Every summer my youngest son participates in a week-long art camp at our local Art Center. It’s really something he looks forward to, and every year, he learns so much about art mediums, various techniques, and even the history of famous artists and their process.
This year, he kept an art journal where he recorded notes about each artist and takeaways from their particular style.
After the week was over, he had many wonderful new pieces to add to the portfolio we created, but more important, he was now motivated more than ever to dive into creating his own pieces and filled with all sorts of new ideas about just what he could create.
Your Kid Can Paint Like Picasso
All of us are born to create.
However, what we create is determined by our own personal experiences, the lessons we learn, and how we are taught to create. It’s true. For most of us, we reach adulthood and leave behind our creative inhibitions.
Our need for acceptance oftentimes binds our imaginations until those things we once dreamed of creating are lost somewhere in the past.
Kids need opportunities, without television or video games, to just create something.
Without judgments or specifics, kids are most creative when they are allowed to just experiment with the paintbrush or given some time with just pencil and paper–without coloring boundaries or ruled margins and lines.
This Summer Let’s Create Something Beautiful!
Sadly, even school art class comes with standard-based boundaries. And although my son loves art, his school art class is not something he really enjoys. It’s not the teacher’s fault, I’m sure. She has certain lessons to teach and specific standards to be addressed.
That’s why summer vacation is a great chance to create a masterpiece!
It’s really not that expensive. Just grab a sheet of foam board -that’s 1/3 of a black sheet in the picture above- and divide it into several canvas areas to explore various techniques. I’ve grabbed foam board from the local dollar store, too.
Create a collage from old magazines or recycle cereal boxes and soup cans. Those moments will leave lasting impressions, regardless of what you build or create.
Yes, your kid can paint like Picasso and reach beyond the boundaries to create something wonderful–and so can you.
Explore the Masters
For more fun with the masters, check out some of these fun picture books from your local library, too:
More Ideas for Fun
Have you grabbed the book?
Grab your copy, now!
Dinner Games: Serving up Conversation and Family Fun
This is such a neat idea. My kids suffer with Art because they only get to be creative with my MIL. However, my husband plans on teaching them Art some more hopefully soon.
The Smith House loves art! All of us love pencils and crayons-not sure why, but we love to create. Just let go and have fun 🙂
Freedom to create “without judgements or specifics” – Yes, very important!