Using a favorite picture from a magazine, book, or from the Internet, ask the children to cut the picture in half either vertically or horizontally and glue or tape it to a blank piece of paper. Their assignment is to complete the other half of the picture on their own. Ask them to duplicate the picture as closely as they can. This assignment focuses on their drawing skills and makes them focus closely on all the finer points of their picture and challenges their eye for detail.
While children may be used to reading comic books, they aren't likely as familiar with writing and drawing one. Ask them to create their own superhero or other comic book character and develop a four-page comic book based on that character. For each of the pages, they should draw four separate quadrants worth of action pictures as well as dialogue for their characters. Their creation will put into practice both their drawing and writing skills.
Ask a child to pick an object in his house that he likes to spend time with. This can be a baseball glove, a book, or even a sibling. His task is to draw the object in an inanimate state. He can draw his object in color or in black and white. Assigning the picture in black and white enhances the simplicity of the picture. It's a basic assignment that focuses on observation and drawing skills, and will make the students take time to look more closely at something they see often.
A self-portrait gives a child the opportunity to show you how he sees himself. When drawing his self-portrait, a child should be encouraged to draw himself the way he thinks he looks as opposed to just drawing what he sees in front of a mirror. Doing this allows a child to bring her personality into the picture. She can draw herself as a stick figure, as a superhero, as an adult, or any other way she would like to display themselves. This not only challenges her drawing skills, but also can help promote self-confidence.