e. happy, angry, scared)
• Ask the individual to verbally give the directions, step-by-step, using spatial terms, and you draw along. For instance, for a profile like the green example above, a circle nose is on the left, a half-circle ear is on the right, curly hair is across the top and down the back, etc. 
• Go to the pages at the back of the book that just show features. Give the individual an example, such as Michelle was just settling in to watch her favorite TV show when her mom told her it was time to go to the dentist. Ask the individual to draw how Michelle felt (angry, scared?). See if his features match the emotion.
 

• MORE TIPS FROM MY EXPO DRY ERASE BOARD POST: 
• Work on diagonal lines for letters such as K, Y, X, W by drawing pictures that incorporate diagonal lines (whiskers, sharp teeth, legs, bird toes). Work on distal rotation by drawing pictures that incorporate small, colored-in circles (eyes, freckles, tassels, chicken pox). Work on rounded lines, such as needed for many lower case letters, by drawing pictures with rounded and wavy lines (ears, water, noses, hair). Sounds pretty basic, doesn't it? One big reason I like the Ed Emberley books is because I can quickly scan each page, looking for the shapes and feature(s) that I want to practice without having to make up a variety of my own drawings on the spot.
• Be short and precise with your verbal instructions as you model. Draw only one line or shape at a time and make sure they are following your instructions to the best of their ability. Drawings may start out looking rough, but typically improve over time with practice. The kids often recognize this and are very pleased when they see their improvement result in recognizable pictures.  
• Model how to start and stop on a line. I often just reach over and erase overflow with my finger and they quickly get the idea.
• Draw a picture and then erase and try to draw it again from memory.
• Use the Ed Emberley Book of faces when working on emotions. Emphasize the shapes of the eyes, eyebrows and mouth when talking about reading facial expressions.
• Work on fine motor precision, pencil control, efficient pencil grasp, coordinated use of both hands, distal rotation, visual memory, spatial relations, visual closure, visual form constancy, visual motor integration, visual discrimination, motor planning, drawing and recognizing shapes, body awareness, proportion, executive functioning skills, play and leisure exploration and participation, reading facial expressions

If you are interested in purchasing this book or just want more information, click on the image below.

Spot It!

Spot It! Five games in one, lots of themes, no wiating - everybody plays. Lots to like!

Spot It! is my favorite card game for several reasons: the rules are simple, a game only takes 5-10 minutes to play, there are five different ways to play, it comes in a variety of themes, everyone plays on every turn - no down time, and you can work on several skills at the same time. Whew!

There are eight items on each card (except the junior version which has only six). Between any two cards there is one, and only one, match.  The goal is simply to find the match and be the first one to call it out. The items are in different orientations and may be different sizes, but never differ in color. 

 

Here are the original five games:

• The Tower - To win, collect the most cards by the end of the game. One card is dealt face down to each player. The rest of the cards are put in a face-up deck within everyone's reach. Everyone plays at the same time to see who can be the first to find a match between his card and the card on the top of the deck. The first person to call out his match takes the top card and adds it to the top of his personal pile. All players immediately start looking for the match between their card and the new top card on the deck in the middle. Play continues until all cards from the deck on the table have been collected.
• The Well - Be the first to get rid of all your cards to win. Put one card face up within reach of all players. Deal the rest of the deck evenly and face-down to all players. At the same time, all players flip their card pile face-up and quickly look for the match between their top card and the card on the table. The first to call out his match gets to lay his card on the pile on the table. Everyone immediately starts looking for the match between their top card and the new top card on the table. Play continues in this manner until someone runs out of cards and wins the game. 
• Hot Potato - Have the least amount of cards after all the rounds have been played to win. Evenly deal all cards between players, face-down in their palms. To start, all players turn their cards face up at the same time and look for a match between their card and anyone else's top card. Once you find a match, add your card, face-up, to the pile in their palm. This is their new top card. The game continues until only one person has cards in his palm. He counts his cards and that is his score. Play several rounds and the winner is the person who has the lowest score.
• The Poisoned Gift - Have the least number of cards at the end of the game to win. Deal one card to each player, face down. Put the remainder of the deck in the middle, face-up. All players turn their card face-up at the same time and start looking for a match between the card in the middle and any other player. Once you see a match, call it out and put the card from the middle onto that player's pile. That now becomes his top card. Keep playing until the stack of cards from the middle is gone.
• Triplet - Collect the most cards by the end of the game to win. Lay nine cards (3 X 3) face-up on the table. Everyone looks for three of one item within those nine cards. First to find a match calls out the item and takes the three cards. Three new cards are added in those spots. Keep playing until there are less than nine cards left or no more sets of three.  

Other Spot It! games I have blogged about:

• Spot It! Fire and Ice (comes with a timer for more games)
• Spot It! Freeze (comes with a timer for more games)
• Spot It! Junior (six objects per card instead of eight, simple themes)
• Spot It! Splash (plastic cards, play in the water)
• Spot It! Holiday - Christmas fun.

Try this:

• Start by showing the individual each image in the instruction guide and make sure that he recognizes or learns what to call each item. It would be an unfair disadvantage if he found the match but didn't know what it was so couldn't call it. I let kids use different words, like palm or tree would each be acceptable. However, if you get a movie theme game, like Frozen, you would need to know the names. Or, you could just say something like "one, two" while pointing to them.
• Play with non-verbal individuals and point to the match on one of the cards instead of calling it out.
• Start by making it a simple matching game to teach the object to beginners. Put two cards side by side on the table and find the match. If the individual has trouble, turn the cards so the items are in close proximity to each other and easier to spot. Go through the deck this way before playing a game.
• Ask the person to hold the stack in the non-dominant hand throughout the game. Push each card off the top with the thumb to play.
• Lay several cards in front of you on the table and call out an object on the cards. Count how many times that object appears on those cards.
• Lay two cards side-by-side on the table. Everyone looks. The first to find the match gets the cards. Play till all cards are gone.
• Take turns finding matches if playing for speed is not desired.
• Stack the pile of cards in front of each player. Lift each top card off the pile without tipping the pile over or sliding unwanted cards off.
• Work on figure ground, visual discrimination, visual form constancy, spatial relations, visual scanning, manual dexterity, in-hand manipulation, coordinated use of both hands, processing speed, sustained attention, shuffling and dealing cards, socialization skills, process skills, play and leisure exploration and participation

In the tin: 54 cards and instructions for 4 games

Ages 7+, 2-6 players

If you are interested in purchasing this game or just want more information, click on the image below.