NEW YORK, NY.- Art is something that kids can begin to engage with from the moment they’re born. Studies have shown that putting pictures in a nursery with simple geometric designs in bright colors, such as a square split into two triangles, can help them make sense of the world more quickly and boost their learning skills. As they get older, they’ll be able to start creating art themselves. By helping them to engage with this, you can encourage their imagination and give them confidence in their self-expression, things that will improve their chances in every aspect of life. These tips can help you get started.
Art is fun
Sometimes, well-meaning parents expect too much from their kids too soon, so first and foremost, it’s important to remember that art is fun. From those very first crayon scribbles, to splashes of bright colored paint, and decorations made using glitter or shiny stick-on stars, it should be a chance for children to create things that they think are amazing. Remember that you are only a guide on this journey – you can’t tell them which way to go. Relax and join in the fun yourself!
Be a part of it
Children place much more value on things that they see other people doing – and as you’re the most important person in their life, that means you! Let them see you enjoying creative activities. Try the
Colorama Coloring Book, designed for adults, to remind yourself how much fun it can be. Recent studies say that coloring in is the next best thing to meditation for relieving stress, and you can also try craft activities to brighten up your home.
Show that you care
Although your children’s early drawings may not look like much, creating them takes a lot of effort, and children understandably hope to be praised for their efforts. Don’t just glance and say a picture is nice – take the time to ask questions about it. If your child is too young to be drawing anything representative, you can still take an interest in the colors and shapes. Discussing what they look like can help lead the way to your child creating representations of people, animals, or buildings.
Try different materials
Early on, crayons tend to be the easiest thing for small hands to hold. Finger painting with watercolor or poster paints can start early, and your child can gradually move on to using a brush. As motor skills develop, you can introduce new materials such as colored pencils, pastels, chalk, colored sticky paper, or shapes, glitter, and stars. Try taking your child along to an art store to discuss the materials available. Many will find the visit itself inspirational.
Find materials together
Just as you can find materials in art stores, you can find them in the world around you. Encourage your child to think about what everyday things could be incorporated in art – from lentils to scraps of kitchen foil, from old buttons to pressed flowers. You can also find art tools this way, such as raw potatoes that can be carved into shapes and used for printing, or old toothpaste tubes that can be repurposed for squeezing paint.
Make different forms of art
There’s much more to art than making flat pictures. Children can learn to sculpt when they’re very small, using substances such as creamed potato that will be harmless even if eaten in quantity. Later, they can graduate to Play-Doh and then to papier mâché or Plaster of Paris. Getting creative with Lego can give them a start on 3D design, which then leads to Meccano and to learning basic carpentry skills. All these forms of creative endeavor begin with play.
Explore art together
Children are never too young to start learning about existing art, but they need to be introduced to it in an age-appropriate way. These days, many museums and galleries have hands-on sections where children can engage with art through touch, and guides who can make learning about it fun. It helps to start with images and sculptures of fun things such as animals or fairies. Let your kids take the lead, and then try to find more of the things they get excited about.
Tell stories with art
Children love stories, which are a good way of making sense of the world, so encourage them to draw pictures based on the stories you’ve read to them, or make up stories together as you draw or paint. To begin with, these are likely to be pictures of characters or dramatic scenes, but as they get a bit older, you can introduce them to the idea of simple strip cartoons, which are a great way for them to start storytelling before they’re ready to write.
Get decorative
Art doesn’t need to be created just for its own sake – it can also be used to brighten up the home. Kids love to help make decorations for birthday parties. They can also get creative by picking the color schemes for their own bedrooms, and with a bit of help, they can make lasting decorations such as mobiles. When they’re ready, they can use fabric paints to create unique curtains or even pieces of clothing, or use beads to create their own jewelry.
Bring art to life
With a bit of practice, it is possible to turn children’s drawings of friendly monsters into real soft toys. Materials are easy to find online – and it’s an amazing way to show children that what starts as an idea can be transformed, through art, into a part of the real, huggable world. It helps them to understand that drawings, wonderful as they are, are just the beginning of what they can achieve when they get creative.
By spending time on activities such as these, you can open your children’s eyes to a world full of potential, and can help them take control of their environment. You can also find new ways of enjoying each other’s company and strengthening your bond.
