Every kid has an artist inside of them, but it’s up to them later on whether art will be something they really care about or something they pursue. For young children, all we can do is encourage them and give them the necessary tools to start creating art.
If you want to start teaching your child to draw, the most important thing to remember is to never push. Let them explore on their own with your guidance and encouragement.
Try these proven ways to teach children to draw:
Incorporate art into playtime
Keep in mind that when you have a child 5 and under, your teaching is only limited to encouraging, spending time, and providing tools that will help your little one learn. With this, what can be done is to incorporate art into game time. Make drawing or coloring part of your routine.
Children will begin to make art through scribbling and later, around age 2, they will have more control over their drawing materials and the scribbling will be more defined and repetitive.
Provide different types of art supplies such as non-toxic crayons and clay, washable markers and paint, chalk, etc. Try to do the art activities with your child as much as possible as this would encourage them even more.
not instruct
Children learn on their own with each doodle. Through art at an early age, they develop basic motor skills, creativity, self-expression, and invention. When you have a young child, your job as a parent is to appreciate, not instruct.
When your little one is drawing, sit with him, let him share with you what he is creating and praise him. Do not try to correct and teach, as this will disrupt their natural learning process and damage their self-confidence.
ask open questions
Contrary to popular belief, don’t ask your child “what is it?” when he presents you this drawing. Instead, you can ask him to tell you all about his drawing. If your little one gets excited talking about his art, ask him more questions. Ask for more details, as this will further spark his imagination and storytelling skills.
For example, you can say “Where’s the dog’s friend?” and it is more likely that he added more animals to his drawing and other details that he did not draw in the first place.
Remember, when you teach your child to draw, you are not really teaching, but encouraging!
