The whole world has completely changed due to the effects of the novel coronavirus and the COVID-19 disease it causes. Schools across nations and continents are being closed until further notice, and some universities and other educational institutions have even decided to suspend all physical classes until the end of the school year.

The message is loud and clear: stay at home. At the moment, no less than 300 million children can’t go to school because of the outbreak and spread of the deadly virus. Parents around the world are complaining about their children’s schoolwork at home, and a lot of them also don’t know how to keep their children busy during these difficult times. All the things you can do are limited to inside the home, and as we’ve witnessed so far, it’s not as easy as it seems.

Mo Willems is a bestselling author and illustrator of children’s books, and he wants to help keep younger kids busy in a meaningful manner.

You might know Willems from bestselling children’s books such as “Knufflebunny,” “I Will Take a Nap!” and “The Pigeon Has to Go School!”. While it’s not exactly literature for adults, hundreds of thousands of children absolutely adore these books, and probably wish that they could draw the illustrations just as good as Willems can.

Well, the artist wanted to make that happen.

He started a free Lunch Doodles series, where he teaches kids how to draw characters and doodles in an easy, comprehensive and adjusted manner for the litter ones.

He does this in co-operation with The Kennedy Center. The “Lunch Doodles” videos are live-streamed every single weekday at 1 PM EST sharp so that the children have some routine and also have something to look forward to each day.

Because it’s a live stream, interaction is definitely encouraged. For the children who can’t watch the whole session live, Willems always posts the videos and teaching sessions on the Kennedy Center YouTube account too. That way, they can always watch it later or save it for another time.

Each session keeps the kids busy for about half an hour, and the artist gives a friendly insight into how he illustrates books directly from his home office.

“I know a lot of you guys are not in school. You’re at home right now because of all the things that are going on. Well, guess what? I’m at home, too. We’re gonna hang out together,” the illustrator says in one of his first videos.

Children can also ask him questions on how to handle particular objects or aspects of a drawing via the live stream, the comments section of the posted videos or via a special email address, “[email protected]”. Willems always tries to answer as many questions as he can in later episodes.

The artist has already done five of these “Lunch Doodles” sessions, and the initiative is praised by children and parents alike.

“Thanks for the doodle lesson! We are a little behind but Aretha made a monster with lots of legs!” Joslyn Kahn tweeted.

“Mo Willems you are offering an amazing, much needed, bright spot for us in Seattle. Emma, age 6, went from being crushed about missing friends to creating nonstop art and stories. You provided a distraction when hugs and comfort were not enough. Thank you!” said Deodara Schaffer.

You can check out the introductory video of the series below, and you can find the rest in this special Lunch Doodles YouTube playlist.

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Source: The Kennedy Center, @The_Pigeon