Introduction
Drawing is a creative activity that enhances the child's ability to express their innovative ideas in a tangible form through the aid of pencils and colors. It's not just a recreational activity but also helps develop motor skills and hand-to-eye coordination among children. Children also get a sense of satisfaction by the end of the process, seeing the result of their hard work.
Since it generally takes a longer time for a child to draw something, it also helps them become more patient and sit for longer hours to complete the work. Also, a good part of learning how to draw is that children become more observant about their environment. For introverted children who don't like to express their feelings verbally, art can be a great way to enhance their communication skills without forcing them to speak.
How To Teach Your Child To Draw
Drawing is a skill that must be taught step-by-step for proper learning. It requires encouragement and practice for refinement and improvement in the drawing ability of a child. Here are some tips to introduce drawing to your child and teach them the skill step-by-step.
● Teach Basics First
The first step is to teach your child the very basics of drawing, that is how to hold a pencil properly. The hand placement is important to make sure that the drawing is smooth. Then start with assisting them to make some basic objects such as a house, a tree, a mountain, and other such easier-to-draw things. Do not directly jump into drawing a human face or artistic scenery. Your child might make a lot of mistakes in the beginning, so you need to correct them and make them redraw them again.
● Use Different Tools
Introduce children to different types of drawing tools such as markers, sketches, pencils, drawing, pens, colored pencils, crayons, and other such things. All these tools will not just build up their interest but also acquaint them with the unlimited creative possibilities in the field of drawing. Each of these colors and drawing tools has a different texture which the child needs to understand to select the correct tool while drawing something.
● Make It Messy
While teaching drawing, you should not worry about the mess that is being created. Since drawing is a skill that requires the usage of colors, paper, and pens, some mess is likely to be made. However, without this mess, it would be difficult for the child to learn. Encourage your child to interact with different kinds of colors and pains to understand their consistency and texture. Make sure that by the end of the process, your child is also helping you in the cleaning process so that they understand how to handle and pack the colors properly.
● Use Different Surfaces for Drawing
Other than trying different types of colors for drawing and painting, I also try to use different surfaces such as butcher paper, cardboard, construction paper, and other such things. Since drawing is a field where there are unlimited possible opportunities to explore and create, don't be stuck at using the conventional surface for drawing. This will not only make your child comfortable with drawing on different services but also further their creativity.
● Encourage Your Child To Think
Drawing is a skill that involves a lot of deep thinking and originality. After one point in time, you will see that your child is getting good at drawing things by looking at certain inspirations. This is when you encourage them to think creatively and draw something original. You can start by giving them some ideas about a certain scenery, a person wearing a dress, or anything that can be original. Encourage them to draw without looking at drawing inspiration from a book or the internet. This will enhance their perspective and make them more of a creative thinker.
● Organize Competitions
It's always good for children to have a certain competitive spirit, especially while learning a skill like drawing. As a parent, you can organize some small art and drawing competitions at your home among family members or your child's friends. Encourage them to draw something after giving everyone a theme and then appreciate everyone for their efforts by giving them all the prizes. This will make your child highly motivated and driven to do better.
● Use Technology
These days there are a lot of websites and software that can help your child learn how to draw it. Drawing is no longer just limited to drawing by hand on some surface. Now children can learn graphic designing and painting on online software as well. These alternatives are less messy and trending now. Teaching these to your child at an early age may also help them progress into this field as a career option.
Conclusion
Learning drawing is a part of the overall holistic development of your child. It is responsible for teaching many soft skills critical to making a child successful in all spheres of life. Parents must be highly supportive and encourage their children to learn drawing from an early age.
The views expressed are that of the expert alone.
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