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Grid drawing worksheets

Grid drawing teaches one idea: stop drawing the whole animal and draw only what is inside one square. Each sheet puts a small gridded picture at the top and a bigger empty grid below it, so the copy comes out larger than the original.

Curated by Willa Fern

How does a grid drawing worksheet work?

A grid drawing worksheet divides a picture into equal squares and gives you an empty grid with the same number of squares. You copy one square at a time, which keeps the proportions right even if you cannot yet draw the shape freehand.

Animals

Grid drawing worksheet: a teddy bear under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 16 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Bear The teddy touches all sixteen squares. Copy the ears in the top row first, since getting them the right size sets the scale for the rest. Download PDF Grid drawing worksheet: a bird under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 13 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Bird The bird stands in the middle two columns at the top and widens lower down. Its two feet stand in the bottom row. Download PDF Grid drawing worksheet: a butterfly under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 14 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Butterfly The wings spread right across the grid. Copy one wing, then check its partner against the same squares on the other side. Download PDF Grid drawing worksheet: a sitting kitten under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 14 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Cat The ears reach into the top row and the tail curls into the right hand column. The face is mostly in two squares, so take those slowly. Download PDF Grid drawing worksheet: a long neck dinosaur under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 12 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Dinosaur The head sits alone in the top left corner and the tail runs out to the right. Copying the long neck square by square keeps it from going crooked. Download PDF Grid drawing worksheet: a sitting puppy under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 16 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Dog Every one of the sixteen squares has a line in it. The nose sits on the middle vertical line, a handy landmark for lining up the face. Download PDF Grid drawing worksheet: an elephant under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 15 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Elephant The big ears fill the top two rows on both sides. The legs are straight columns, so they line up neatly with the vertical grid lines. Download PDF Grid drawing worksheet: a fish under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 10 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Fish A wide fish across the middle rows, with the fin poking into the top and bottom only in the second column. The tail fills the right edge. Download PDF Grid drawing worksheet: a sitting fox under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 14 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Fox The ears point up in the top left squares and the big tail fills the bottom right. The body sits on a slant between them. Download PDF Grid drawing worksheet: a pony standing side on under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 14 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Horse The head is in the top left and the back runs flat across row two. Four legs come down through the bottom row, with the tail on the far right. Download PDF Grid drawing worksheet: a lion cub under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 16 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Lion The bumpy mane takes up the top half. Copy its bumps one square at a time; it is the part that goes lopsided when drawn freehand. Download PDF Grid drawing worksheet: a panda under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 16 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Panda A chunky panda in all sixteen squares. The eye patches sit either side of the middle line, so compare them carefully to keep them level. Download PDF Grid drawing worksheet: a penguin under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 14 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Penguin The top corners stay empty and the round body fills the rest. Watch the white belly oval, which sits in the middle two columns. Download PDF Grid drawing worksheet: a rabbit under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 14 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Rabbit Long ears run through the top row and the third row narrows to the body. The feet spread across the bottom row again. Download PDF Grid drawing worksheet: a shark under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 8 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Shark A long shark lying across the middle two rows. The top fin and the tail tips are the only parts that reach towards the edge. Download PDF Grid drawing worksheet: a coiled snake under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 13 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Snake The head sits high in the middle and the coils widen towards the bottom. Each curve crosses several squares, so follow it one crossing at a time. Download PDF Grid drawing worksheet: a spider on a thread under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 12 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Spider The thread drops straight down the middle two columns and the legs spread across the bottom half. Count the legs per side before you copy them. Download PDF Grid drawing worksheet: a tiger cub under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 16 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Tiger All sixteen squares are used. The stripes are short marks, so it is easy to place them exactly by checking which square each one sits in. Download PDF Grid drawing worksheet: a turtle under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 8 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Turtle Low and wide, so it only uses the middle two rows. The shell dome rises into row two and the legs sit along the bottom of row three. Download PDF Grid drawing worksheet: a sitting wolf under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 13 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Wolf Ears in the top left, the bushy tail in the bottom right corner. The right column stays empty until the tail arrives. Download PDF

