Nurturing Your Budding Artist

© PhotoDisc, Inc.

Inspiring your child to be a creative, imaginative thinker!

Does your child love to create, imagine, invent, and problem-solve by doing things in new and inventive ways? Would your child choose to play make-believe, model with clay, and draw pictures for each family member rather than watch TV or play a video game? Does your child enjoy trying new things and demand to “do it by myself?” If yes, then your child is a creative thinker. If no, there are ways to inspire and encourage creativity in your child.

Creative Parenting

To help your child become a creative thinker and competent learner:

• Provide opportunities by tapping into your child’s creative juices. Encourage pretend play, and supply your child with art materials and fun projects to do at home. (Specific examples follow in the Projects section.)
• Set up a special “creativity zone” in your home. Have a designated area for your child to work on art projects that is well lit and has a work table and place with shelves for storage containers. Such a place can be in a corner of the kitchen, a play room, or the basement. Keep in mind that young children need supervision when doing art projects, so keep them close at hand.
• Plan your child’s creativity zone wisely by making the area convenient and easily managed and maintained by your child. If art supplies are neatly stored in clearly labeled containers, your young child will know where everything is and where it must be returned when a project is completed. Begin with typical supplies your child enjoys using, such as crayons, washable markers, colored pencils, safety scissors, non-toxic glue, art paper, and modeling clay. Other supplies can be added or collected as needed.
• Encourage creativity at all times, whether you are indoors or out, at home or on the road. Some projects are perfect for rainy days while others are best done outdoors. When you are on the road, take along paper and crayons to keep your child’s creative juices flowing while riding in the car, waiting for an appointment, or in a restaurant. Always remember to encourage your child whether you are doing a project together or with the family or your child is working on his or her own.
• Build confidence in your budding artist by encouraging your child to try different ways to accomplish a task. Remember that your child’s creation is unique and does not need to look like yours or a picture in a book. If your child begs, “Do it for me,” encourage creativity by saying you would much rather be surprised by what he or she will make. Celebrate and value your child’s artworks by displaying them and giving praise for a job well done.

All Kinds of Art Projects

There are many different kinds of art projects that will promote creativity and help your child’s creative, imaginative nature grow. The following examples are grouped as “All-in-the-Family” projects and “Step-by-Step Projects.”

All-in-the-Family Projects

Examples of projects that include two or more family members are:

Doodle for Two

You need: crayons or markers and drawing paper

To make:

• Draw a doodle on paper. Ask your child to add details to create a picture.
• Switch roles, and have your child draw the doodle and you create the picture. This is great activity while traveling in a car or waiting in a restaurant.

Family Collage

You need: magazines, scissors, glue sticks, construction paper

To make:

• Involve the entire family, and jointly decide on a theme: animals, favorite foods, a place, colors, and so on. Each family member finds and cuts a picture from a magazine that represents the theme.
• Work together to arrange the pictures to create a collage and glue it to construction paper. Think of a good title to add.
 
Then talk about what each family member has contributed.

Family Art Night

You need: a variety of art supplies that vary with your project

To make:

• Mark the calendar! One night a week or month, you will turn off the TV and get out all your art supplies to create an art project.
• Make a definite plan together, such as making a gift for someone, creating a new game, or making greeting cards for a holiday. The night belongs to your family members and their creativity! At times, each family member might work on an individual project. That’s okay, too! The important thing is to be together and share a creative purpose.

Step-by-Step Projects

The following projects take more planning and require a parent or older family member to show a young child what to do step by step.

Picnic Pals

You need: a picnic lunch; a solid, light-colored paper tablecloth; crayons and washable markers

To make:

• Invite your child’s friends over for a picnic lunch on a warm, sunny day. Be sure to involve your child in the planning and making of the lunch. Cover the table with the tablecloth. After the food has been served, eaten, and cleared, bring out the crayons and markers.
• Have children use their creativity to decorate or use the tablecloth any way they want. Some might want to draw while others play games like “Connect the Dots” or “Tic Tac Toe.” Children are limited only by their imaginations.

© PhotoDisc, Inc.

Shape Up with Yarn

You need: colorful yarn, scissors, glue, water, plastic bowl, construction paper

To make:

• Provide a variety of colorful yarn. Have your child cut some pieces. Allow time for experimenting by having your child wrap the yarn around small objects and place the yarn on a table to form a variety of shapes with curved and pointed edges.
• While your child is busy, dilute some glue by making a mixture of glue and water in a bowl.
• Show your child how to dip the yarn into the glue mixture and arrange it on construction paper to make shapes or a free-form design.
• Place the artworks in a safe place while they dry before you display them.

Rub-a-Dub Rubbings

You need: flat objects, crayons, drawing paper

To make:

• Take a walk around the house, and talk about the different shapes of things. Ask your children to identify circles, squares, rectangles, triangles, and ovals.
• Collect flat objects like coins, puzzle pieces, a doily, strips of yarn or a shoelace, and simple shapes cut from cardboard. Show your child how to place an object under a sheet of drawing paper. Remove the paper from a crayon and use the side of the crayon to do a crayon rubbing over the object. Watch it appear!
• Encourage your child to be curious about other textures. Have them try making rubbings on the stove, a table, or the floor. Take your project outdoors to do a rubbing on a sidewalk, tree trunk, or brick wall. Pick a leaf, a blade of grass, and a flower to do more rubbings.

Crazy Quilts

You need: 9” x 12” construction paper, ink stamps and stamp pads, scissors, glue stick

To make:

• Measure and mark off 3” x 4” squares on different colors of construction paper. Have your child choose six squares to cut out.
• To make different quilt squares, show your child how to use different stamps to make patterns all over a square. A combination of stamps can be used to make each square look different.
• Once the six squares are ready, have your child arrange them on a sheet of construction paper in three rows of two squares, using a glue stick to attach them. Praise your child for his or her crazy quilt!

Animal Sculptures

You need: an old sock, glove, or mitten; newspaper; scissors; glue; buttons or wiggle eyes; material scraps; other trims

To make:

• Have your child choose an animal he or she would like to sculpt. Then show your child a sock, glove, or mitten.
• First, tell your child to stuff the shape with crumpled newspaper.
• Eyes, ears, a tail, and other features can be added by gluing them on or tying off sections. Encourage your child to use creativity and problem-solving skills to figure out which materials and procedures work best.
• Proudly display your child’s animal sculpture.

As your child continues to develop, keep in mind that the seeds of creativity are alive in him or her. When you offer support and guidance and nourish your child with creative experiences, your child’s creativity will sprout, and your budding artist will grow!

References

BACK