Draw a cheerleader step by step using basic shapes, simple proportions, poses, and colored pencils; practice sketching, erasing, and adding cheerful details.


Step-by-step guide to draw a cheerleader
How To Draw A Cartoon Cheerleader
Step 1
Lightly sketch a simple stick figure to set the cheerleader's action pose.
Step 2
Draw a circle at the top of the stick figure for the head.
Step 3
Draw an oval under the head for the torso.
Step 4
Mark the shoulders and hips with small circles to keep proportions right.
Step 5
Draw straight lines from the shoulder and hip markers to make the arms and legs in a cheering pose.
Step 6
Thicken the arms and legs by drawing simple tube shapes around the stick lines.
Step 7
Sketch a V-shaped top and a flared short skirt on the torso to make the cheer uniform.
Step 8
Draw the eyes on the face to give your cheerleader expression.
Step 9
Draw a smiling mouth and a small nose to finish the face.
Step 10
Add hair and a headband or ponytail to give your cheerleader personality.
Step 11
Draw round pom-poms in each hand and add short motion lines so they look lively.
Step 12
Erase the light guidelines and extra sketch marks carefully to clean your drawing.
Step 13
Color the uniform hair skin and pom-poms using your colouring materials and add cheerful details like stripes stars or sparkles.
Step 14
Share your finished cheerleader on DIY.org
Final steps
You're almost there! Complete all the steps, bring your creation to life, post it, and conquer the challenge!

Help!?
What can we use instead of markers or colored pencils if we don't have them?
If you don't have markers or colored pencils to color the uniform, hair, skin, and pom-poms, use crayons, watercolor paints, or cut colored paper to glue onto the drawing.
My cheerleader's arms look stiff—how do I fix the pose?
Redo the stick figure step, reposition the small shoulder and hip circles and redraw the straight arm and leg lines in a more expressive cheering pose before thickening them into tubes.
How can I adapt this drawing for different ages?
For younger kids simplify by keeping the stick figure and round pom-poms and letting them color with big crayons, while older kids can add facial detail, hair styles, shading, and the V-shaped top and flared skirt patterns.
How can we personalize or make the drawing more advanced?
Personalize by adding a team name or stripes on the V-shaped top, changing the hair or headband, drawing motion lines around the round pom-poms, and sharing the finished cheerleader on DIY.org.
Watch videos on how to draw a cheerleader
How To Draw A Cheerleader
Facts about figure drawing for kids
🏫 Cheerleading began as a way to lead crowd cheers at U.S. colleges in the late 1800s, so it has a long team-spirit history!
✏️ Professional artists start drawings with simple shapes (circles, ovals, rectangles) to get proportions right fast.
🎨 Colored pencils can be layered and lightly blended to create bright, smooth colors—perfect for colorful cheer uniforms.
🤸♀️ Cheer poses emphasize movement and balance—quick gesture sketches help capture action before adding details.
🧽 A kneaded eraser lifts graphite gently, so you can fix mistakes and reshape lines without tearing the paper.