4 Ways to Incorporate Art Into Your Kids' Summer

One thing kids look forward to (and parents sometimes dread) is summer when there is more leisure time. After a couple weeks of summer, many parents ask themselves the same things: “What can I do to keep these kids occupied? There are only so many more movies I can tolerate!” Parents in this position should consider incorporating art activities into their kids’ summer.

Benefits of Making Art for Children

Creating art is beneficial for artists of any age. Specifically, making art benefits children by promoting the following:

Problem-solving skills
Creativity
Literacy
Fine and gross motor skills

Pixabay

Also, creating art benefits children by creating electrical activity in both hemispheres of the brain, which is necessary for the brain to be efficient, according to Raise Smart Kid:

“By stimulating and exercising the right hemisphere of the brain, the arts strengthen the connection between the hemispheres. Kids should be exposed to the arts as their cognitive skills mature so that their right brain will be as developed as the left, and both hemispheres work in tandem, thus achieving the full potential of the mind.”

Every child is different, but creating art has an overall positive effect on most kids. The good news is many children naturally love putting together art projects.

“Therapists tell us that art is valuable because it allows children to process their world, to deal with sometimes scary emotions in a safe way, and because it gives them critical sensory input.” — The Benefits of Art for Kids

4 Ways to Get Your Kids Creating Art This Summer

Interesting in increasing your kids’ artistic literacy? Here are a few ways to get your children into art this summer:

Introduce them to various forms of art — If your kid isn’t art-crazy, maybe he or she hasn’t seen many forms of art. Show your children photography, mixed-media art, paintings, drawings, film, and more. See what piques their interest, then invest in a cheap camera, some watercolor paints or chalks, etc.

Create an art table — Spreading your kitchen table with cheap art supplies and surprising your children with the treat could be what’s needed to get them more interested in creating art. Let them experiment and let you know what art mediums they like most.

Foster sculpting — Many parents are concerned about the development of their kids’ fine motor skills. Promote the development of these skills by giving your kids everything they need to create sculptures. You can even make homemade sculpting clay with your kids. Here’s a recipe.

Display quality art in your home — If you want your kids to love art, you may want to display it in your home. What paintings do you love? Invest in economical prints and hang them where your kids can see them and ask questions about them. Memorize facts about the works of art to relay to your children. If they see you valuing art, so will they.

Are your kids into art? If so, how did that happen? Do they value art because you do? Share with us in the “comments” section below.