How do you teach a child to draw animals? With one rule: every animal is built from simple shapes — circles, ovals, and triangles. Teach them to ask three questions: what shape is the big body? What shape is the head? What makes this animal special? Then start with the fish (just 5 steps), then the rabbit, then the cat. This guide has the complete steps for all three animals, easiest to hardest, with a special touch for each drawing and a final tip for parents.
What Is the Golden Rule for Drawing Any Animal?
Before starting, teach your child to look at any animal and ask: what's the big shape of its body? What shape is its head? What makes it different from other animals? A cat is defined by triangle ears and whiskers, a rabbit by long ears, a fish by a triangle tail and scales. Once a child answers those three questions, every animal becomes a building game.
Before the details, here is the lesson map at a glance:
| Animal | Level | Steps | Base shapes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fish | Easiest | 5 | Oval + triangle tail |
| Rabbit | Medium | 5 | Circle head + oval body |
| Cat | The challenge | 6 | Circle + upright oval and triangles |
First: The Colorful Fish (Easiest)
The Steps
- Draw one big oval — that's the whole body.
- Add a triangle touching the end of the oval — that's the tail.
- Draw a small circle for the eye and a little smile.
- Add a small triangle fin on top of the body and another below.
- Draw parallel curved lines across the body — those are the scales.
The Special Touch
Let your child color each row of scales a different color, then draw little bubbles from the fish's mouth and wavy water lines together.
Second: The Cute Rabbit (Medium)
The Steps
- A big circle for the head in the middle of the page.
- A large oval below and touching it — that's the body.
- Two long ears above the head: thin ovals, each with a smaller pink oval inside.
- Two eyes, a small circle nose, and two short lines below it for the front teeth.
- Six short whisker lines, and a small round tail behind the body.
The Special Touch
Add an orange carrot between the rabbit's paws: an orange triangle with short green lines on top. The carrot turns the drawing from "a rabbit" into "a story".
Third: The Sitting Cat (The Challenge)
The Steps
- A circle for the head and a vertical oval below it for the sitting body.
- Two triangles on the head for ears, each with a smaller triangle inside.
- The eyes: two circles, each with a small black circle inside.
- A small upside-down triangle nose with two curved lines below forming the mouth.
- Three long whiskers on each side — longer than the rabbit's.
- A long curved tail wrapping beside the body, and two small oval paws at the bottom.
The Special Touch
Suggest changing the tail position: a raised tail means a happy cat, a tail wrapped around the body means a sleepy cat — small details tell feelings.
How Your Child Moves to Other Animals Alone
Apply the three-question rule together to a new animal: A duck? Oval body, round head, triangle beak. A turtle? A big half circle, small head, short legs. An elephant? A huge oval and a curved trunk. After three or four animals, your child will start analyzing animals before you even ask.
How Should Parents Encourage: Accuracy or Personality?
Don't ask for accuracy — ask for personality. Your child's big-headed, huge-eyed cat is artistically better than a dull "correct" copy, because the charm of children's art is its spirit, not its precision. Encourage the quirky: a polka-dot cat or a rabbit wearing glasses is a great idea, not a mistake.
If you'd like to move beyond animals into broader projects, start with our guide to teaching kids drawing step by step, or join the Rasm Kids course for short video lessons matched to your child's age.
And if you want an ordered path that takes your child from the easiest animals to the hardest, browse our guide to drawing animals for kids, which collects every animal tutorial in order.
FAQs About Drawing Animals with Kids
Which animal should a beginner start with? The fish — only five steps made of an oval, a triangle, and small fins, and coloring its scales is pure joy. Then the rabbit, then the cat.
My child's cat doesn't look like a cat — should I correct it? Ask for personality, not accuracy: a big-headed, huge-eyed cat is artistically lovelier than a dull "correct" copy — the charm of children's art is its spirit.
How does a child move on to an animal we haven't practiced? With the three-question rule: a duck is an oval body, round head, and triangle beak; a turtle is a half circle with a small head — after three or four animals they start analyzing on their own.
What makes each animal recognizable in a drawing? The signature details: a cat has triangle ears and whiskers, a rabbit has long ears, a fish has a triangle tail and scales — teach your child to hunt for the "special mark" first.
