How To Draw a Giraffe (Free Printable + Video)

Want an activity that will appeal to all the animal lovers in your classroom? Elementary school is the perfect time to nurture the inner artist that lives in every child! Our free printable has step-by-step instructions for teaching kids how to draw a giraffe. Make it a fun Friday group activity or keep it on hand for your fast finishers.  

There’s a video tutorial and images with step-by-step instructions. Plus, be sure to download the free printable instructions so kids can easily follow along.

How To Draw a Giraffe Video

How To Draw a Giraffe Step-by-Step

Here are 11 easy-to-follow steps for teaching kids how to draw a giraffe. They should simplify the process for kids of all ages and abilities.

Step 1

Once you’re ready to learn how to draw a giraffe, set up your white drawing paper and permanent black marker. Begin by forming the outline of the giraffe’s head. Toward the top center of the paper, draw a half circle that culminates into a beak-like shape with a smaller lip underneath. Then continue the half circle heading upward.

Step 2

In this second step of how to draw a giraffe, we’re going to add a few details. Draw a small line inside the beak-like nose. Draw an eyelash extending from the top half of the face. You’ll also want to add in an oval-shaped eye that is mostly shaded in, sans two small white sections.

Step 3

Now it’s time to add a few more details to our giraffe friend’s head! Add an ear just above the eyelash we drew in the previous step. Then, at the top of the head, draw two horn-like shapes. Fun vocabulary lesson: Those horn-like parts are actually called ossicones!

Step 4

Are you having fun learning how to draw a giraffe yet? We certainly are! Let’s finish off the head by drawing a very small line after the second ossicone that connects to a larger ear. The previous ear that was drawn is meant to be in the background while the ear drawn in this step is in the forefront and therefore larger. Finally, add a small vertical line under the ear, leaving a very small space between that and the bottom of the giraffe’s head.

Step 5

We obviously can’t forget about the long, beautiful neck that is such a distinct feature of a giraffe. Line up the beginning of the left side of the neck under the eye. Begin drawing your line under the face and be sure to give it some good length! Start the right side of the neck directly under the ear in the forefront. You’ll want it to be just slightly shorter than the other side of the neck. Finally, add the top part of the body coming off of each end of the neck. The side to the right is going to curve out slightly while the left side is straighter with just a slight curve.

Step 6

We’re now ready to add to the giraffe’s body. On the left side, we’re going to add a small bump out into a vertical line that points inward. On the right side, add a shorter horizontal line that goes downward and eventually forms a C shape.

Step 7

We’re now ready to start forming the legs. Make a sort of right-leaning V shape in the middle of our giraffe’s body so that the legs begin to take shape. We’re also now ready to add some fur onto the back of the giraffe’s head and back. Shade the fur in black in a zigzag pattern.

Step 8

You can’t learn how to draw a giraffe without learning how to draw those long, graceful legs! We’re going to draw the front leg coming off of the body we’ve already drawn. Draw the top part of the leg with a rounded kneecap in the middle. Once the knee is drawn, draw the bottom of the leg with both sides ending with slanted lines pointing leftward. Finally, add a shaded-in triangular-shaped hoof.

Step 9

Let’s add a few more legs! We’re going to add one back leg. Draw a curved line coming off of that V shape we formed earlier in the center of the body. Then, draw a straight, thin leg that ends the same way as the front leg—two short slanted lines with a triangular hoof. The front-most back leg comes off the part of the body to the left of the leg already drawn. Repeat the same shape as we already used for the front-most front leg.

Step 10

Our giraffe friend definitely needs a tail! Add a thin tail coming off of the back top part of the body. Then draw and shade a tuft of fur at the base of the tail. You’ll also want to draw that last leg. Draw a curved line coming off of that V shape in the middle that turns into a straight line. Mimic the same shape for the bottom half of the leg as all the others. Don’t forget that cute little hoof!

Step 11

Now for the fun part! You can definitely add some individuality to your giraffe with the size and placement of their spots!

Get your free giraffe drawing printable!

Are you ready to save and print your free giraffe drawing printable? All you need to do is click the button below to fill out the form on this page.

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Plus, check out more of our favorite Directed Drawing Activities.