Creativity is a very important trait to encourage in your children. Even if they don’t grow up to become artists or musicians, creativity will stand them in good stead in their everyday lives. We don’t always realize it, but we are constantly using our creative skills to come up with solutions to problems. Having a creative outlet as a hobby is also very good for your mental health, so it’s good to encourage this in children from a young age. But how can you do that?
The best way to encourage kids to be creative is to simply facilitate creative activities. You don’t need to force it, you just need to create the space and provide the supplies that they need, and they will naturally do it themselves. Building an arts and crafts space in their bedroom is a brilliant way to get their creative juices flowing. Here’s how to create an art space for your child.
Pick The Right Spot
First things first, you need to decide where you are going to put this art space. It’s important that it’s easily accessible so your child can always grab some supplies and start being creative right away. If everything is packed away somewhere that they can’t see it, they will forget all about it and it will never get used. Putting it in the corner of their bedroom is a good option. If you have limited space, you can use these tips to maximize the space and find room for an art space. Once you have found your area, set up some art supplies and leave them out so your child can easily pick them up and start playing whenever they like.
Don’t Forget About Safety
Although it’s a good idea to have supplies out and ready, there are certain things you need to keep locked away and only let your child use when you can supervise them. Glue guns and hot melt glue sticks, for example, are brilliant for all sorts of arts and crafts projects but they can be dangerous for a child to use on their own. The same goes for scissors. Keep these hidden and let your child know that they can ask you if they need to use them for a project.
Combine It With Toy Storage
Kids have a wild imagination and their arts and crafts will often cross over with their other play. This is a good thing and you want to encourage it, so keep their toys stored close to their art station. Often, children will build things to use when playing with their toys and having that extra stimulus fuels their creative spirit.
Get Plenty Of Storage Containers
A child’s art space can quickly turn into a huge mess if you are not careful. You’ll constantly be picking up pens and crayons and bits of glue up off the floor unless you have a system in place for organizing things. Simple containers are the best way to go here and you can get some simple plastic ones that stack up on top of each other. Having them to hand means that your child is more likely to put things away after they are done. You can also put some pegboards on the wall where they can easily hang things when they are not using them. When you first introduce the space to them, make sure that they understand they need to clean it up after they are done.
Give Them A Place To Display Their Work
This is very important if you want to encourage them to keep being creative. If they have a place to put up their work, they can be proud of their achievements and this will encourage them to keep creating. It also gives them the chance to make small decisions about how their bedroom is decorated, and that’s a good way to give them a bit of independence from a young age. Using some simple pieces of twine with crocodile clips along the top of their craft area is an easy way to allow them to display their pictures.
Leave Creative Challenges For Them
Although you should let your child discover their creative side on their own, there’s nothing wrong with giving them a bit of encouragement by leaving creative challenges. Get a few different materials and things out and leave them on the table to find. When they discover them, their imagination will run wild and they will start creating things on their own.
Building an art space for your child is the best way to encourage them to be creative, so what are you waiting for?