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The Fixes / How to Draw / Lighthouse
All year · Grades 4–6 · 14 steps

How to Draw a Lighthouse

Lighthouse Bay from The Drawing Fix™. An easy step-by-step drawing for Grades 4–6. Draw it with your class in about 15 minutes, one step at a time. Free to use and print. No sign-up.

By Christopher Allen · Ontario elementary educator14 stepsAbout 15 minutesUpdated Nov 5, 2026
Run it on the projector →Printable step sheet (PDF)

This one asks for a little more patience: overlapping shapes, pattern and detail. It is a calm, focused few minutes, and the finished drawing looks like real art.

Before you start: a pencil, an eraser, a sheet of paper and something to colour with.

Draw lightly at first. Dark lines come at the end, once the shapes look right.

Step-by-step: how to draw a lighthouse

  1. Step 1. Horizon

    Draw the horizon and the far shoreline.

  2. Step 2. Cliff

    Build the rocky cliff in the foreground.

  3. Step 3. Tower

    Draw the tapered lighthouse tower and two bands.

  4. Step 4. Lantern room

    Add the lantern room, roof and rail lines.

  5. Step 5. Light beam

    Send the lighthouse beam across the sky.

  6. Step 6. Tower windows

    Add three small windows down the tower.

  7. Step 7. Front waves

    Layer the large foreground wave lines.

  8. Step 8. Sailboat

    Add the small sailboat off to one side.

  9. Step 9. Rock texture

    Add a few short rock and grass marks.

  10. Step 10. Clouds

    Place two cloud shapes in the sky.

  11. Step 11. Birds

    Add two tiny distant birds.

  12. Step 12. Buoy

    Add the small buoy near the water.

  13. Step 13. Wave foam

    Add a few short foam marks between the waves.

  14. Step 14. Create

    Make one part completely yours.

The pink line is the new part in each step.

Make it theirs

  • Add a background that tells a story. Where is it?
  • Give it a name and write it underneath.
  • Try it again tomorrow from memory.
  • Colour last. There is no wrong colour for a lighthouse.

Teaching it with the projector

The projector version draws each step slowly on the board, pauses while students copy it, then checks in before the next step. Nobody has to talk, so you are free to walk around and help.

Quick Fix: 10 steps, about 10 minutes. Good for a brain break or the last few minutes before recess. Full Focus: all 14 steps, about 15 minutes, with the extra detail.

Open Lighthouse Bay on the projector → It works on any classroom screen. No accounts, no student names, no ads.

Curriculum connections

Visual arts: the elements of design (line, shape, pattern and texture) and creating art for a purpose. Language: listening to and following multi-step directions. Directed drawing also builds fine motor control and focus.

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