how to I foster my child's interest in art?

[CrunchyMama19]

We are strongly leaning towards homeschooling our children. DD1 is 4 yo and I have noticed she has a strong interest in the arts. Dance, music, and teh visual arts (drawing and painting).

The thing is , DH and I are CLUELESS. We are both very right brained people with science and math degrees and never had much interest in the arts. However, I really want to foster my DD1's interests and creativity and support her if she decides to pursue it seriously later in life. Any tips for us? We are thinking about dance classes but any other suggestions for things we can do at home with her?

[Daffodil]

I'm also clueless about art and have a kid who's interested in it.  Mine hasn't shown any special interest in dancing or music (though she does say she'd like to learn to play the recorder), but she's very interested in drawing, painting, etc.  One thing she and I have both enjoyed is using this book: Drawing with Children.  We also enjoy going to galleries and looking at the paintings.  One day last fall we went to see an exhibit of landscape paintings, and then DD immediately wanted to try doing landscapes herself, so we headed out into the yard with paper and pastels and tried some.  (We're lucky enough to live in a spot with some nice views.)  I think it's okay that I'm not great at drawing, because I can model working at it, learning from my mistakes, and having fun even if my results aren't great.  But it's also nice that my sister, who lives near us, is quite artistic and can give us tips on materials and techniques.  We like to get together with her sometimes for art sessions.  DD has also really enjoyed taking a couple of art classes.  And we've gotten a couple of books recently from the library that she enjoyed, from the Come Look with Me series.

[Mittsy]

You should look into Little Acorn Learning for her Pre-K and even K years! They have lots of nature filled activities, songs, fingerplays, stories, all sorts of crafts.... We LOVE it!

http://www.littleacornlearning.com/

[moominmamma]

If you talk to artists, most of them will caution you about the risks of too much top-down instruction at young ages. It's easy to extinguish the creative spark in young children by responding to their enthusiasm with the kind of instruction that makes them believe they have to do things a certain way, create tidy adult-pleasing end-products or performances, follow a specific path. At young ages it is best not to instruct too much, but instead to nurture your child's natural intuitive relationship to the arts.

On the visual arts front, I think that the "Drawing With Children" book mentioned previously is fantastic, but it does walk a very fine line in this respect and it is possible to use it in ways that focus too much on the "correct" way to draw and end-product-focused experiences rather than expressive experiences. A fabulous book for parent and child to enjoy together is "Doing Art Together" by Muriel Silberstein-Storfer. Although it provides clear guidance about materials and organization of one's art space, the emphasis is on expressive exploration rather than "how to." 

In terms of performing arts, I would suggest you consider carefully the philosophy and teaching style of any programs you choose to enroll your child in. The best teachers and programs for young children are usually quite holistic in nature, capitalizing on, rather than fighting to constrain, the young child's natural artistic impulses and sense of play. They are nurturing rather than controlling. While they have a strong vision of where they are going over the long term with the development of artistic talent, they are exceedingly flexible about how they respond to the child in guiding her towards that. The teacher-child relationship and the child's interest, motivation and love of the artistic pursuit are more important than achieving a particular form or rate of progress. In evaluating a program talk to the instructor about their style and philosophy, and see if you can observe a class, lesson or performance. Watch for warm relationships, and kids taking joy in their art and in striving for excellence.

But probably the most important thing at age 4 is to nurture your daughter's interest with common-sense things at home: parental enthusiasm, good quality materials, tolerance for a wide range of experimentation, and a ongoing exposure to examples of high quality music, dance, theatre, and visual art.

Miranda

[SweetSilver]

I believe the first and most important thing for doing art is to play with the materials.  That's it.

 I didn't read this idea, though I don't claim it to be original.  I arrived at it thinking about my own experience with art in school.  I always expected it to be realistic.  I had pretty good control over my pencil, so my drawings and handwriting were always neater than other kids in my grade.  When we tried to paint, I had a really tough time controlling the paint, and this frustrated me.  I didn't learn or play with the qualities unique to each material.

