Mumsnet users share how they encourage their children to express themselves creatively with Crayola

[JustineBMumsnet]

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Whether your child is a young artist in the making or you sometimes wonder if their creations are even fridge worthy, children can be happiest when they’re expressing themselves through crafts and colouring. With that in mind, Crayola would like to hear about how and why you encourage your children to express their creative ideas using colour..

Here’s what Crayola has to say: “We believe in the power of self-expression via colour! Whether it’s providing tools to put a purple octopus on the moon, or inspiring arts infused projects to bring to life together as a family, Crayola is passionate about raising creatively alive children and unleashing their originality. Via a wide range of innovative colourful tools and crafting activities, especially designed for kids, like washable pens, markers and paint, coloured pencils and twistable crayons that last longer, Crayola gives colourful wings to the imagination that grows in the hearts and minds of the children”.

What are your favourite crafting activities with your children? Which colouring tools do your children like using most? Perhaps your children most enjoy being creative if they’re developing their masterpieces as gifts for others? Or do you have children that love drawing and painting so much any encouragement from you is unnecessary? Do more creative tasks like colouring help your children to be more mindful? Or perhaps you find encouraging your children to be creative or art a great way to get them to open up and share what they’re feeling?

All who share how or why they encourage their children to express themselves and their ideas via colouring on the thread below will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher for the store of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck

MNHQ

Insight Terms and Conditions apply

I bought a roll of lining paper from a diy shop and let them draw all over it with crayons

My DD has ASD colouring and painting helps her get her emotions and feelings out. Our fridge is covered in her pictures. I take her to the craft shop to pick out new paints and colours, she will spend hours picking the right ones then when we come home she'll say "come on mum let get creative". She's very talented for her age.

He loves art and goes to a regular art class which he really does well in - I have a few framed pictures up that he did aged between 6 to 8 that some visitors have asked me where I bought them from!

I let him whatever he likes art wise as he is so good at it and it gives him so much clever - sadly I am not artistic at all - I just do adult colouring!

Dd always prefers pens - I'd love to find some coloured pencils or crayons that are vibrant enough to temp her to use them. We have all the arty supplies accessible all the time, so she can create whenever the mood grabs her. We've found that focusing on the process -rather than trying to coach her into producing a specific craft or product- seems too give her a bit more autonomy and enthusiasm.

I used to spread lining paper out on the decking in the garden in the summer, take all the kids clothes off, put all the paint out and let them go as nuts as they wanted to. Was great fun, super messy and they loved it.

We love hand print painting, and will use cheap rolls of wallpaper , and make footprint 'paths'. The are lovely keepsakes, and keep my children amused for hours and are so cheap - it's in the bath afterwards to complete a lovely afternoon.
Crayoning is great for on the go, the train journeys go a lot quicker with a pack of crayons and colouring book.
It brings out their inner joy and creativity.

A box of pavement chalks, and every horizontal surface in the garden is fair game. All year round.

We have gone through gazillions of chalks in 12y and the patio and paths have been every colour/story/design. It never palls - even the 18yo and their friends will doodle from time to time. One year they spent an hour colouring every coping stone on the top of the low wall a different colour for youngest dc's birthday party. Then it rained, and party had to be indoors. But one of dc1's friends dashed home for his camera to photograph the running colours and submitted the pictures as part of his GCSE Photography coursework!

I let DS choose what he wants to wear, within reason. I also try to give him freedom to choose his activities - which usually don't involve art but some kind of singing, fighting or racing.

My daughter loves her easel. Chalk on one side, magnetic white board on the other. She will spend hours stood there doodling away

None of my children are very artistic sadly, so we've got loads of coloured pencils and pens knocking around, and lots of rolls of newsprint/lining paper that I used to try and interest them in. I have to confess, I've kept it all for me really. I love to draw but can't do it very well when I feel it matters or I'm trying too hard, so using kids' art materials frees me to enjoy myself without pressure. I find it really zen and relaxing, and one of the few things I can do 'in the moment'. I wish they enjoyed it too!

