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Teahcing art is relatively easy, especially in the younger years. As children advance, thse with an interest can teach themselves if ned be from books, or supervised YouTube videos. There is absolutely no need to buy an expensive art curriculum. Save your pennies. The best art activities are those where the child does not have to follow lots of intricate instructions. The early years are particularly easy.
Some basic art material will make art and craft easy. Find a big box to store it in and put it in an easily accessible place. A cheap plastic table cloth is better than newspaper to cover the table. Make it as easy to whip it out as you can or you will put it off and art will be a rare experience for your child, which would be a shame. If your kitchen has a carpet, then put a tablecloth under the table as well for the lesson. Get used to saving yoghurt pots, boxes, toilet/kitchen roll middles, scraps of papper etc... to cut down on price. A junk box in the early years is great for firing imaginations! Age 3-5: Children need opportunities to become familiar with the tools - learning to paint with a brush and the co-ordination to dip in paint, paint, then rinse in water; handling pens/pencils/scissors/glue. This takes time to learn and it can be messy! An apron with long sleeves is invaluable - cut up one of dad's old shirts. Then there is the great exploration of colour and colour mixing as they get a little more profficient. The pictures they create will not necessarily be recognisable, but unless it really has been a bad day, celebrate their efforts and pin them up. Most young children go through a stage of painting the whole page one colour. Sometimes I would cut a shape of something that colour out of their picture (or let them tell me what it is). So for example a page of brown - if they couldn't say what it was, I might say 'Shall we make it into a bear?' and with their permission cut out a bear shape from the painting. Give this age a range of experiences: Colouring with pencil, pen, crayon, chalks, oil pastels. Tinies will find chubby crayons easiest. Painting with ready-mix paint with fat and thin brushes. Sometimes its fine to suggest a subject for a pinting/drawing, but at this age they will not usually be short of ideas. Printing is also good for this age group - potato printing, or cut up an old sponge, or use ends of loo rolls or boxes - be imaginative. Cutting and sticking with scraps of fabric/paper/card/coloured paper shapes - collage pictures, making greetings cards, mobiles, models etc.... Save oddments as you come across them in a collage box. 3D modelling: junk modelling, play dough (make your own), plasticine. If you go with the seasons, you will have plenty of stimulus. See our Art 'posts' for some ideas,
Age 6-8:
At this age children are becoming more in control of their tools and materials. More adventurous projects can be undertaken. The before activities can continue plus: sketching can be started - those wonderful nature sketch books. A little often is a good policy. Make the most of the seasons. More precise painting - maybe on a given theme or related to a project. Start to introduce different techniques, like different size brushes for different effects. Mixing colours can come into its own now. Some young children begin to show a real eye for detail - encourage it even if not. Still lifes - a bowl of fruit, or vase of flowers, or something brought in from a walk can act as stimulus. I would often do the same as the children and work alongside them. It gave them ideas as they saw me paint - a role model to aspire to. Don't worry - you don't have to be a Piccasso. It's actually very relaxing! They will think your work is wonderful. Be sure to tell them it's come with years of practice!
Ages 8 Plus If they show artisitc tendencies as they grow older, then good drawing/sketching/painting/othercrafts books can be purchased to guide them. Adult books are fine, but do beware of nudity. For our children as neither showed any great artistic talent, we just went on enjoying painting etc... until it gradually faded out with other interests. They did pass through a phase of painting by numbers as they were bought several such packs. Strangely, my eldest took a liking to drawing map diagrams and the younger to drawing birds. What I like is that neither of them speak as I hear many school children do saying 'Oh, I'm no good at art - I gave it up when it came to GCSE'. What a shame, to be denied the pleasures of engaging in artistic pursuits because you are 'not good enough' to do GCSE art. I hope these children rediscover art as they mature. Meantime, ours continue to enjoy it in their own way.
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Welcome!After studying for an Early Years Specialism degree (B.Ed. Hons), and teaching in mainstream education, I home-educated my own children, after my husband and I were persuaded of the need to take responsibility for bringing up our children 'in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.' (Ephesians 6:4) We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
This costs the purchaser nothing extra. In this way I can continue to provide free resources. Thank you for your support. Looking for a read-aloud?
Here's one I heartlily reccomend for ages 10 +. Search
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The First book from Christina Eastwood - the first in a triology - only £5.99 (ages 8 to 13).
Now available in PRINT!
See here Now available in PRINT
See here Now available in PRINT
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