Each material limits and guides what can be done and how.  Playing with materials without a rigid goal teaches these qualities without any additional instruction from a "teacher".  This seems easier to do with really young kids, as older kids can get caught up in turning a material into something they've thought of before hand.  This works once you have experience with a material because you understand how it works.  But in the beginning we don't have this understanding.  It's hard for many older kids and adults to empty their minds and explore.

If I had children 10 years ago, I might not have introduced watercolors early.  I hated the way the trays got muddied and brown.  Nothing ever looked the way I wanted.  When my daughter was 2, I discovered Stockmar watercolors and read about the Waldorf philosophy of introducing art by using materials that discouraged LINES.  Even though I am not a Waldorf parent, the theory reminded me of my own expectations (and limitations) as a kid.  So, using two colors and a good, 1/2- 3/4 inch nylon-bristle watercolor brush (the natural bristles were too expensive or too coarse for my taste) we let her play.  The colors on the wetted paper were ACTIVE!  They bled and blended in gorgeous ways.  She added tons of paint to every picture, so we used the heaviest watercolor paper we could afford.  Unlike Crayola, the colors were deep and vibrant and rich.  (And after several years tacked to the wall, they are still vibrant.)

Well, I don't know that it turned her into an artist.  My oldest (now 6.5) struggles with fine motor control with her hands, and likes to copy things rather than to create something out of the blue.  But then one day she drew a rooster (with colored pencils) over and over on the page.  She seemed encouraged when I mentioned that artists would call this a study.  Now she is playing with the digital camera.  Eventually we'd like to get muddy with some clay, but that isn't happening really soon.

DD2 (4.5) seems to have a real artistic sense (very common at this age).  Her hand is confident and strong, and she handles her pencils and crayons better at 4.5 than DD1 does now.  The way she moves her hand while doing her big drawings looks so much like how an experienced artist works.  We'll see how it unfolds.  Hopefully we can experiment with more materials as the years go by.  I'm sure we'll have fun.

Besides books on Waldorf painting, I really like the book "Art Fun!" which we discovered at our library.  Unlike most books that show a project for you to copy, it focuses on materials and techniques.  Yes, it shows examples, but somehow manages to convey the sense (to me at least) that you have the freedom to make this truly your own.  Perhaps because it rarely states, "Make this fun purse!" or whatever.  I'm sorry, but i didn't note the author.

[Reebekah]

i havent read the other responses...but i have a 5.5yr old who is also very interested in artistic things.  a few things i do:

-i bought him the Draw Write Now complete set (sign up for the Barker Creek wild Wednesday deals and wait unti they offer it 1/2 price for the set, or buy just the first 1 or 2 and see how she likes it).  it really keeps my son busy, and it has really built his confidence in his ability to draw. 

-i suppy him with a lot of different art materials.  our local art/craft store (michaels) offers 40% off coupons on a regular basis, so i use them to buy him supplies....different types of paints (finger, watercolor, tempera), different paper, bingo dauber paints, various paint brushes, etc.  he is also interested in making other types of creations, so i bought feathers, felt, googley eyes, modeling clay, etc.

-I got a book from Sonlight called A Child's Book Of Art, and some of the Come Look With Me books from amazon.com

-I know there are several products on the market, such as Artistic Pursuits, that I plan to check into soon.

-We experiment with different materials....like painting with sponges, blowing paint with straws, mixing colors, painting with Q-tips, painting seashells and rocks, etc.

[CrunchyMama19]

Wow everyone, you all gave really good advice. I really like the idea of just letting her explore different materials with no preconceptions. I will try to find those books at my library too. I found a great book already called The Art Book for Children. It has lots of famous paintings and sculptures in it and asks simple questions that simply allow the child to explore that piece of art, what makes it unique, how it makes them feel, how they think the artist felt ect. without directing the child toward set ideas or opinions. Hopefully DD will enjoy that. I think I might get her some charcoal or pastels to play with too and maybe some more surfaces to work with besides paper. More suggestions and recommendations are welcome!

