5 Ways to Encourage Creativity in Your Kids During the Summer
Kids love to create things, which is why they’re always using their imagination to invent new games or stories. But, getting them to focus on a specific craft or art skill is a way to further develop their creativity and help improve motor skills as they learn how to master a pencil, markers or even a paintbrush.
If you’re looking for ways to entertain your kids this summer, try planning a craft day together and work on a diamond painting or other fun project. This is the perfect way to get your child away from TVs or tablets and engage their minds in something new and creative. Check out some of our favorite ideas for parent-child crafting.
How Does Art Help with Child Development?
Although art is often one of the first programs to be cut in school funding, it is actually extremely beneficial towards the development of young children and adolescents. Research shows that art is one of the best mediums through which children and adults can express themselves. As a child, you’re still learning how to communicate and interact with the world around you. By participating in artistic activities, they get a better sense of self and develop a way to work through their experiences. Young children also learn fine motor skills, problem solving and language through their art, helping them to further develop into a well-rounded person.
Ways to Encourage Creativity During the Summer Months
- Write a Story
Art is usually thought of as visual, but writing is a form of art and can be a great way to strengthen your child’s creativity while learning how to read, write and hold a writing tool. If your child is too young to start writing, you can sit down together and ask them to draw a few pages for the book, and then you can go over the story and write down the words that correspond. Although the child isn’t actually doing the writing themselves, they’re still using creativity and developing their ability to communicate by describing the story that they invented.
- Work on a Diamond Painting Project
If you’ve never heard of diamond painting before, it’s a unique and popular type of craft that involves small, faceted beads. You can pick a pattern that you like and then use the grid (which is color- and number-coded) to add the appropriate color beads. When the project is finished, you’ve created a beautiful mosaic painting with just beads. This kind of craft can take some time, so you may need to work on this project with your child in succession, but it’s incredibly useful in honing fine motor skills because your child will need to carefully and precisely place each bead in the correct spot. Working on a diamond painting project like this also gives you the perfect opportunity to teach them about patience and how to overcome feelings of frustration if they are having some difficulty placing the beads down.
- Draw a Self-Portrait
Drawing is beneficial to children of all ages, but for young children, it can be the key to learning how to hold and write with a tool. You should encourage your child to be creative and color as much as they’d like to, but giving them a specific assignment can help focus their mind and develop their ability to follow directions. Drawing a self-portrait is a fun activity for children and adults as it helps you get a better understanding of yourself. You and your child can both draw self-portraits and then show them to each other. When the drawings are complete, have him or her explain why they made the choices they did in the drawings to help them think through reasoning.
- Tie-Dye T-Shirts
A favorite summertime activity for everyone, tie-dyeing shirts is something that can be done outside and help upcycle old clothing. To start tie-dyeing with your kids, go through your closets and see if there are any clothes that you want to tie-dye. Although you can try tie-dyeing different colored shirts, white always works the best as it is able to soak up all the colors. If you don’t have any old articles of clothing you’d like to use for the project, head out and buy a few T-shirts, socks, bandanas or whatever other accessory you want to work on. Show your child how to add colors and let them get creative, but be aware that this project will make a bit of mess, so it’s best to take it outside.
- Use Sidewalk Chalk
One of the best art supplies in the summertime, sidewalk chalk encourages your child to spend time outside and design whatever creations they would like. Show your child where they are allowed to draw with the chalk and start creating! You can work together on a big, beautiful drawing, or you can let them do their own thing. Some kids use sidewalk chalk to design pretend roads or to invent new games. Give your child some ideas on how to use the chalk if they never have before and see what they can come up with. The potential to create is so great with chalk because kids aren’t limited to a small section of paper or asked to color in the lines. They have complete control over what to draw, which inspires them to think outside the box.
Create and Inspire
Encouraging your child to be creative and take risks is an important lesson for them to learn early on. Art can be beneficial as it helps develop emotional understanding along with motor skills, communication ability, problem-solving and much more. But, it’s also just a great way to keep the kids engaged and entertained. Throughout the summer, try doing some of these craft ideas like diamond painting or sidewalk chalk designing for an activity to help you both bond and grow your child’s skills. Doing a puzzle can be super fun too!
Tags: diamond painting, doing art project with kids, encouraging creativity during summer, sidewalk chalk art
