Children’s Art Week is a wonderful annual event that encourages children’s creativity, self-expression, and artistic exploration. This year, Children’s Art Week runs from June 29th to July 19th, providing an excellent opportunity to engage children in exciting art activities.
Take a look below at thirteen budget-friendly art activities that can be enjoyed at home, fostering artistic development and unleashing your child’s imagination.
- Nature-inspired Collage: Take advantage of the beauty of nature by collecting leaves, flowers, and twigs during a nature walk. Back at home, give your child a piece of cardboard or thick paper as a base. Let them arrange and glue the natural materials onto the surface, creating a unique nature-inspired collage. Please encourage them to experiment with different arrangements and colours to enhance their artistic expression.
- DIY Recycled Sculptures: Encourage eco-consciousness and creativity by using recycled materials to create sculptures. Gather materials such as cardboard tubes, egg cartons, bottle caps, and cereal boxes. Provide glue, tape, and scissors, and let your child’s imagination wild. They can build robots, animals, or abstract sculptures, transforming ordinary objects into extraordinary art. Junk modelling at its finest!
- Pencil Shading Techniques: Introduce your child to the art of shading by providing a variety of pencils with different lead thicknesses. Show them how to create different tones and textures using various shading techniques like cross-hatching, stippling, and blending. Let them practice shading objects or creating imaginative scenes, enhancing their drawing skills and observation.
- Thumbprint Art: Thumbprint art is a simple yet engaging activity that sparks creativity. Provide ink pads or washable markers in various colours. Encourage your child to create characters, animals, or scenes using their thumbprints as a starting point. They can then use pens or markers to add details and bring their thumbprint creations to life.
- Bubble Wrap Printing: Explore the fascinating world of textures with bubble wrap printing. Cut small sections of bubble wrap and attach them to cardboard squares or wooden blocks. Dip the bubble wrap in washable paint and press it onto paper or fabric. Experiment with different colours and combinations, creating vibrant and textured prints that can be used for greeting cards, bookmarks, or framed artwork.
- Found Object Sculptures: Encourage your child to search for interesting objects around the house or during outdoor excursions. Seashells, buttons, old keys, or bottle caps can create unique sculptures. Provide a sturdy base such as clay or playdough, and let your child arrange and attach the objects to build their own three-dimensional artwork.
- Collaborative Mural: Engage the whole family in a collaborative art project by creating a mural together. Use a large sheet of paper or a blank wall in a designated area. Provide various art supplies like paints, markers, and coloured pencils. Each family member can contribute artwork, illustrating their favourite things or capturing a shared memory. This collaborative effort will foster creativity, teamwork and create a cherished piece of art
- Paper Mosaic: Introduce your child to the world of mosaics using small pieces of coloured paper. Provide a base sheet of paper or cardstock and a variety of coloured paper scraps. Show them how to cut or tear the paper into small shapes and arrange them on the base sheet to create a mosaic design. This activity allows children to explore patterns, colours, and shapes while developing fine motor skills.
- Leaf Print Art: Take advantage of the natural beauty of leaves by creating leaf prints. Collect different leaves of various shapes and sizes. Place a leaf on a piece of paper and cover it with a thin paper or fabric. Gently rub a crayon or pencil over the material to transfer the leaf’s texture onto the paper, revealing a beautiful leaf print. Experiment with different leaf combinations and colours to create stunning artwork.
- Clay Creations: Working with clay provides children tactile and sensory experiences. You can use air-dry clay or homemade salt dough. Let your child mould the clay into various shapes, such as animals, fruits, or objects. They can then paint their creations once the clay has dried. This activity helps develop fine motor skills, imagination, and three-dimensional thinking.
- Tissue Paper Stained Glass: Create colourful “stained glass” art using tissue paper and contact paper. Cut out different shapes from coloured tissue paper. Peel the backing off a piece of clear contact paper and place it sticky side up on a table. Let your child arrange the tissue paper shapes on the contact paper, creating a vibrant stained glass effect. Once done, place another sheet of contact paper on top to seal the design.
- Shadow Drawing: On a sunny day, take your child outside and encourage them to trace shadows with chalk or pencils. They can trace the outline of objects, plants, or even their bodies. This activity teaches children about shapes and perspective and helps them observe how shadows change throughout the day. It’s a fun way to combine art and science.
- Vegetable Stamp Painting: Turn vegetables into unique stamps for painting. Cut vegetables like bell peppers, celery stalks, or potatoes in half. Dip the cut side into washable paint and use them as stamps on paper. Your child can experiment with different vegetable shapes, colours, and patterns to create their own prints. This activity allows for exploration of textures, and colour mixing.
Children’s Art Week is a fantastic opportunity to ignite your child’s passion for art and nurture their creativity. The suggested budget-friendly art activities mentioned above offer various options suitable for children aged 5 to 11. Children can explore different art forms, express themselves, and develop their artistic skills by participating in these activities. So, grab your art supplies, set aside sometime during Children’s Art Week, and watch your child’s imagination soar through these engaging and enjoyable art activities. Let the artistic journey begin!
For even more creative ideas to see you through the summer – Grab our Summer Activity Pack.