Contour Drawing

Contour drawing is a method of drawing when you don't look at the paper. With regular contour drawing, you don't draw unless you are only looking at the object you are drawing, but you can stop drawing when you check your work. Blind contour is when you don't look at all at the paper, you keep your eyes focused on the object. This is a great exercise for any age to learn how to draw what they see rather than rely on their memory. It also helps prevent drawing stylized things. It tests your ability to have a sense of scale and continuity with your art. The following is a YouTube video that may help you understand contour drawing better and help kids understand it better.

Here are some examples of contour drawing:

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As you can tell contour drawings can be of anything and sometimes you won't even be able to tell what the drawing is supposed to be of. It is definitely something that takes practice. 

Activity: have the kids hold their hand in a funny position that is not really normal (like the second picture shown). Then time them for a minute or two and have them draw their hand first without looking at their hand at all, just at their hand (blind contour) and then do it a second time when they can check their work, but only move their pencil/pen when looking at their hand.