Ways to Encourage Creativity in Kids This Summer

We’ve reached that point in the summer when we’re looking for ways to keep kids entertained. If you’re looking to encourage learning and creativity in kids this summer, who better to inspire than artists who have worked with Disney, Marvel and more! Below you’ll find helpful tips from four artists that can be used to encourage creativity in your kids. Two artists have even written tips specifically for you to share with your children!  

Ways to Encourage Creativity in Kids 

These four tips from artists across the country can help parents encourage creativity in kids and give kids the confidence booster they need to level up their artistic skills. Keep reading for why you might want to turn messy projects into digital art, the importance of making time and showing interest in what your kids are doing, and how to foster musical interests together.

“Find a way to turn messy projects into digital art” —Ara Kermanikian

We all remember playing with Play Doh as kids, creating all sorts of objects that we envisioned in our heads and got a version of it when we were done with our sculpture. We also remember the mess that would be left behind. Parents, take these projects and turn them mess-free by making them digital. Equipping your child with digital sculpting tools can create the same experience by allowing them to push and pull, add, and subtract form, and even create beyond the limitations of Play Doh. They can present their 3D work and even 3D print it as a real object. Free introductory tools such as the ZBrush Core Mini are a great way to do this.

This can open your child’s imagination into what’s possible in the digital world and help them spend their summer vacation productively creating art and expanding their skills.

“Make time for new experiences” —Mike Morris

Making time for new experiences is crucial to filling a child’s mind with new things to be excited about and providing them with the tools to be creative. Children are always soaking up things in their environments, experiences, and interactions. Oftentimes, those images end up on a page, in a craft, sculpture, or a post on social media – really any various form of expression. Help kids explore new places and try new activities through food, sports, hobbies, and see how they express those experiences through their art!

“Play some tunes and join in” —Ethan Castillo

Music can often help kids get into a creative mood and groove. Put together a playlist of your kids’ favorite songs that can excite them to have fun and create. It can also be beneficial to join them in their art endeavors! Creativity loves company, and art can make for great bonding that your kids will look back on with love. Join them when it comes to drawing and creating to show them that art is fun.

“Show an interest” —Quincy Vadan

To inspire your children, show a genuine interest that can help fuel their flame. Go beyond asking “what is it?” and “how’d you do that” by showing curiosity about your child’s creative process that demonstrates an interest in their art journey and supporting their identity as a creative.

This can also be done through giving your child art supplies. Even if you aren’t sure of their favorite form of art, give them a few different types of supplies and see what happens. Vadan remember as a kid receiving art supplies from his aunt and having an abundance of ideas and the ability to create anything he wanted using paper, crayons, paint, even digital tools such as a Wacom Intuos Tablet or Wacom One.

Creativity Tips for Kids

Sometimes kids can use some encouragement and who better to motivate than adults who have created art for Disney and Marvel, two brands that kids know and love! Here are two quick tips to share with your kids about how they can find their own style by using what is already in their environment.

“Find your own style” —Quincy Vadan

Stick with your own style, because your version of the world is valuable. Try recreating your favorite toy or character from a movie, cartoon, or game in your own style. Let your imagination take the wheel and design that character how you think they should’ve been made. Maybe you think The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would be better as cats, dogs, snapping turtles, etc. Nothing is off limits!

“Reference is all around you” —Ethan Castillo

Don’t be afraid to reference other art! Grab your comics, toys, books, and whatever else you can! Reference is all around you, so use it! Draw what you love and don’t ever stop. If you’re drawing what you love you’ll enjoy it much more, and by drawing what you know – you can develop your own style much faster!

Best Tools for Encouraging Creativity this Summer

Crayola markers are a great place to start but I love Ohuhu. Their high-quality art supplies that empower people of all skill levels and backgrounds to freely explore and express their creativity in an affordable way. The Honolulu Plus Series features dual tip markers with a flexible rubber brush tip and chisel tip in sets of either 24 or 35 vibrant colors. The amazing colors blend seamlessly for clean, crisp, and smudge-free artwork. The ink is refillable for a lifetime of sustainable creativity and I love that the tips or the markers are color coded so it’s always easy to find the right marker for your artwork. 

If you’re looking for ways to encourage STEM skills, visit read my post Ways to Keep Summer Learning Fun to Prevent the Summer Slide that features ways kids can get creative while learning real-world STEM skills.