I was an art teacher.
My two bobs worth: Fostering a love of making and art leads to a life much appreciated.
Play rooms or dedicated art spaces go along way to to unleashing the creative in your child.
In a world that passes us all by so quickly it is now more than ever important to teach our children to stop and really look. The little lines in a leaf, the tiny feather in the long grass, the beauty in the sunset and the design of that building.
Developing kids that can really 'see' needs to be nurtured from a young age.
Most mums acknowledge the importance of play and craft in young kids and a few struggle to see the benefit when they hit their teens! (Trust me I had many a parent argue the relevance of art in high school)
So creating a space that encourages play, where your kids can get their craft on and learn to see will, I believe set them up for a life full of opportunity and promise.
A life much appreciated.
1. Having a workspace albeit a table, floor or wall that they can call their own and not worry about making (too) much mess.
2. Blank paper and lots of it! Colouring in books are great for developing fine motor skills but free drawing will develop their imagination and skills quicker.
For free-drawing I get my kids to close their eyes , tell me the first thing they see and then we just draw it. We talk about the parts it may have, the texture, the shape, all the colours and so on ....
3. Teach kids to really look at what they are drawing. If they are drawing an object or a picture from a book - get them to keep looking and noticing the details. Too often we have a quick look, draw it and then wonder why it never looks any good. Get them to take their time and develop the art of seeing.
4. Eliminate the eraser! As kids get older the use of the dreaded eraser can be heavily relied on. When teaching art to the younger kids I had a no eraser policy! I didn't want them to be precious about their art, just to have a go, make mistakes and enjoy it.
5. Chalkboards are great. Chalk will develop hand strength, the chunkier the better to start. Walls painted with chalkboard paint look great at first - but beware of the mess and dust. I personally would not have a chalkboard inside because of the mess. Outside walls are the other cleaner option.
6. Displaying work - Choose one wall and frame them up easily with black tape.
So cheap and they all look great when uniform.
7. Plenty of tools - crayons, pencils, pastels, textas all in variety of thicknesses, paints (watercolours if you are not brave enough to try acrylics) , playdoh, paper, scissors, glue. Display them in easy to reach pots.
8. Pinterest is a never ending source of inspiration for ideas and play spaces. We have a few boards that may help you get your craft on too.
9. Last but not least - Don't say you CAN'T DRAW or I'M NO GOOD AT ART to your kids. They will copy and take it on board. (This is half the battle as kids get older)
Its all about trying and it is a skill just like any other that can be learnt! It just takes time.
10. Some play room inspiration from Kids Style File
At Happy as Larry we are imagination merchants, dreamweavers and child delighters. Pop on over to our website for kids rugs , storage and toys that will foster a love of colour and learning.
My two bobs worth: Fostering a love of making and art leads to a life much appreciated.
Play rooms or dedicated art spaces go along way to to unleashing the creative in your child.
In a world that passes us all by so quickly it is now more than ever important to teach our children to stop and really look. The little lines in a leaf, the tiny feather in the long grass, the beauty in the sunset and the design of that building.
Developing kids that can really 'see' needs to be nurtured from a young age.
Most mums acknowledge the importance of play and craft in young kids and a few struggle to see the benefit when they hit their teens! (Trust me I had many a parent argue the relevance of art in high school)
So creating a space that encourages play, where your kids can get their craft on and learn to see will, I believe set them up for a life full of opportunity and promise.
A life much appreciated.
My quick tips for helping create a workspace for kids to fall in love with art.
1. Having a workspace albeit a table, floor or wall that they can call their own and not worry about making (too) much mess.
2. Blank paper and lots of it! Colouring in books are great for developing fine motor skills but free drawing will develop their imagination and skills quicker.
For free-drawing I get my kids to close their eyes , tell me the first thing they see and then we just draw it. We talk about the parts it may have, the texture, the shape, all the colours and so on ....
3. Teach kids to really look at what they are drawing. If they are drawing an object or a picture from a book - get them to keep looking and noticing the details. Too often we have a quick look, draw it and then wonder why it never looks any good. Get them to take their time and develop the art of seeing.
4. Eliminate the eraser! As kids get older the use of the dreaded eraser can be heavily relied on. When teaching art to the younger kids I had a no eraser policy! I didn't want them to be precious about their art, just to have a go, make mistakes and enjoy it.
5. Chalkboards are great. Chalk will develop hand strength, the chunkier the better to start. Walls painted with chalkboard paint look great at first - but beware of the mess and dust. I personally would not have a chalkboard inside because of the mess. Outside walls are the other cleaner option.
6. Displaying work - Choose one wall and frame them up easily with black tape.
So cheap and they all look great when uniform.
7. Plenty of tools - crayons, pencils, pastels, textas all in variety of thicknesses, paints (watercolours if you are not brave enough to try acrylics) , playdoh, paper, scissors, glue. Display them in easy to reach pots.
8. Pinterest is a never ending source of inspiration for ideas and play spaces. We have a few boards that may help you get your craft on too.
9. Last but not least - Don't say you CAN'T DRAW or I'M NO GOOD AT ART to your kids. They will copy and take it on board. (This is half the battle as kids get older)
Its all about trying and it is a skill just like any other that can be learnt! It just takes time.
10. Some play room inspiration from Kids Style File
