How to get a bit artier

[Cornishblues]

My kids are 9 and 7 and, because we parents don’t do any creative activities and decided we weren’t artistic at an early age we haven’t been good at doing much with the kids either. We have pens, pencils, paper and colouring books in the house, and they will sometimes do some drawing or colouring but that’s really our limit.

Those families who do encourage children to create, what activities do you do? I’m a big reader so introducing them to books and reading with them has come very naturally but I’m at a loss with how to encourage them to create and especially how to make it a shared activity like we do with reading.

How about looking at kids projects together? Things like a build and decorate yourself bird house, or a 'busy book of things to do' type book where you do a different activity every day/weekend would work well.

The important thing is that the end result isn't the important thing, so it doesn't matter if you aren't any good. It's the making, doing, spending time together that matters.

Also, value what you and they make. Not in a 'wow, you're so talented' way, but in an honest 'gosh that must have taken ages! How did you choose the colours?' interested way.

Pinterest ideas!

I tend to pick a topic she's shown interest in and read stories about (eg recently Pompeii) then we had a box that was vaguely volcano shaped so we did papier-mâché, painting and then looked up different ways to make it erupt!

So, sorry, I mean start from an interest point and work with the materials you have and the type of craft they enjoy. We've done quite a lot of castle building for example

We followed a course on Domestika from Puńo. He is a fab artist and gives loads of ideas on how to draw and how to become a more creative person.

It’s a very thorough detailed fun course and I think it was £12 for 48hrs of online tutorials that you can watch as many times as you like. I’d definitely recommend that.

www.kiwico.com/
Boxes of craft and science stuff which are great fun and educational too
Cheaper options! -
Get a roll of paper and encourage them to draw or paint, they can do hand and foot prints etc or buy some canvases from wilko and do the same, then you can hang them up so they have their own gallery
Baker Ross have great little craft packs too - www.bakerross.co.uk/

We have a big box in the front room where I deposit stuff that might come in useful like yoghurt pots and cardboard boxes and whatnot. And I give them a challenge sometimes or they decide to pootle through it. My eldest is not arty so I usually say come on, let's make something and he does it for the time together rather than the making

I can recommend a book called The Artful Parent which is full of activities. They have a website too. ( check in case the activities are too young)

artfulparent.com/

I would suggest a family visit to somewhere like the Tate when you can and expose them to art - they often have children’s activities too if you research beforehand. The Tate shops also have a great selection of art books for kids depending on what they’ve seen that they’re inspired by... collage for example. I like “ Kid made modern” by Todd Oldham, “ Project Collage” by Bev Speight and anything by Herve Tullet. to be honest there are many directions to go in.... fashion, make up ( special effects) film, photography, animation.

Take them to art galleries, and show them all kinds of things, including odd and conceptual stuff, not just painting or sculpture. Children can be really receptive to stranger types of art. Galleries also often have great children’s activities— DS did a papier coupé afternoon he loved back when the Tate had a Matisse exhibition, and he absolutely loved the Olafur Eliasson exhibition they had a couple of years ago. Or studio open days — those are great. I think DS (9) has also really benefited from knowing adults who are artists, or who work in the arts as curators or in community arts stuff.

Do they like nature stuff? Give them both a tupperware box/empty egg carton/whatever and go for a walk. Let them collect stuff that they find interesting (leaves/moss/anything not alive!). Then later in the day make a picture out of it with glue/paint/drawing etc. Its a good way to get them thinking about the environment and its a creative activity.

I saw a fb friend do a Bob Ross night. Only one of them is artistic but all 4 produced a painting that was really good!
Get some cheap canvases, paints and brushes from the Works and follow a video from YouTube - stopping and starting as needed.

Thanks for these great ideas, going to have some fun with them.

Visiting art galleries and learning about famous artists through books and documentaries or movies like Big Eyes is a good start, it gives inspiration and the desire to follow the artists' paths. If the restrictions let this happen, definitely visit art classes, it could be both entertaining and educating. Working with DIY kits like paint by numbers is another way to get more creative. Also think about digital artistic opportunities like photo editing (you can start with changing hair color in a picture and then try to learn other interesting tricks, like making photo montage or replacing the backgrounds) or creating collage animations. Picture collages are fun either way, whether you make them on your PC or not. Making a physical collage also helps to build motor skills as well as does. It may be a bit complicated for young children but it's also a great way to explore their creativity, as it includes everything from drawing to making fabric elements and decorations.