Art Projects for Children

Art projects for children are wonderful ways to encourage creativity and imagination. Self expression through art projects lets children learn about themselves by using colors and designs to describe their thoughts and ideas. Giving children a few art supplies and the freedom to create their own art vision is an important step in a child's creative development.

Pointillism drawingFrom the time they first pick up a crayon, kids love drawing. Drawing seems basic at first glance, but there are different ways to draw, some ways more creative than others. Children can draw a light-dotted outline in pencil and use colored pencils to make small dots in the outline to create a drawing. This technique of dot drawing is called pointillism. The many separate dots fool the eyes into seeing one solid object.

Paper Mache AnimalsPaper mache is an art form that uses paper and paste to make sculptures. The most common way to create a paper mache sculpture is by dipping paper into a paste solution and draping the paper around a form, such as a blown-up balloon. Once the paper is dry, the balloon is popped, and the sculpture is painted. Favorite sculptures created by children are animals, bowls and piñatas.

Child's magazine collageArt projects made from recycled materials are fun for children and help our planet by reducing the materials that go into landfills. An old magazine is fantastic for creating collages, paper beads and origami sculptures, plus more creative art projects. Children like cutting out pictures that represent their personality or creating a panoramic scene using the magazine cutouts. The cutouts can be a mixture of pictures, words and letters. Another usable item for collages is old greeting cards.

Child's PaintingPainting art projects are perfect for young minds. Children overflow with imagination when painting. They love the traditional paintbrush method, but creativity flourishes when thinking out of the box on painting. Paint with unusual tools such as feathers, pipe cleaners and fabric strips. Spin plates, and use a paintbrush to flick paint on the plates as they spin. Spill small pools of paint on a canvas, and have the children move the paint around by blowing on it. Use as many colors as possible, and let the children explore colors and painting tools to create their own masterpiece.