The idea of sitting down to share art with your kids can be
an intimidating one, for so many reasons (or excuses), like:
- I'm really not
creative
- We
don't have the "stuff" to create art
- I
don't know where to start
In this post, I’m going to share my thoughts on just how
creative one needs to be, or not to be.
I'm not an artist by any stretch
of the imagination, but I do draw a stick figure better than my 7 yr old. So?
In the eyes of a child, if you can do it better than they can and you know more
than they do, then you're an expert (until they're teenagers of course). Ultimately, our role is to guide them through their creation,
with lots of "ooh's", "aah's" and "wow's".
The joy is in the sharing of the process, not necessarily
the end product. I have, many times, "guided" kids through the
process of their creation and arrived at a messy muddle of "what is that?"
Guess what? We had fun anyway! What could be
more exhilarating for a child-at-art, than seeing their "expert"
looking really silly! The lessons we have learnt and conversations we have had
over these "huh?" creations, have been as valuable (if not more so)
than our masterpieces.
Through these opportunities, I have been able teach my
children, from a very young age, how to behave when you don't achieve the
outcome that you hoped for. I promise that when faced with one of our artistic
"failures" I don't burst into tears, throw paintbrushes and stamp away
in a huff. I try not to laugh hysterically, but I can't promise that I've
never done that!
Instead? We try to figure out, looking at our creation with
heads tilted at every possible angle, if there is something else that
it resembles and could perhaps be. Talk about creative thinking and
imagination! We also have wonderful conversations about what we did wrong, what
part didn't work and what we could have done differently. It's amazing how
animated the little "apprentices” become when they're suggesting
improvements to their expert! Sometimes we decide to salvage what we can, and
start over, attempting to recreate the original idea or make something else altogether.
And what about when we're not following a specific plan or
don't have a specific end goal in mind? Well, that's when I watch
their inner thoughts, dreams and interests come to life. The room becomes quieter as they slip into the depths of their creativity, and
work on turning an idea into something tangible. My job is to mindlessly
doodle, because obviously their creations need to be waaaay cooler than mine! Tip:
never, under any circumstance, ask: "What is that?" Maybe try:
"So what made you think of making that?" and see where it takes the
conversation.
The over-riding theme of this post is simple: Kids art is not about
"artistic produce". For me, it's always been about a process that
offers an opportunity for creative thinking, problem solving and engaged
conversation with my children. It’s also a gentle way of building self
confidence and developing the skill of taking pride in their efforts.
