Fill Your Family’s Life with Art

Making art and exposure to art has so many physical and psychological benefits for kids. Through art, kids develop fine motor skills, confidence, ingenuity, and curiosity. Of course, making art is not just for kids. Grown-ups benefit by taking a breather to slow down, relax, and create. Making art together is not only fun but can also inspire meaningful conversations, trigger fits of laughter, and create positive core memories for children. If you’re "not an artist,” that’s even better! Learn and innovate together; give your kids a chance to lead the way. When making art, there are no wrong answers, no pressure.

Here are a few tips to get you inspired to make art projects a family habit:

FOCUS ON THE PROCESS, NOT THE PRODUCT

Don’t worry about creating something specific, identifiable, or even pleasant to look at. Focus on the creative experimentation and exploration of the process. Measure success by the time engaged and enjoyment felt in the activity, as opposed to what it looks like at the end. Did you spend 2 hours creating, talking, problem solving, and laughing together, and all you have to show for it is this messy blob? Great Success!

FAMILY ART CHALLENGE

Don’t buy a single thing. See what you can create with the things you already have; make it a competition or work collaboratively to come up with new uses for ordinary items at home. Modern artists love making works from everyday objects, such as silver foil, paper clips, zip lock bags, empty cans, broken cups, tape, cereal boxes, rubber bands, scrap paper, plastic ware, thread, etc. Put together a surprise bag of random household objects and materials for an open-ended craft night! You’ll be surprised by the transformation that can take place. For inspiration, click here and here and here.

TAKE A WALK AROUND THE BLOCK

Artists are great at observing the world around them. Go on a neighborhood walk and see what you notice. Bring crayons and paper to “collect” textures you come across. Create rubbings of the different surfaces. Look at what Sari Dienes created from her walk around Soho, New York. Discuss what you see now that you hadn’t noticed before.

CREATE A TAPE MURAL

Yup, in your home! Grab some colorful masking tape and make some tape art. It won’t ruin your walls. Working on a giant vertical surface is super fun and great for promoting motor skills in kids. Here is some inspiration.

LET ART SPARK DISCUSSION

Instead of asking, “What did you make?” try asking:

- How did you make it?

- Where did you get your idea/inspiration from?

- What was challenging about making this? What was easy for you?

- If you were to do it again, would you do anything differently?

- What title would you give this work?

See many more art ideas from The Whitney Museum, Museum of Modern Art, and The Tate Modern and stay tuned for part two of Fill Your Family’s Life with Art for your guide to summer music, theater, and art around New York and tips and tricks for enjoying museums with kids.