5 Ways of Encouraging Your Kids to Take an Interest in Art

5 Ways of Encouraging Your Kids to Take an Interest in Art


[Photo by Todd Sanders]

Art provides children with a medium through which they can explore and respond to their world. Here are five ways to encourage your kids to take an interest in art.
1. Art Exhibitions and Activities

Taking your child to art exhibits can be a wonderful way to encourage an appreciation for art. Many exhibitions, art fairs and museums have special tours and activities that are particularly geared towards children.

Child-friendly activities are likely to encourage an engagement with art, allowing the child to touch and to respond to what they're seeing. Pay attention to what your child is particularly interested in and try to find relevant artistic activities.

If your child shows a particular interest in art and in learning new skills and techniques, then it could be time to enroll them in an after-school art class.

2. Arty Television Programs and Books

Programs such as Art Attack (which moved from ITV to the Disney Junior channel last year) are generally very popular with children, encouraging them to develop their creativity and teaching them different crafts. There are also a wide range of ‘how to’ artistic books available for children. Buying your child books that inspire and encourage creativity is a good way to not only help with artistic techniques but also to learn how to use art for self-expression.
3. Fun Art Materials

Provide your child with a variety of fun art materials. Let them experiment with paints, crayons, chalks and colored pencils. Painting by numbers (with a picture relevant to the child's interests) can be a fun way to encourage a child to start painting.

You don’t have to just stick to canvas or paper when painting; ceramic painting can be a great way to add color to household objects like mugs, bowls and pots.
4. Artistic Space

Once they've got the material to engage in art, children benefit from having the space to create. That space could mean providing a specific area (such as a table) where artistic activities can take place. It could also involve exhibiting your child's creations somewhere where they are likely to be seen and admired.
5. Be positive and encourage individuality!

Allow your child to experiment, to make a mess and to enjoy the creative process from start to finish. From the age of about five children can become quite critical of their art. Encourage them to continue to try out new ideas, but be careful not to criticize them yourself in the process.

As they start to develop their own personal tastes, they may be different from yours. Learn to appreciate and validate your child's tastes, rather than impose your own. This in turn will encourage your child to appreciate different artistic perspectives.

James Christie writes for Baker Ross who has a great range of art supplies for kids.

 Disclaimer:This is a sponsored post, in which I received compensation to share with you.  The opinions, statements and photography is not my own.