Form Drawing Made Simple: How We Do It and Why It Helps

Drawing is one of those things I really enjoy - but I’m not great at it. My skills more or less stalled around age ten. Give me a blank page, and I’ll probably draw a house, a tree or a person with their feet sticking out to the sides.

Like a lot of things I’m not naturally good at, doing it with my kids has meant starting from scratch - which I actually enjoy. It puts us on a level playing field, where we’re learning together.

That’s what led us to form drawing. I wanted something that started with the real basics - the building blocks - and gave us space to explore side by side. And yet it's benefits reached surprisingly further.

Form drawing is often used in Waldorf education that usually starts when children are around 6 or 7. It takes a slow, steady approach - beginning with simple shapes like circles, waves, and spirals - and gradually builds up to more complex designs, like Celtic knots and Islamic geometric patterns. The idea is to help children develop a natural sense of form, balance and symmetry through flowing lines and patterns.

It starts simply, is easy to follow, and turns out to be a really calming, connecting way to spend time together - all while quietly building a strong foundation for more creative and complex work later on.