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

My two are very different. DS (eldest) has never liked anything that involved mess - so never wanted to do any form of crafting or messy play. DD on the other hand has always absolutely loved it. She was the one who felt-tipped all over her bed sheets and burned the kitchen worktops making slime... Whilst I wasn't necessarily best pleased about these - she has made some lovely cards and home made gifts over the years!

Mine love creating, cutting, sticking, painting and gluing. Their favourite is painting and now they are older it's easier as they can help clean up!

I have always enjoyed doing arts and crafts with my DC's and think it is so important to encourage them to be creative.
I bought an old folding table which doesn't take much room when it is folded to do crafts on and because it was a cheap old table they were free to be as creative and messy as they wished and it didn't matter if paints or crayons or even glitter got on the table.

I encourage creativity by making sure there is time and equipment to draw, paint, glue etc. I try to ensure some time is spent each weekend and during holidays to try something new like a craft kit or painting outside or using giant chalks on the patio! I also display their artwork and try to change it regularly.

My kids have free access to paper, colouring books, stickers, stampers and a variety of different drawing and colouring pens. We like to do 'crazy colouring' where we colour things in the wrong colours on purpose.

We do lots of music and art activities.
I studied music so I know that it can help development so we have a variety or easy to play instruments.
We also have a craft session at least once a week so they can make a mess and mKe some art!

Sheet roll of paper and we trace each other, mummy, daddy and children. They crayon on an outfit of their choice, often amusing ie. put a skirt on daddy

My daughter loves writing at the moment. So I treat her to stationary now and again. She likes keeping a journal also so this is a great way for her to get her emotions on paper. I promised her and have stuck to the promise that I will not read her journal.

Reems and reems of paper! I assume we'll go through a pack each school holidays. Pens, paint and let them go crazy. The recycling bin, scissors and selotape. In fact we might do a big junk modelling session today as its pissing it down...

Paints are my DCs absolute favourite and he'll generally paint whatever we've been doing lately so is a good way to tell a story together too. Just have to put up with the mess!

We have easy to access draws of crafting materials including different types of papers. As well as a 'big' craft activity each week, colouring/free drawing is often done by my 2.5 year old whilst I'm cooking dinner.

We are big fans of chalk, and have a huge crayola box of them. Lots of my dcs friends are delighted that they are "allowed" to chalk on the floor and even older children will join in.

Otherwise I find laying out some varied materials and leaving it to catch my dcs eye/imagination works well because if they are faced with too much choice they become a bit overwhelmed

Mine love creating things out of icing - I'm a cake decorator and so they love to get involved! They are both quite good actually, dd can bake, ice and decorate a cake herself and she is 7

They also love to paint, draw on smooth rocks, make things out of boxes, cut and sellotape anything and chalk on the drivewAy.

Painting is probably their favourite and my least favourite! I have framed artwork in the house and often frame and hang lovely pieces which I think encourages them

My children just love crafting and colouring. We always have paper, crayons,colouring pads and colouring pencils out on the dining table. It's more of a craft table than dining table! So my two freely visit the craft table each day. I also plan other craft activities like making thank you cards, using blow pens and stencils, using play doh. They are both creative and always want to get involved in creative activities. They love painting outside too!

My daughter loves making extremely colourful cards for relatives in particular her great gran and great, great aunt. It encourages her creatively and cheers the recipients up no end. So two birds one stone.

Mine love the idea of making "books" - just a few sheets of A4 paper folded, front cover and back cover then the sketch inside and create wonderful masterpieces! But I don't keep their art generally, I reckon 99% ends up in the recycling bin.

DS isn’t hugely artistic unfortunately but we’ll get all the bits out the cupboard occasionally if we need to make birthday cards or Christmas decorations. He’s more enthusiastic about making costumes for various school activities so we make sure we always have tons of stuff that could be used - cardboard, magazines, scrap fabric, buttons and elastic from old clothing, paints etc.

As I can be a bit of a perfectionist and am artistic, I make a conscious effort to never try and tidy up or correct what he does, much as i’d love to keep things symmetrical and in the lines: if he wants all the stickers or glitter in one tiny corner then that’s where it stays .

My daughter loves to draw and paint. We have just been to Hobbycraft to buy some new paint so she can be creative over the summer holidays.

My older child loves drawing intricate pictures with gel pens, while my four year old prefers chalk, inside on his blackboard or outside on the slate patio!

By making sure I do it with them and showing I enjoy being creative too.

My children always have crayons/pencils and pens out. As in we don't properly put them away, we have an open top box with them in which stays on the top of our side unit.

That way, if bored it's the first thing they see!

For that reason my children colour in or write daily. My son is 5 and his handwriting is so good. It makes me think that it has really helped him.

(Paints are kept hidden until supervised play, I've learnt my lesson that it doesn't wash out of dog fur well 😂)

you Know those tiny beads you put in a holder and iron them to melt them together?
My dc like those, thy can experiment with colour combinations.

We like to do collages and sticker books together. DC1 has had difficulty with pencil grip and didn't used to like drawing at all but has recently come on s long way and now likes to draw with crayons or pens or use stampers. She doesn't much like hand prints or finger painting but loves to make shapes with dough.

DC2 likes to scribble with anything she can get her hands on. She is currently experimenting with different blank canvases e.g. my walls...

My older one prefers writing to drawing so I got him a notebook and for a while he would scribble in it loads - not proper writing but very neatly in the lines. Younger one seems to be a bit more interested in drawing so I'll have to remember to give him the opportunity. We have plenty of craft stuff, pens, colouring etc but I don't often get it out as older one is just not very interested.

We buy rolls of cheap wall paper, put a sheet on the ground (even better if you get outside) and let them go wild with hand painting, potatoes cut in to shapes to use as stamps. It doesn't end there baking is another way to get them to express themselves especially icing cup cakes (once I have baked them)