Art Prompts for Kids
While extra time at home with the kids can be challenging, it is a great opportunity for them to tap into their creativity! Almost everyone has pencils, crayons, markers, and some kind of paint at home. No need to go to the store to pick up those art supplies. Pull out plenty of paper for your kids to use and let them create!
If you do need ideas for inspiration, here are some simple creative ideas from Sara Riles, First Presbyterian Day School art teacher. She shared these with her students to get into art while staying at home. Enjoy!
Squiggle Line Drawing
Have someone draw one or more random squiggle lines on a paper, take a good look at it from all angles, turn it upside down even, see what you can turn it into by adding your own lines to it. This is a great exercise in creative thinking.
Pet Portrait
Draw a portrait of your pet either from life or from a photo. Don’t have a pet? What would be your dream pet? Draw a picture of your dream pet. What would you and your pet like to do together?
Draw a Self Portrait
Find a mirror in your house and draw yourself!
Potato prints (need an adult for this one!)
Have an old potato? Slice potato in half and carve out with a spoon a donut like shape or star or whatever you can. Then print shape on paper using paint. Try repeating the print or overlapping. Once you are finished you can slice that end off and do a different one. You can do other prints with other veggies like the cut off ends of celery or bell peppers.
Leaf Rubbings
Get outside and gather as many different leaves as you can find. Place them flat under a piece of paper and rub a crayon on its side across the paper. Use different colors, try overlapping using lighter colors first.
Leaf Prints
You can take those same leaves and color on them with washable markers, like crayola. Then lightly dampen a piece of sturdy paper with a sponge and press the leaf colored side down to make a print. You might need to work swiftly so the marker does not dry before you print. Experiment with multiple colors and how damp the paper needs to be.
Draw your favorite stuffed animal
Grab your fuzzy friend and experiment with how to show texture in your drawing. Maybe you use short zig zag lines to make a fuzzy texture, or short wispy lines to create hair.
Create a Lego sculpture
Lay a bed sheet on the floor and put a pile of extra legos in the middle. Choose pieces based on shape and color to create a sculpture of your own!
Make your own Sketchbook
Grab some paper and if you have a stapler fold sheets in half and staple along the fold line to create a book. Don’t have staples? No problem just fold them tightly together. Now use your sketchbook to draw from life.
What do you see?
A tree out your window? A bowl of fruit on the table? Daffodils by the sidewalk? Draw the simple things around you and take time to really observe what you are looking at as you draw.
