Get the children to draw an object without looking at the paper - only at the object. The drawing won't be good, but the object is to train them to look hard at the thing they are drawing. When drawing, we instinctively spend too much time looking at our drawing and not the object being drawn, and so rely too much on a faulty memory and mental concepts of what such an object tends to look like. This activity is commonly used in art classes.

2. Description Game

Divide children into pairs. Give one child in each pair a picture - a simple abstract shape, such as the ones below (You can use the 'AutoShapes' function in Word), or a simple object like a bottle or spoon. This child has to describe the shape to the other as accurately as possible, using only words, not gestures - describing the type of shape, lengths and widths and relative proportions, angles, etc. The other child has to reproduce the shape on a piece of paper based only on the first child's description. At the end, look at the drawings and decide whose is the closest. This will be very difficult but fun. It is designed to teach children to observe closely the visual details of things. You might want to demonstrate the game yourself first (with a bright child as your partner).

3. Upside Down Copying

Give children a picture to copy of something normally only shown one way up - such as a bottle, a house, a tree, a person, or an animal. The children turn the picture upside down and copy it. Upside down the image will appear more abstract. The point is to train children to see images as abstract patterns of colour and shade, so they can accurately reproduce them in their art.