Add research doc for Early Beginner subject expansion
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# DrawIt — Research: Expanding the Early Beginner Level
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_Researched June 2026. Purpose: figure out the best way to fold a batch of new subjects —
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**hearts, triangles, squares, bow ties, football, basketball, clothes (shirts, dresses, socks),
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trophy, eyes, faces, cups** — into the existing Early Beginner level without breaking its structure or
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duplicating the new Beginner level. Research/planning only; nothing is built here. Builds on
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`RESEARCH-drawing-platforms-and-techniques.md` and `RESEARCH-beginner-level.md`._
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## 1. Where these fit — and the one rule that keeps it coherent
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Early Beginner lives in Lowenfeld's **pre-schematic** world: flat, single, recognizable subjects drawn
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with confident lines. Every requested subject fits that world *as long as we keep it flat and simple*.
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The pedagogy backs our existing approach almost word-for-word: teach **one shape at a time**, have the
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child **trace the outline with a finger, then a pencil** (exactly our line-by-line trace runner), and
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then **"think in shapes" to build objects**. So the new subjects don't need a new mechanic — they need
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to be slotted into the existing **Outline → Details → Color it!** format.
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**The one rule:** keep Early Beginner versions *flat 2-D, front-on, no ellipses or depth*. This is what
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separates them from the Beginner level, which deliberately teaches the same forms *with* 3-D volume.
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Three of the requested subjects overlap with Beginner and must be drawn differently:
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| Subject | Early Beginner (flat) | Beginner (form) — already built |
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| --- | --- | --- |
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| **Cup** | A flat front-on cup: tapered sides + a handle, straight top line | **Mug** = cylinder with an elliptical rim |
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| **Basketball** | A flat circle + curved seam lines | **Beach ball** = sphere with shaded panels |
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| **Football** | A flat pointed oval + laces (American football) | (n/a — no conflict if we keep it American football, not a round soccer ball) |
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Keeping the EB versions flat means a child *feels* the level-up when the same object returns in Beginner
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with real volume. That's a feature, not redundancy — worth saying so in the lesson copy.
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## 2. The new subjects, grouped and sequenced
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With the new objects **and** a batch of ~19 animals (below), Early Beginner grows from six subjects to
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nearly forty. The pedagogy ("introduce one shape, then the next, then build objects from them") and every
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competitor app point to the same answer: **group Early Beginner into themed groups with a gentle
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difficulty ramp.** Proposed groups, easiest → hardest:
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| Group | Subjects | Why here / teaches |
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| --- | --- | --- |
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| **1. Simple Shapes** (new, foundational) | Square, Triangle, Heart | The literal building blocks; pure confident-line practice. The natural *first* thing a brand-new artist draws. |
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| **2. Animals & Nature** (existing classics) | Fish, Panda, Flower, Unicorn, Tree, Dinosaur | The current core — recognizable subjects from combined shapes. |
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| **3. Safari Animals** (new) | Lion, Elephant, Giraffe, Zebra, Rhino, Leopard, Tiger, Monkey, Crocodile | Bigger animals from ovals + legs; pattern practice (stripes, spots). |
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| **4. Woodland Critters** (new) | Fox, Bear, Deer, Rabbit, Hedgehog, Owl, Cat, Turtle | Small rounded animals; cozy, high-appeal, very simple silhouettes. |
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| **5. Up in the Air** (new) | Bird, Butterfly | Tiny, symmetric, great confident-curve practice. |
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| **6. Fun Things** (new, objects) | Bow tie, Football, Basketball, Cup, Trophy | "Things are made of shapes": two triangles = bow tie, circle + seams = basketball, etc. |
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| **7. Things to Wear** (new, clothes) | Shirt, Dress, Socks | Flat front-on garments; simple symmetric outlines + one detail (collar/hem/stripe). |
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| **8. Faces & Features** (new, capstone) | Eyes, Face | The hardest EB skill — symmetry, placement, proportion. Do **Eyes first**, then **Face**. |
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### About the ~19 animals (from Dan's reference picture)
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The reference image is a stock/commercial illustration, so we will **not trace or copy it** — that would
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lift someone else's copyrighted artwork. Instead we draw our **own original** simple line-art versions of
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the same animals in DrawIt's existing rounded doodle style (poses of our choosing). The animal *subjects*
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themselves aren't protectable; the specific drawing is. New animals (none overlap with the existing six):
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**owl, monkey, bird, butterfly, leopard, fox, rabbit, tiger, turtle, bear, deer, zebra, crocodile, cat,
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hedgehog, lion, giraffe, rhino, elephant.** They use the same 3-phase format and per-subject badge as
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every other EB subject; they're split across the Safari / Woodland / Up-in-the-Air groups above purely so
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the list stays browsable.
