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

[JustineBMumsnet]

This discussion is now closed.

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

Getting them to try different things! Sometimes we'll do painting, sometimes drawing or writing or even dancing - and working out what they like to do best by discovering what they ask to do again!

My daughter has always been creative and loves art. I also love being creative, and we have done lots of crafty things together over the years. She hasn’t needed any encouragement and we are both stationery freaks!! Now my daughter is 14 and is doing Art GCSE. Art is by far her favourite subject.

We have a craft box

I don't stress about the mess when we are doing crafty things together, and let my daughter create whatever she wants and only help if she asks me to, sometimes I make my own creation and see if she wants to help or try to copy me, but she has so many of her own ideas already :)

A large roll of wallpaper is used at some point every holiday and the kids draw an appropriate seasonal scene that goes up in the hall. This summer they've been loving rock painting and chalking the patio is always a hit.

Provided the materials, the space and the encouragement and then just let them go for it. They both always enjoyed making creating stuff.

Don't have to buy expensive toys or apps and all that.
Household items can make the imagination run wild by making them in to rockets, monters or anything you can think of, remember when we had to think a bit.

We give dd paper and pencils and tell her to write whatever she feels like. Sometimes it is imaginative stories, sometimes a shopping list!

By giving them pens, pencils, paints etc & praising them for effort.

My children regularly make things out of recyclables, do lots of painting, printing and creating. My daughter at 11 is quite an accomplished and talented artist. With money tight and artist materials expensive, we tend to improvise. Her latest pieces are coloured in with old make ups. She recently melted lots of nubby old crayons to make things with ... so new art materials are always very much appreciated!

Give them confidence that there isn't a right or wrong answer when being creative and encourage them to think of things that don't fit their usual patterns.

We love making Christmas decorations - when it's glue and glitter galore making paper chains, handprint Christmas cards and hanging snowflakes. We have old nappy changing box where it has a new lease of life as a crayon. felt tip and pritt stick craft box, there's nothing quite like filling my dining room table full of paper to make rainbows, houses on green grass with smoke coming out of the chimney, and the essential family portrait, My fridge and hallway are full of them - love love love the see my children's creative side.

We love trying out new craft kits to develop new skills

Always have glue, scissors and card nearby in case anything inspires them

we paint the patio

The children love painting using food. We use potatoes that have been cut in half. Dip the flat side of the potato into different poster paint colours and dap it several times on paper to create some interesting patterns. The children loves experimenting with the colours and it is less messy than hand painting.

I bought a load of different colour fence paint tester pots and let the children go mad when we had a new fence. Our garden is now very colourful and unique!

My kids don't need much encouragement, they adore being creative - colouring in and drawing, using felt tips, crayons, paint, colouring pencils.. they will spend hours on it which is lovely to see. We like making things using old cardboard boxes and bottle tops etc which would get thrown out otherwise, decorating with cut up paper etc. We often end up with quite a mess to tidy away but it's so worth it to see jen being creative

Lead by example !!! We do crafts weekly and I encourage them to be expressive

We always have craft materials available, pictures are often used as cards for birthdays or just because ☺️ it encourages them with their writing that way too, and they are excited to get a card back in the post.

We love using nature every chance we get, especially painting over leaves which have fallen on the ground and making prints from them!

Finger painting for my two year old! She loves it

My daughter has a whole wall of the hallway dedicated to her artwork. The fridge wasn’t big enough!

My daughter has made the whole garden patio her canvas with chalk drawings

My daughter uses any paper she can and creates comics, newspapers, pictures and patterns using anything we can. We have a scrap cupboard of different materials and need to regularly top up on pens.

She wants to try everything arty and I encourage it by letting her try, make mess, and have fun