[SweetSilver]

Originally Posted by CrunchyMama19 

I think I might get her some charcoal or pastels to play with too and maybe some more surfaces to work with besides paper. More suggestions and recommendations are welcome!

Be careful about adult art materials.  Pastels (chalk ones) contain a lot of unsafe compounds, made more harmful by their chalky texture which makes dust fly everywhere.  Check the labels.  You don't have to stick with crayola.  Stockmar and Lyra have good art materials for kids, plus safe ones can be found mixed in with the not-safe ones.  Adult watercolors and oil paints are also pretty toxic

[HeatherB]

My DS is 6.5 and has been more and more clearly demonstrating a proclivity for art. He draws *constantly* and nowadays I have to ask him if he traced something from a book or drew it freehand (which is almost always the case) because I can't tell. He does almost all line drawings, but art in general is definitely a passion. For him, we're going to be putting him into some sort of art instruction this next school year. He's old enough to have the clear interest and desire for more instruction (which I can't give). Up until this point, though, just making sure he had tons of paper, pencils, etc., has been enough. (We won't mention the beds, walls, and other various pieces of furniture that have been victims of his art. )

I love the idea of the Stockmar watercolors. We've used some Stockmar crayons but never the paints. They sound wonderful! The crayons are fabulous, too.

[LuxPerpetua]

I agree with other posters about letting kids at this age freely experiment with materials.  One thing we've done is to keep easel paper taped in our hallway for spontaneous drawing.  We did this originally when dd was 1 and wanted to draw on the walls; rather than constantly have to say, "Stop!", we thought we'd just make it safe for her to do.  We buy Melissa and Doug easel paper rolls and tape them 3 sheets in height on the wall so dd can draw as much as she wants.  Underneath we have baskets of crayons, markers, dot paints, etc.  

Other ideas:  Family art time.  We are Waldorf-inspired so we have had "Painting Day" each Thursday since Cecily was 3.  I actually use watered-down Crayola tempera paints instead of Stockmar because they are cheaper and are more versatile.  This year we are going to set aside 30-minutes each day for an art activity like coloring and clay modeling.  I think it's important to "do" art with your children because young children learn from imitation.  I like the Waldorf block coloring techniques--these are easy to find out about online or from Waldorf bookstores--where you focus more on gesture and not on realism.  I think that's easier for younger children and causes less frustration.  You may also want to just have free crafting time where you pull out materials--cheap acrylic felt, beads, construction paper, feathers, shells, etc. and everyone make whatever they want.  The more people you can involve, the better, I think.  You could plan a puppet show or something where you all make puppets from brown paper bags, or paper plates and popsicle sticks.  Really, enthusiasm is what counts.

Another thing we love to do is write our own stories and illustrate them.  You can just staple them or tie string to bind them.  

Whatever you do, especially at this young age, I wouldn't instruct but just teach by example and out of fun.  The point really shouldn't be to train an artist but to help your child to learn to play through art.

[SweetSilver]

Originally Posted by LuxPerpetua 

  I actually use watered-down Crayola tempera paints instead of Stockmar because they are cheaper and are more versatile.  

If you can find cyan blue and magenta, like I did years ago, colors are extremely vibrant when you mix them.  These two plus yellow make the primary pigment colors but more often you only find dark blue and red or hot pink (which isn't magenta!).  One to two parts magenta plus one part yellow makes red.  To make dark blue mix one part cyan one part magenta, etc.  Keeps the colors from being so dark, I think.  I wish those colors were available more often.  A good store will order them.

[Reebekah]

right now my kids use Colorix Silky Crayons for pastels ---- they are a 3 in 1 crayon, pastel, and watercolor.  we also have an easel set up in the kitchen so they can draw anytime they want.  my local community arts center has a 3-day art class for various age groups beginning at age 3, so my oldest has done that twice.  my 5.5 yr old even likes to experiment with electronic art....like abcya.com has a paint & create thing that he likes to mess around with.