During the latest parent meeting, some parents told me that they are worried because their child doesn’t like art. As much as I understand, that you want your little one to exceed in every aspect of life, we have to face the fact; not everyone is an artist! There is nothing wrong with a child who doesn’t want to draw. We all have different interests, so as children. Let them occupy themselves with things that they are interested in right now. Forcing them does no good! Children go through periods of their lives, there is no guarantee that if they hate art now, they will hate it for the rest of their lives. There are so many different mediums and techniques out there. They might hate drawing, but going to love air dry clay… There might be an art form that they would gravitate towards, they just haven’t seen it yet. You can take them to art shops and let them choose their own materials, show them videos of cool art tutorials, they might want to try it. What about land art, pottery, photography, art games?
There are a few things that we are doing and can put off a child from art…
Are you encouraging them to express themselves or telling them what to do? Art should be a creative process, where they can freely explore. No, I’m not saying drawing on your white sofa, or walls is a great idea. There should be limits! But don’t try to tell them what exactly they should do and how the end result should look like.
Is the activity that you are trying to do appropriate for your child’s age? With younger ones, the process is more important, than the actual result. Let them play with the materials!
Sometimes children get frustrated with their abilities. We all know that feeling. Older siblings or an adult’s work can be intimidating. This frustration can lead to your child to say, they don’t like art. You can help them by leading by example. Don’t let them hear you say that you can’t do it, or you are not good enough. Play art games, where the importance is on connection and fun rather than serious art works.
Do you know how to talk about their art? Always saying, this is beautiful and then walking away is not helpful...
There are a lot of ways to foster creativity, visual arts is only one. You can try science experiments, music, performance, dance, construction, cooking and cake decorating, maths games, pretend play or just walk / observe and talk.
Are you joining in the activity? Are you modelling creativity?
Try to respect their preferences. It doesn’t mean, that you can’t try some occasional art activity once in a while. They might actually enjoy it and start looking at art in a different way. Also, let’s not forget, an activity can be appealing to your child if you do it with enthusiasm as well! Have you tried to sit down and happily make salt dough, draw or fold paper? Usually children take interest in activities that their parents do.
Don’t put unrealistic expectation on your child!!! Don’t tell them how their work should look like!
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