Bringing Out the Art in Your Child

I'm sorry that I haven't been blogging. I keep telling myself, "It's 2022 and you haven't posted ONE thing!!"

But I have an excuse. I've been delving into writing for musical theater and doing more visual art. The musical theater stuff is a conversation for another day, but the art... oh my! I'm rediscovering an old love!

And not only am I painting and drawing again, this time I'm posting my creations on Facebook, which is a big step for me. I've learned to stop worrying about "not being good enough." There are a gazillion people on the Internet who are definitely better artists than I am, but that doesn't matter anymore. I'm learning, I'm growing, and I'm having fun.

Seeing my art on Facebook prompted a conversation with a friend. She has a son who is creative and artistic, but won't do any art outside of art class. Her question was "How can I encourage him to draw at home?" Our lengthy dialogue became the perfect basis for this blog post!

So here are some steps to encouraging your child to do more art!

1) Sit and draw with your child. A reluctant child is more likely going to sit and draw if he/she sees you drawing too. Get a drawing book from the library and try a few exercises together. Try one of the drawing games listed below. Suggest drawing something that your child loves (your dog, cars, ponies, Minecraft...) Make it about having fun, not about achieving a goal.

2) Use only encouraging words. Your child is probably reluctant to draw because he/she doesn't feel competent. He/she sees another person's drawings and thinks he's not good enough. Build up his/her confidence by emphasizing that the goal is not to draw as well as a professional artist, but to improve his/her skills.

3) Combine steps 1 and 2! Even if you're not an artist yourself, by sitting down with your child, you are showing him/her that you are also willing to try something new. Put aside your self-consciousness and your child will too! You'll be growing together! And be careful here: use only encouraging words to yourself. No self-deprecating remarks like "Mommy's not that good."

4) Display your work! Frame your artwork and hang it on the wall! Take a picture of it and text it to a friend. Make a card out of it and send it to grandparents. Art is for sharing!!

Now, for some ideas for art time at home!

1) Get a big sheet of paper and draw a scene together! Pick a theme and everyone can add little details to create the scene. Theme ideas: underwater, outer space, your neighborhood, medieval castle.

2) Create a silly creature. There are two ways to do this. One way is simply to give a prompt like "Combine an octopus with a hamster to make a new animal" or "Draw an alligator-chicken." Another way is to make it a group game: everyone gets a sheet of paper, folded in thirds. On the top third, everyone draws a head of some sort. Then fold back the top third so it is hidden; pass the paper to the person on your right (he/she should not be able to see the head drawn on the paper.) Next, take the paper that was passed and draw a body on the middle section of the paper. Again, fold the paper back so that the new drawing is not visible. Pass papers again to the right. On the bottom third, everyone draws legs of some sort. Then open up the papers to reveal your new creature!

3) Invent a do-it-all machine. This one is similar to the silly creature. "Draw a machine that can flip pancakes and make your bed at the same time." The sillier the better!

4) Draw a squiggle monster. Draw a squiggle or blob or weird shape on a piece of paper. Then trade papers. Now turn the squiggle/blob/weird shape into a monster of some kind by adding eyes, horns, teeth, whatever you like!

5) Try March of Robots or Inktober. Sometimes it helps to have prompts. The March of Robots (in March) and Inktober (in October) are both online drawing challenges that give 31 prompts for 31 days of drawing. If that is too intimidating or stressful, come up with your own prompts. My friend Liz and I started our own group! Every week (or so, depending on how busy we are), we take turns coming up with prompts. Then we share our work–it's fun to see what the other person comes up with!