By the time your child is in primary school, their fine motor skills have developed enough for them to cut, glue and create. This is therefore the perfect time to incorporate some art activities for kids into their weekly routine. Creating masterpieces is key for developing creativity, self-confidence and problem solving. So, to encourage craft time, always display your child’s art. It will add beauty to your home and make your child feel proud.
Here are 10 art activities for kids to get you started:
- Make Postcards
Buy several blank postcards or make your own by cutting rectangles out of thick card. Provide a variety of art supplies, such as tissue paper, watercolour paints and crayons. Your child can address the postcards to loved ones. Then, encourage them to use their imagination to decorate the fronts. Once they’re dry, add a stamp and send them off!
- Stencil Spray Paint
Combine liquid craft paint with a bit of water in a spray bottle and shake well. Give your child a sheet of blank paper and stencils and they can create their masterpieces by spraying the paint onto the stencils. It’s okay to get messy because it allows your child to tap into their creativity. Do this outside, or lay out old newspapers at your kitchen table for easy cleanup.
- Decorate Your Windows
Give your child a piece of tin foil and bottles of puff paint. They can squeeze designs on the foil in several colours and shapes. Let the paint dry for 24 to 48 hours, peel the shapes off the foil and let your child decorate your windows with their DIY cling decals. They can easily be removed or adjusted, so they can rearrange them whenever they want.
- Make Crayons
Remove the paper from broken or stubby crayons, and sort them by similar colours into several oven-safe dishes. Melt the crayons in your oven before pouring the wax into silicon or plastic chocolate moulds. Your child might be able to pour the wax themselves, but you should supervise. Let them cool and harden, and then use them to colour!
- Have Some Puppet Fun
Get some old or spare wooden spoons and art supplies such as googly eyes, beads and buttons, and let your child make puppets. They can glue on their decorations of choice before crafting a puppet play to perform for you. Make your own puppet and perform in the puppet show with them!
- Try Resist Painting
A good artist knows that sometimes white space can be just as significant as the image itself. Try resist painting: Let your child cut a shape out of sticky-backed contact paper, then stick the shape onto a blank sheet of white paper. Your child can paint over the entire sheet of paper in whatever colours and patterns they choose. When the paint has mostly dried, peel up your contact paper to reveal the shape.
- Make No-Slip Socks
Gather a pair of your child’s socks and some puff paint. Let your child draw a picture on the bottom of each sock with the paint. Let the paint dry, and watch your child proudly wear their homemade no-slip socks on slippery floors. They can even make socks for the whole family – a great gift idea!
- Spell It Out
Purchase several wooden cubes from a craft shop. Help your child draw block letters in black marker on a piece of paper, then they can colour in the letter however they wishes. Cut out the letters and glue them to the blocks before painting a layer of clear glue over each shape. Practice spelling words with the blocks.
- Fingerprint Trees
Make a work of art that’s as one-of-a-kind as your child. Ask your child to draw a leafless tree on a piece of card stock. Then, using a stamp pad, they can press their fingerprints onto the empty tree to represent leaves of any colour.
- Rock Painting
Even the great outdoors provides plenty of opportunity for art projects. With your child, gather some clean, smooth rocks. They can use a paintbrush and tempera paint to turn the rocks into their choice of animals. Let them decide where in the garden they should be displayed.
The best part of these 10 art activities for kids is that your child can do most of them without help, but they’re all also great to work on together. If you have childcare, make sure to share these ideas with them. Nothing creates better memories than having fun making something together!