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This keeps **Fish → Outline as the free flagship lesson** (unchanged) while giving newcomers an even
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gentler on-ramp (Simple Shapes) and a satisfying capstone (Faces). Within Faces, eyes are taught before
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the face because the face lesson reuses them, mirroring how face tutorials build the eyes on an eye-line.
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### Per-subject sketch (shapes → what each phase does)
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Each subject keeps the **3-phase** EB format. "Detail" is where we make a plain shape *fun*.
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- **Square / Triangle / Heart** — Outline: draw the shape (trace it). Details: give it a cute face
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(two eye dots + a smile) so even a square has personality. Color: fill it in. _(This is how we justify
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3 phases for a trivial shape — see §3.)_
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- **Bow tie** — Outline: two triangles meeting at a center knot. Details: a small square knot + fold
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lines. Color: pick a color + polka dots.
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- **Football (American)** — Outline: a pointed oval. Details: center lace stripe + stitches. Color: brown.
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- **Basketball** — Outline: a circle. Details: one vertical + one horizontal seam, two side curves.
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Color: orange.
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- **Cup** — Outline: flat tapered cup body + straight top line + a handle. Details: a rim line + a
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steam swirl. Color. _(Flat — contrast with Beginner's cylinder mug.)_
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- **Trophy** — Outline: a cup bowl on a stem + base. Details: two handles + a "★/#1" + shine marks.
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Color: gold.
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- **Shirt** — Outline: center line → shoulder line → trapezoid body → two sleeves → neckline (the exact
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beginner method from the research). Details: collar + a pocket or stripe. Color.
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- **Dress** — Outline: bodice + A-line skirt (triangle-ish). Details: waistline + neckline + hem. Color.
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- **Socks** — Outline: an L-shaped tube. Details: cuff line + heel/toe + a stripe. Color.
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- **Eyes** — Outline: two almond shapes on a line, one eye-width apart. Details: iris + pupil + a white
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highlight + lashes/brows. Color. _(Teaches the "eyes sit halfway, spaced one eye apart" rule.)_
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- **Face** — Outline: a round head + faint center line + eye line. Details: eyes (on the line), nose
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(halfway to chin), mouth (a third below nose), ears, hair. Color. _(The EB capstone.)_
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## 3. Phase handling — the one real design question
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For animals the 3-phase format is obviously right. For a **square or a heart**, "Outline → Details →
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Color" risks feeling padded. Two options:
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- **(A) Keep all subjects 3-phase (recommended).** Make the *Details* phase "make it cute" — add a tiny
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face or pattern. This keeps the data model, gating, badges, and UI perfectly uniform, and turns a
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boring shape into something a kid wants to finish and color. Pedagogically fine: the outline phase is
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pure shape practice; details add confident small marks.
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- **(B) Add a one-step "warm-up" lesson type** for pure shapes (single phase, no detail/color). More
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faithful to "it's just a square," but it's a new lesson shape to special-case in the runner, learn
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page, gating, and badges — more code for little gain.
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Recommendation: **(A)**. It's zero new mechanics and more fun. Flagged as a decision in §6.
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## 4. How to implement it in the codebase (no schema change)
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Everything reuses the patterns the Beginner build just established.
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- **Data model:** each new subject = **three `Lesson` entries** (outline/detail/extra) in
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`src/lib/curriculum.ts`, identical in shape to the existing Fish/Panda/etc. Per-subject badge on the
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**Detail** lesson (`badgeKey: "early-beginner-<n>-<name>"`), exactly as today. **Early Beginner keeps
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per-subject badges** (not the per-pack badges we used for Beginner) — these are bite-size wins for the
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youngest users.
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- **Sublevels:** continue the existing `subjectIndex*10 + phase` scheme (phase 1/2/3). New subjects get
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indices 7+ → sublevels **71/72/73, 81/82/83, …**. Sublevels are namespaced by `level`, so an EB sublevel
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never collides with a Beginner one (they differ by `level`). Assign indices by group order from §2.