Buildings

Grid drawing worksheet: a house under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 15 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid House Mostly straight lines, which makes this the gentlest grid sheet to start with. The roof peak sits right on a grid line near the top. Download PDF

Fantasy

Grid drawing worksheet: a little dragon under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 16 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Dragon Wings, horns and tail stretch the dragon into all sixteen squares. Start with the round belly in the middle and work outwards. Download PDF Grid drawing worksheet: a skeleton under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 8 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Skeleton Tall and thin, so the whole figure fits in the middle two columns from top to bottom. The outer columns are empty. Download PDF Grid drawing worksheet: a unicorn under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 12 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Unicorn The horn pokes into the top row and the tail swings into the bottom right. The left column is empty in the lower half. Download PDF

Food

Grid drawing worksheet: a birthday cake with three candles under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 12 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Cake The candles stand in the top row, the cake body in the middle and the plate across the bottom. Its sides are straight, so line them up with the grid. Download PDF Grid drawing worksheet: a strawberry under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 13 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Strawberry Leaves in the top row, the berry widest in rows two and three, then narrowing to a point near the bottom middle. Download PDF

Lettering

Grid drawing worksheet: the word HI in bubble letters under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 8 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Bubble letters H and I sit across the middle two rows only. The top and bottom rows are empty, which makes the letter heights easy to get right. Download PDF

Nature

Grid drawing worksheet: a brain under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 14 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Brain Fourteen squares hold a fold or two. Copy the outline square by square first and add the curly folds afterwards, one square at a time. Download PDF Grid drawing worksheet: a flower with six petals under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 14 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Flower The petals fill the top half and the stem drops down the middle two columns. The leaves sit where the stem crosses into the bottom row. Download PDF Grid drawing worksheet: the sun under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 16 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Sun Rays reach into every square, including all four corners. Copy the circle first, since every ray starts from its edge. Download PDF Grid drawing worksheet: a tree under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 12 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Tree The leafy top spreads across the upper half; below it only the middle two columns hold the trunk. Roots fan out at the very bottom. Download PDF

Vehicles

Grid drawing worksheet: an airplane under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 13 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Airplane Copy the jet into a 4 by 4 grid. The wing crosses the bottom half on a slant, so check where it enters and leaves each square. Download PDF Grid drawing worksheet: a sailboat under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 13 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Boat The sail points up through the top row while the hull and waves fill the bottom two. A ruler helps with the mast, which is one long straight line. Download PDF Grid drawing worksheet: a car seen from the side under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 8 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Car A long low car that fills the middle two rows. The two wheels sit near the bottom of row three, one in each outer column. Download PDF Grid drawing worksheet: a pickup truck under a 4 by 4 grid, touching 8 of the 16 squares, above a larger empty grid Truck A pickup across the middle two rows, cab on the left and the bed on the right. The bed top is one straight line along a grid row. Download PDF

Every sheet uses the same layout: a small reference picture with a 4 by 4 grid over it, and below it a larger empty 4 by 4 grid. Both grids have square cells, so a drawing copied cell by cell keeps its proportions. The copy comes out about 1.7 times the size of the reference.

Some drawings are much easier to grid than others. The car, the pickup truck, the shark, the turtle and the bubble letters sit in the middle two rows only, which leaves half the grid empty and gives the child fewer squares to think about. The bear, the dog, the lion and the sun reach into all sixteen squares and are better saved for later.

Let children number the squares in both grids, 1 to 16, before they start. It sounds slow, but it stops the most common mistake, which is copying a square into the wrong place. Pencil first, then go over the lines once the whole picture is in.

Grid copying works best once a child has drawn the subject at least once on a step sheet. For pure mirroring practice, try the symmetry sheets instead.

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