Leo and the Pink Marker

Share this book

After reading Leo and the Pink Marker aloud, talk with students about how they feel about coloring outside the lines. Do they like to be creative when they color or draw? Does coloring inside the lines feel like a rule they have to follow? What about Leo’s story launches their own creativity and imaginations? Ask students what being creative means to them and to share ways they are creative at home and at school.

Then, give students the opportunity to color outside the lines, like Leo does. Give each student one marker (color of their choice) and a sheet of paper with the outline of an ambiguous shape drawn on it. Ask students to use their imaginations to figure out what the shape could become by adding details inside and outside of the lines. Students can create a background, add features inside of the shape, add new shapes using their marker, or however they’d like to use their imaginations to transform an outline of a blob into cheery artwork to give to a friend, neighbor, or family member to brighten their day.

Questions for Discussion or Reflective Writing

1. How is Leo being creative with his marker? How do you like to use markers, crayons, and other art supplies?
2. How did Leo end up coloring so many things pink? What does it mean to get “carried away?” What is something that you’ve been so excited about or moved by that you got carried away?
3. What reaction did you expect from Leo’s parents when they saw what he had done to the scrapyard? Why do you think they reacted the way they did?
4. If you could do what Leo did with his marker, what color would you choose to use? Why would you choose that color?
5. What do you think is happening in the last page of the book? What do you expect Leo to do in the future?

Related Resources

Event Kit for Leo and the Pink Marker from Peachtree Books
Line, Shape, Blob from the Whitney Museum of American Art
Lines All Around and Taking Lines for a Walk from Art Lessons for Kids
Organic Abstract Random Blob Shapes from Adobe Stock