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- **Grouping (the only new UI work):** rather than tag every lesson, add a small **groups config** keyed
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by `subjectKey` (e.g. `EARLY_BEGINNER_GROUPS = [{ key, name, emoji, subjectKeys[] }]`) plus a
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`getGroupedSubjects(level)` helper that buckets `getSubjects()` output into ordered groups (anything
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unlisted falls into a default group). The Learn page then renders Early Beginner as `<details>` group
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sections — the same accordion treatment Beginner packs use, **minus** the pack badge (EB keeps
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per-subject badges). No per-lesson field and no edits to the existing six lessons required.
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- **Art:** extend the existing generator approach (`outputs/gen_beginner.py` / the earlier `gen4`
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pattern) — define each subject's `lines` as simple geometric SVG, render a **cairosvg montage** to
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verify, then emit the curriculum entries. These subjects are mostly primitives (circle, oval, triangle,
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trapezoid, almond) so the art is quick and low-risk.
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- **Badges/awards:** no changes — the emoji-medal badge art and award PDF already work for any
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per-subject badge.
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- **Unlock gate:** unaffected. Beginner still opens after 5 completed EB lessons; more EB content just
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gives kids more ways to get there. (Optionally bump the threshold later, but no need.)
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- **Free lesson:** unchanged — `fish-outline` stays the one free, no-account lesson.
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- **Landing page:** today it shows every EB subject as a teaser grid. With ~19 subjects that's a wall —
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recommend the landing show only **Group 1 (Simple Shapes)** plus an "…and lots more" link, so the
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marketing page stays tight. Small change in `src/app/page.tsx`.
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## 5. Suggested rollout phasing (when we build)
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- **Phase A — Grouping UI + Simple Shapes** (square, triangle, heart). Proves the group treatment.
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- **Phase B — Fun Things** (bow tie, football, basketball, cup, trophy).
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- **Phase C — Things to Wear** (shirt, dress, socks).
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- **Phase D — Faces & Features** (eyes → face), the capstone.
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- **Phase E — Animals** (the ~19 originals, across Safari / Woodland / Up-in-the-Air). Largest art effort;
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done last because each animal is an organic doodle (more drawing work than the geometric subjects).
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## 6. Open decisions for Dan
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1. **Phase handling for pure shapes** — go with option (A): keep all subjects 3-phase, with a "make it
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cute" Details step? (Recommended.)
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2. **Grouping** — add the lightweight EB group UI (Simple Shapes / Animals & Nature / Fun Things / Things
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to Wear / Faces), or keep Early Beginner as one flat list?
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3. **Football** — American football (pointed oval + laces, no overlap with basketball), or a round soccer
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ball (which would duplicate the basketball circle)? (Recommend American football.)
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4. **Group order** — put **Simple Shapes first** (before the existing Animals), as recommended, or keep
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the existing animals first and append the new groups after?
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5. **Clothes scope** — three garments (shirt, dress, socks) to start, or add more later (hat, shoes)?
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## Sources
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- [How to Draw a Face for Kids — Art Projects for Kids](https://artprojectsforkids.org/how-to-draw-a-face/)
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- [How to Draw a Face: Facial Proportions — The Virtual Instructor](https://thevirtualinstructor.com/facialproportions.html)
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- [How to Draw a Face — How to Draw for Kids](https://howtodrawforkids.com/how-to-draw-a-face/)
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- [How to Draw a Nose and Eyes — How to Draw for Kids](https://howtodrawforkids.com/how-to-draw-a-nose-and-eyes/)
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- [Teaching Shapes to Preschoolers — ABCJesusLovesMe](https://www.abcjesuslovesme.com/ideas/teaching-shapes)
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- [Discovering Shapes and Space in Preschool — NAEYC](https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/tyc/apr2014/discovering-shapes-and-space-preschool)
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- [Exploring Shapes — Mensa for Kids](https://www.mensaforkids.org/teach/lesson-plans/exploring-shapes/)
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- [How to Draw a Dress — How to Draw for Kids](https://howtodrawforkids.com/how-to-draw-a-dress/)
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- [How To Draw Clothes Step By Step (For Kids & Beginners)](https://how-to-drawa.com/clothes/)
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- [Easy Clothes Drawing Tutorials — Easy Drawing Guides](https://easydrawingguides.com/easy-clothes-drawing-tutorials/)
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