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Quit Telling Your Kid How to Create Art

Some expert somewhere probably said that you should just let your kids experiment when they do art. After all, there’s no “wrong way” to paint, draw or sculpt. Right? Right?

So I had to stop myself recently when I pulled out some water colors for the little dude. He can really do some cool art when he’s in the mood, but that day he was just slapping down one color of paint in a simple pattern and calling it a train.
Watercolor

Since he can do better I was trying to show him how water colors can blend in really neat ways. He wasn’t interested.

I decided perhaps I should demonstrate the technique rather than talk about it. I stopped hovering over his chair, grabbed another sheet of paper and started painting a goofy little hill side.

Then something happened. I stopped concerning myself about his one-dimensional purple train and just painted. Next to him. We were enjoying a little art time together instead of me telling him what to do and him not listening. I blended the colors and played with the paint. I’m no artist when it come to paint, but, just like my kid, it’s fun to mess around with art and see what you get.

The moral of the story? Next time you pull out the craft supplies, get enough out for two. Don’t use crafts just as a way to keep the kids busy…join in!