Creative activities for children
Hi, my name is Jennie and I run Outline Arts. I specialise in Visual Communication ( drawing, illustration, image making, story telling) and run workshops and projects for children and adults. I combine practical skills with creative approaches to develop creative confidence.
I have a children’s programme which consists of Art Club ( Ages 7-10 and 11-14), monthly themed workshops, holiday art schools and pop up collaborations( Chef de Party, National Trust, Emma s Wild Garden, Sunshine Sensory).
My sessions are planned around experimenting with materials and techniques and encouraging exploration of ideas and confidence so you switch off, be creative and enjoy the session, which is why I’ve teamed up with Itsy to bring art to the home and to not only help entertain your children but for the grownups to also get involved with these 5 creative tasks below;
Top 5 creative activities for children and adults.
1. Scavenger Hunt – Using your imagination, create drawings, paintings, sculptures ( paper, play doh) in response to a list of prompts.
Together, write a list of 12-15 prompts such as
Something green
Something tiny
Something huge
Something with pattern
Cut out the prompts, fold it twice and put them in a hat / jar / box. Each take a turn to select one and use it to create something. You can either look for things in your home or use your imagination.
2. Use my daily art prompts on Instagram and Facebook to start a daily art ritual. It could be to encourage quiet time in the afternoon or a calming way to start the day
3. #frommywindow #streetgallery
Start a gallery from your window and share you’re drawings / artwork with your street. This movement is currently taking place in Spain and Ireland so the streets become galleries. You can change it, add to it so it grows, create hanging mobiles, things for the window ledge whatever you like, once it can be seen from your window. It’s a great way to share positivity to your neighbours and anyone walking by. Itsy have created some great downloadable colouring in pieces to get you started; click here for a rainbow and Easter Egg download.
4. One for you grownups – continuous Line technique. This is a great technique to make free flowing drawings and take away fear of starting a drawing. Select something to draw, person or object and use a felt tip or fine liner to draw it. The key is to not take your pen off the paper until your drawing is complete. You can stop and see where it needs to go next but you must not take it off so you draw with just one continuous line. It’s tricky to do but a great technique to try. You will get lots of lines, crossing over each other and a beautiful organic drawing.
5. Drawing game with shapes. This is great to play with 2-8 people. You will need felt tips or crayons, 1 large sheet of paper and lots of imagination. Everyone starts together – draw a shape. Any shape – fixed or organic. Turn the paper around so everyone has a different shape in front of them. Now turn that shape into something – a square might be a TV, robot, House, camera, person, hat… The options are endless.
Top 5 Creative Resources
1. Outline Arts
I have lots of techniques, ideas and guest blog posts on my website www.outlinearts.co.uk as well as my social media
2. Access Art
A charity which specialises in Art Education and resources for both artists / educators / parents. www.accessart.org.uk
3. The Big Draw
A drawing festival which takes place every year around the UK and other countries. Each year, they have a theme and have people who run lots of creative, interesting workshops and projects for kids and young people – www.thebigdraw.org
4. Virtual Gallery Tours
Most galleries around the world are doing virtual tours which is brilliant to you could spend the morning looking around the Louvre and the afternoon at the Guigenheim
5. Tate Kids
They have lots of resources, games and more to get young creatives involved in art. www.tate.org.uk/kids
