Drawing and painting are how most kids learn to express themselves and their creativity from their earliest age. Be it on paper or on the walls, their need to express themselves just flows when they are young.

In this article, we will share some thoughts and ideas on how to develop your child’s creativity and expression as they grow.

• Refrain from judging their work of art. Don’t say things like this does not look real or this line is too long or worse, Jill did a better job!
• Refrain from preempting and correcting perceived mistakes. Allow your child some creative liberty.
• Gently push them to complete the task on hand. Art should not be left unfinished. Sometimes it takes a while, but allow them to do it over multiple sittings if required.
• Encourage creativity and NEVER ask them to copy an image.
• Praise lavishly.
• Allow children to describe their work. This will improve their understanding of art and their work.
• And, listen to the description with undivided attention!

But first, some do’s and don’ts.

So now here are the top 10 ideas that you can deploy to develop their creativity and drawing skills.

1. Ask them to observe first. Look around, what are they saying, what shapes, what colours, are colours changing, is the shape changing? As they sharpen their observation, their drawings will become more nuanced.
2. Ask them to imagine their version. Does the leaf have to be green? What if it was another colour? How would the tree look? Ask them to paint their version of the world or the object.
3. Get them to express emotions through their drawing. Can you show feelings in a drawing? Yes, of course, that’s what the best artists do. So get them to draw situations or objects which also bring out emotions. It can be any emotion, happiness, sadness, anything. Let them express themselves.
4. Get the to doodle. Practicing doodling improves their confidence to sketch. Get them to practice pattern drawings.
5. Get them to mix colours and explore what emerges. Use these colours in the painting.
6. Introduce them to concepts like drawing in mirror image or negative space (not drawing the object but the blank space around the object). This will improve their confidence to draw.
7. Show them paintings and works of art. Visit the museum. This will open their minds to new thoughts and ideas.
8. Ask them to describe an object in words. With as many adjectives as possible, including emotions. Then draw the object, making sure each of the adjectives is a part of the drawing.
9. Work with multi-media. Art need not mean just colours. Let them explore creating or adding to the artwork with different kinds of media, wood, cotton, wool, anything.
10. And finally, let them have fun. Let the mess around. Create, recreate. Ask them what they like, and what they don’t. Let them develop their thinking process.