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Youth Art Month is celebrated in March every year. This month is set aside to celebrate and promote arts and arts education across the country. The month is specifically for the visual arts, and geared toward children of all ages.
Art helps children explore their thoughts and emotions and translate them into something creative, which is why it is an important means of expression for children of all ages. Children become more self-aware, communicate better, and have an improved sense of self-esteem and well-being when they practice the arts. There are many more benefits for children that come from art experiences, including support of fine motor skills, problem solving, hand-eye coordination, social skills, critical thinking, expansion of vocabulary and growth in their confidence and independence.
Below are some suggestions for creative art activities you can do at home either one-on-one, or as a family.
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Self Portrait – paper and some type of drawing/painting supplies are all you need to do this fun activity.
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Garden Fence Weaving– Cut up (or tear) strips of fabric, ribbon or yarn and weave the strips in and out of your garden fencing.
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Family Quilt – Have each family member decorate one or more 6″x 6″ squares out of construction paper. Place them together and display your family quilt on a wall in your home, or take a photo if wall space is limited.
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Paint with Cars or Trains - Watch your children’s imaginations bloom while driving toy vehicles across piles of bright-colored paint on canvas, cardboard or paper.
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Space Playdough - Take a trip to outerspace using craft dough to form planets, stars, alien ships and rockets, or wherever your imagination takes you!
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Crazy Shape Drawing Game - Draw a crazy shape on your paper, then trade and finish coloring the crazy shape into a picture.
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Easy Nature Collage - Explore the outdoors and look for flowers, leaves, twigs, etc. to collect for this fun and simple art project.
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Family State - With some paper and fingerpaint you can make this cool map of your state and show your love for your hometown.
Did you know that children's drawing skills develop in a predictable order their first five years? Learn more here!
If you need more ideas to interact with your little ones, check out Vroom! Vroom is a free app that you can download on your phone that provides activities aimed at children five and under. Once you put in your child’s age, you will have access to different activities that will grow with them as they age! Example:
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