Encourage Your Children to Express their Creative Side

Posted by Leslie | 0 comments

Oh how I love art and crafting. Although all my kids have their own favorite activities, I am a watercolor fan. I truly wish I had a bit more time to develop my drawing and painting skills.

When I lived up north I would take the littletons to art museums often. The true beginning of this activity began for me the first time I was taken to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. This is my most fond museum memory, and will likely always be my favorite museum for that reason. However, living close to the city, I had the ability to visit museums often. There are so many in and outside of NYC. As I grew into adulthood and moved to the Ohio Valley, I found respite in the resources in Pittsburgh, Pa. You could have found me pushing a stroller, nursing a babe, and talking about what we were seeing; always a marvel to me.

Here in southwest Florida, there is not much museum hopping to be had. Certainly nothing as what I had been accustomed to. I have been to several museums, but it seemed that as the littletons grew to be eldertons, they did not have the same interest and thus time took hold. Imagine my surprise when a littleton told me the other day that she was going to have her art displayed in a museum one day. It wasn’t astonishing that she wanted to showcase her art, but that at four, she even knew museums existed. She has not been taken to a traditional museum yet and we don’t discuss them…at least that I can recall. At any rate, you can tell she is the most art oriented of the group.

Although she comes up with the most amazing ideas on her own, left to a room filled with art supplies this girl will astound you with her creativity and vision, I often research a wide variety of art ideas with an even wider variety of mediums. I have wanted to share this wonderful site, but today is the day I introduce it. I have been pondering through this site for the last several weeks and am truly finding so much held within, that a mere post cannot possibly encompass all it has to offer.

Often times art is left behind in our homeschool world. We want to teach it, but for a variety of reasons, such as inadequacy or time limitations, we push it to the side. The thought process that is involved in creating is intricate and beneficial to other functions of the brain. Creative thinking strengthens other areas of thinking such as logic. Creativity is like exercise for the brain. So don’t worry about teaching a specific art. Instead encourage your children to create anything and everything. Don’t limit your children with your thoughts of what art is. Let your children guide you. Creating with Knex, is art. Drawing with chalk on the sidewalk is art. Turning a box into a robot is art. Painting rocks is art. Change your thought of art as an extracurricular activity to one that views art as an integral part of brain development.

Now, I know art projects can be expensive. Mom can also become overwhelmed with the idea of coming up with projects. However, I want to share this GREAT page on frugal and recycled craft ideas. You can find that page by clicking here. While the page will likely give you a lot of ideas for your home art, I recommend you bookmark the site (Creativity Portal) and spend time when permitted perusing all it has to offer. This isn’t just for kids! So encourage all your children to express their creative side. Creativity Portal will help you along the way.

Leslie Valeska is the wife of Thomas and homeschooling mother of four children who reside in SW Florida. Her family operates Fresh Gear Solutions, LLC and enjoys RVing. She is the founder and director of Simple Journey Ministries which was established to encourage, inspire, and support women on their journey to Godly womanhood. Leslie is also employed as a vintage seamstress by Vintage Vixen.