Developing Your Child’s Artistic Sense
Hello from Karen Whiting
Many of my books for girls involve creativity and crafts. This encourages that artistic sense. There are many ways to inspire creativity and art appreciation.
Colors and beauty surround us, but we don’t always take time to see it or encourage our children to look. Explore the wonders of creation and instill a love of art in you child.
- Sit and watch God paint a sunset and chat about how he paints the sky new every day.
- Look through some books but only look at the pictures. Make up a new story. Chat about the colors and type of artwork.
- Give your child paint and a brush. Talk about the brush as a tool that needs TLC. Show your child how to wash the brush, especially the tips of the bristles.
- Go to an art store and check out supplies. Talk about types of paint sold and types of paper and canvas.
- Hang a picture frame on a blank area of a wall. Let your child paint with watercolors inside the frame. It can be washed and a new painting done.
- Visit an art museum and talk about the types of art displayed.
- Take a walk and look at the colors God used to make the earth. Look at the details in a leaf or flower and talk about how he drew the lines and shapes as he formed each creation.
- Look in the mirror and chat about how God formed your child and colored his or her hair, skin, and eyes.
- Add your child’s art to the refrigerator and start a binder of artwork to keep.
- Look at your clothes together and talk about the colors and designs painted on them.
Talk about how an artist practices and learns how to draw, paint, or sculpture. They need to see how different brush strokes look, how colors combine, and to understand what terms like perspective and focal point mean.
Look up a few art terms and see if you can find how they are used in art in your home. Remind your child that learning to make shapes that look more like the real object takes years of practice, but enjoying art and drawing is fun at any age.
Read how God gave talent to people who made the ark of the covenant in Exodus 30:30-35. He created us and gives us talents. Some people become great artists while others learn to enjoy the beauty they create.
Check out my newest book 52 Weekly Devotions for Busy Families. It offers lots of choices of activities and even art prompts for creating a faith scrapbook.