How do you encourage your child's artistic side?

Question

My 5 year old daughter is showing signs of being really good in art(better then most her age according to her teacher). I want to encourage but not push this quality in her. How do I do that without seeming pushey? And what are some good activies to build this besides just drawing and coloring?

Neither her step dad or I are artistic. Her biological father is but he is not around and refuses to even admit that she or her brother is his.

Answer 1

If you really want to encourage it, find a good afterschool program for art. Take her to the class and see if she enjoys it. If she does then think about enrolling her. Remember, if you dont want to be pushy then take the time to let her choose.

If you can't afford an afterschool program then simply get different age appropriate crafts to do with her at home. The average craft store has entire sections devoted to children's crafts that are simple to use, but give you the tools to create some wonderful things. Even if they only become keepsakes and she outgrows her current ability, it will be money well spent.

For inexpensive crafts, learn to make colored dough. It's basically flour, water, and a tiny bit of salt. Leave some of it white and then add food coloring to the rest of the dough to make primary colors (red, blue, and yellow). With these four colors she can learn to mix them together to make others.
yellow + blue = green
red + blue = purple
red + yellow = orange
color + white = lighter color >> pink, lt. blue, lt. green, etc.
Just have her mash them together to learn about mixing colors to make other colors and then let her build something out of the dough. This can also be done with various modeling compounds, depending on how much you want to spend on her creations.

Another inexpensive craft is papier mache. All you need is an old newspaper and some glue diluted with water or another flour water mixture. You can make a frame for her out of an old wire hanger and help her dip the pieces of paper into the paste and then onto the frame. Once she has built her creation, allow it to dry and then she can paint it.

Check around for various kids' sites for more ideas.

Answer 2

I have a 12 yr old girl like this so with her, I went to Ebay and bought her some little starter kits in water colors, oil, and arcylics, a few brushes and some canvas boards from Wal Mart. I just let her have a go at it. At the school she goes to, a Charter School, they encourage art a lot more than the regular schools and they are free. She is doing all sorts of stuff now, but cartooning and animals are her fav.
Email if you want to share stories

Answer 3

Keep a variety of supplies around, and model art as a part of life. Let her catch you being artistic, and ask her to join you.
Try to have a space where she can be messy, because especially with girls fear of making messes can sometimes interfere with her ongoing interest in art. Provide her with messy art clothes or a smock so that she doesn't need to worry about getting glue or paint on herself, and then let her go.
Remember that art supplies don't have to be expensive. If you get creative, you will be able to give her more options. Empty containers from the kitchen are great for 3d art, and old makeup brushes (or cheapy dollar store kits) are good for painting with, and junk mail is tons of fun.

Answer 4

Are you artistic? Sit down with paints, clay, craft items like beads or feathers, and see what can be made, working together. Get some books with pictures of paintings or sculptures done by the old masters. Find out what her interests are (cartoons, superheroes, animals, fashion or people) and get books concerning those. It shouldn't be too pushy if you don't bring them home and say, "Let's see what you can do." Rather say, "Look at this." and compliment her efforts. (A word of warning--don't ever guess what it is but admire it for the color of the work. My career suffered a setback when my mother mistook a sleeping horse for one that was flying.)

Answer 5

Well, my most recent arrival, Tayla, who is six, (adopted) is extremely artistic, and has been told the same thing according to her teacher :o) All of my children are encouraged to show their artistic side :D Even the younger ones love to finger paint ;-) Buy a special painter-board and ask your daughter to paint something that represents happiness or some sort of emotion. But, use vocabulary that she will understand ;) Heheh. Anyway, artwork that symbolizes something significant is always adored, especially by art-teachers. It's kind of a "behind-the-painting" thing :D

Answer 6

i have 4 kids. i was a stay home mom when they were younger. i made sure that i had an adequate supply of paper, crayons, coloring books, scissors, glue, colored paper, etc. in the house. we would do a craft or some type of art project at least 2 or 3 times a week. even if you are not artistic, you can still sit with her and color or draw silly pictures. young kids don't know good art from bad art. they just like being creative. make sure you have an adequate supply of a variety of art supplies for her at home and join in the fun with her!!!!! try it, you'll like it!!!!

Answer 7

How can you push this quality if your child enjoys this? Get her some beginning artist books.... (library) they teach you the beginning of how to shape a face, a head, the eyes, nose, mouth. First find out if the child is interested in drawing still life (apples, oranges, flowers) scenery ( trees, water) or people . There is a color slide and its red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, black, (gray and white are no colors) this is also the colors of the rainbow. Does she want to draw with pencil, charcoal, water colors or oil paint? Get her a sketch book and take her to a park and ask her to draw a tree, then a flower, then a swing, then another child and you can tell what she will be good in. hope this helps

Answer 8

Give her a variety of tools to choose from. These could be crayons, watercolor, different types of paper, color pencils, tempera paint, etc. Get one of those child easels (if you don't already have one). You can get inexpensive newsprint paper for it. Encourage her to draw a picture from a book, pictures for and of family members and friends, pets, etc. Encourage her to express her feelings with art and always praise her efforts. One of the best things you can do is display her best work on the family refrigerator! Keep a portfolio of her works. She can look back and see her progress and will feel valued when you cherish her past works. Give her time and space to work on her own projects as desired. Work with her - color or draw with her, make collages using magazine pictures and scraps of fabric. When she sees you doing it with her, she will be more encouraged and more apt to take it up on her own during her free time. Play pleasant background music on a CD player while you both work.

Don't forget modeling clay, play-dough, crafts for kids, etc.
3-dimensional art is great for kids too. Enroll her in a children's class at a place where you paint the pottery and take it home.

Answer 9

Try making mirages out of newspaper clippings or magazines. Do pictures using noodles or macaroni. Do chalk drawings, or find things you could make a mask with. There is so many things you could try. Go to an arts and crafts store. Let her pick out something that would be of interest to her. Even candle making with your supervision of course would be fun. Good luck.

Answer 10

We kept lots of blank paper and many different types of supplies around for our daughter. This included watercolors, chalks, crayons, colored pencils, scissors and glue sticks.

We stored it all in a 3-bin cart that we left in the pantry. When I was in the kitchen paying bills, cooking dinner, etc. she could just roll it out (by her own will) and create as she chose. This really encouraged her to explore and express herself on her own terms. She began to really love to create new things because of this freedom. It was never forced upon her and really helped a lot.

Good luck!