Teaching Kids to Draw Animals, Step by Step
The easiest way for a child to learn animal drawing is to progress gradually: start with animals built from simple circles and lines, like the fish and the turtle, then move on to beloved pets such as the cat and the dog, practice finer details like the owl's feathers and the camel's hump, and finish with the big wild animals — the lion and the giraffe. This page collects our illustrated tutorials arranged along that path, and every lesson is written in short numbered steps a child aged five and up can follow with just a pencil and paper.
Where should your child start drawing animals?
Which animals are easiest for a young beginner?
How to Draw a Fish for Kids: From One Fish to a Whole Aquarium Swimming on Paper
A kids' fish lesson with simple steps — an oval, a triangle, and fins — then expanding the drawing into a full aquarium with seaweed and bubbles, plus endless rainbow coloring ideas.
How to Draw a Turtle for Kids: A Traveling Home with Beautiful Geometric Patterns
A kids' turtle lesson: the shell dome, a smiling head, and little feet — then the geometric shell-pattern workshop with grids, hexagons, and rings, plus a sweet patience lesson.
How to Draw a Duck for Kids: A Yellow Duck Swimming in Her First Lake
A kids' duck lesson with simple steps — two circles and a flat bill — then a full lake with ripples and a mother duck trailed by a line of ducklings, plus the famous bill mistake and its instant fix.
How to Draw a Bee for Kids: A Hardworking Striped Friend in a Flower Meadow
A kids' bee lesson: a yellow-and-black striped body, transparent wings, and antennae — then the famous dotted flight path and the flower meadow, plus an amazing honey fact.
How to Draw a Frog for Kids: Bulging Eyes and a Never-Ending Jump
A kids' frog lesson with its signature secret: eyes that sit on top of the head. Clear numbered steps, then a fly-catching tongue, a jump with motion lines, and the famous lotus-leaf seat.
Easy Bird Drawing for Kids: One Circle Singing on a Branch
An easy bird lesson from a single circle: an eye, a beak, a wing, and a tail — then the full branch scene with leaves and a singing friend. The lovely finale of our ten-animal series.
How do they draw beloved pets and farm animals?
How to Draw a Cat for Kids, Step by Step: From a Simple Circle to a Complete Cat
A kids' cat-drawing lesson in ten numbered steps, starting with a circle for the head and ending with a complete sitting cat — plus the most common mistakes with fixes, and coloring ideas that make every cat unique.
Easy Dog Drawing for Kids: A Cute Floppy-Eared Puppy in 9 Steps
How to draw an easy dog for kids: a puppy with floppy ears and a cheerful tongue, in nine clear steps describing every shape — plus answers to the questions kids and parents always ask while drawing.
How to Draw a Rabbit for Kids: Long Ears and a Carrot in 10 Fun Steps
A kids' rabbit-drawing lesson that starts with a circle and two long ears and ends with a sitting bunny beside its carrot — with quick tips along the way and a bonus hopping-rabbit exercise.
Easy Sheep Drawing for Kids: A Wool Cloud Walking on Four Legs
An easy sheep lesson with the cloud trick: wool from relaxed circular scribbles, a sweet face, and stick legs — then a flock on green hills and a special black sheep. A joyful batch finale.
Easy Bear Drawing for Kids: From Beloved Teddy to Forest Bear
An easy bear lesson built almost entirely on circles: a cute teddy in numbered steps, then tiny changes that turn the house toy into a forest bear — plus the legendary honey pot.
How do they move on to finer details?
Easy Butterfly Drawing for Kids: The Wings Lesson and the Magic Mirror Game
An easy butterfly lesson that teaches a big artistic secret called symmetry: a slim body, matching wings, and mirrored decorations — plus the fold-and-print paint game that leaves kids amazed.
Easy Owl Drawing for Kids: The Night Guardian with Moon-Like Eyes
An easy owl lesson: huge moon eyes, roof-tile feather arcs, and feathery ear tufts — then the complete night scene with moon and stars, your child's first nighttime painting.
How to Draw a Penguin for Kids: The Tuxedo Master on Ice
A penguin lesson built on the famous tuxedo trick — a dark oval with a white chest — then the full ice scene, a penguin family in graded sizes, and the hilarious belly slide.
How to Draw a Camel for Kids: The Ship of the Desert with Its Tall Hump
A kids' camel lesson: an oval body, an arc hump, an S-curve neck, and long legs — then the full desert scene with palm and dunes, plus the hump fact most adults get wrong.
How to Draw a Horse for Kids: From Calm and Standing to Galloping with a Flying Mane
An easy horse lesson in two stages: a standing horse from simple shapes first, then the magic of motion — a flying mane, a waving tail, and speed lines. Includes the three most famous mistakes and their instant fixes.
Is your child ready for the big-animal challenge?
Easy Lion Drawing for Kids: The King of the Jungle with a Sun-Like Mane
An easy lion lesson built on one secret: the wavy mane around the face. Clear numbered steps, common mistakes with instant fixes, and the crazy-manes game kids never want to stop playing.
How to Draw an Elephant for Kids: A Giant Friend with Fan Ears and a Playful Trunk
A kids' elephant lesson with steps that describe every shape: a big circle, two fan-like ears, and a trunk made of two curved lines — plus detailed answers to the questions kids and parents ask most about this lesson.
How to Draw a Giraffe for Kids: The Longest Neck and Loveliest Spots in Drawing
A kids' giraffe lesson that packs two skills into one: building the body from shapes — small head to towering neck — then the art of spots, the animal kingdom's most famous pattern.
How to Draw a Dinosaur for Kids: A Friendly Long-Necked Giant with Colorful Spikes
A kids' dinosaur lesson starting with the friendly long-neck in numbered steps, then simple conversions that create other species, a volcano scene, and imagination questions that light the spark.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which animal should my child draw first?
The fish or the turtle: both are drawn from a circle and a few simple lines, as their tutorials show. Once mastered, your child can confidently move on to the duck and the frog, then the rest of the path.
Does my child need special tools for these tutorials?
No — a pencil, paper and colored pencils are enough for every lesson. Each tutorial is written in short numbered steps a child can follow independently.
What comes after mastering animal drawing?
Your child can move on to the blog's vehicle and landscape tutorials, or join the Rasm Kids course to learn drawing fundamentals, coloring, and light and shadow through step-by-step recorded videos.
Ready for your child's art journey?
The Rasm Kids course takes your child from the first line to a painting they're proud of — lifetime access
Discover the course Watch the free lesson