Lots of great ideas on this thread. Currently my dd just enjoys trying to eat crayons/throwing them across the room but hoping she will get into colouring and drawing in the next few months.

My 7yo DD loves anything creative. I keep her boxes and cardboard and she can spend hours cutting it up and sellotaping or gluing it together into ‘art’

Chalk on the paving outside also goes down a treat. She has paints but I hate the mess so they are a treat to get out.

She loves markers for colouring in. And I’ve recently bought her a couple of the scratch and sketch books, she loves them, but was done the whole book in a day.

She loves to talk about whatever it is she’s drawing/ making. And I indulge her by complementing her creativity. Even when her pictures are a little lacking!

Tbh, I think my DC just like getting messy and use drawing/crafting/painting as the perfect excuse. Even just simple colouring in results in a body art masterpiece.

Needless to say, they prefer the messier stuff e.g paint, glitter, glue, felt tips, paintpens, charcoal etc.

We have a really well stocked art and craft cupboard and I encourage my dc to have a go at making/ drawing whenever they like.

When the children were little we had quite a small house so we used to take big cardboard boxes outside into the garden and paint them in the sunshine, they could get as creative as they wished, and I didn't have to worry about mess as I would just wash them down before they came back inside. The grass went a funny colour though!

I also buy cheap clip frames so if they produce a picture they are particularly proud of we can frame it and hang it on their wall.

Ds2 loves using oil pastels; they're so tactile to use and give such a soft and pleasing effect. I didn't know how to get him started with them so we looked at a few tutorials online which really helped advise on technique.

Crayons, pens and paper are always available. My children are most creative when I just leave them to it with their art work. By not interfering they really use their own imaginations and produce some lovely pictures. We always have a blackboard and chalk up so that they are free to draw on that as often as they want to too.

I have two daughters age 4 and 7 who love drawing, painting, sticking, cutting and all things creative. We colour how we feel and stick it on the fridge for that day. We have had bright yellow bursts of sunshine to portray happiness and squiggly green lines and swirls to show anxiety about a school day or a stagecoach performance. We've had pink daisies and lilac clouds to symbolise feelings of contentment. It really helps me to find how they're feeling and talk to them about it. It was an activity we picked up in a childrens mindfulness book and it just stuck. We also have lots of their artwork framed in Daddy's office which gives them a sense of pride.

I’ve three art mad girls. I’ve always been arty and have encouraged this! We have a huge sideboard and one wall of shelves full to bursting of all sorts of art items. From crayons, pencils, twistable, chalk, clay, plasticine to fineliners, alcohol blending pens, plaster of paris, fimo, and posca pens!

My 5 year old loves to go through my stack of printer paper using it all up with her creations. My eldest who is 11 has just started her own drawing focussed tictok (I’m slightly uneasy but she loves it and I’m monitoring it massively!!). She won an art award at school and used art to relax while doing her 11+ studies where she would draw every day for at least an hour.

I’m trying not to get all mumboasty but I’m chuffed to bits that she’s arty and that all the encouragement has led to a talent for something she loves.

We’ve always had a display wall of their best art and it has a selection that is ever changing in special frames that you can slip the pictures into.

So for me, the three things to encourage creativity are: access to art materials, an art space to create and the recognition of good work by displaying the creation!

DD loves making stuff and decorating them. She uses anything she could find around the house, digs in to recycling bins and creates amazing houses, rockets, beds for her cuddly toys, hospitals, torches etc. And uses paints to decorate them. She would make and decorate different wall papers to go with her cardboard living rooms and bedrooms!

We have a large blackboard and easel for their pictures and drawings also they use different coloured chalks. Needless to say its full of Picaso's

My daughters love art and create loads of stuff out of egg cartons, toilet rolls, anything that helps with their imagination!

I keep stuff for junk modelling then we use it when we have enough

My eldest loves creating pictures and making things. Especially for her friends. I always like to make a fuss and praise her as I think this encourages her

My son and daughter both love cooking and baking- the more creative the better.