School-aged children often take a lot of interest in creative activities which is great since it helps develop an interest in art and craft. Whether they like drama, art, singing, or dancing, it will help build creativity and imagination, increase confidence and allow them to express emotions. It also allows children to practice and improve social skills and motor skills. 

Brushes paint arts crafts

Encouraging children to engage in creative activities

It is important for parents to encourage creative activity by giving the child free time to play and stepping back from the child’s play. Children can be creative even in times of boredom or relaxation. For example, simply lying on the grass and watching the shape of the clouds could engage creativity in them. 

It is essential for the child to enjoy and think of the process of creating new things and you can help them with this by sharing artwork and creative activities with them. You can help them experiment with new things as long as they feel like it. Encourage them by asking questions like how are the wheels attached to a bus and suggest different ways to experiment like how can you make sounds with a drum. Always be available to help if they need it and give them a workspace for their unfinished projects. And when they are finished with the artwork, encourage them with plenty of praise.

Activities for school-age children 

School-going children have a solid understanding of shapes, colors, details, and patterns. This is the age where your child learns to scribble and squiggle for flowers and trees. They will soon learn to draw branches, petals, trunks, and leaves. This is also an age when they are looking for different ways to make things and they do not need the pre-made parts anymore. You can encourage them to do so and be happy to help whenever needed. Give them scrap paper and let them draw whatever they want to, you can then help them cut it using scissors. 

Ideas for creative activities

  • Ask your child to build and decorate a house out of cardboard boxes and with the use of natural materials like twigs and leaves. 
  • Get quality textured paint for your home and encourage your child to add sand, sawdust, or dirt to paint and you can use it to make paintings or decorate boxes. 
  • You can also consider investing in sublimation supplies and let your child enjoy crafting.
  • Make invisible ink with the use of water and lemon juice. The child can write a secret message using the ink and when it is dry, you can hold the paper up to the light and see the message. 
  • Look for a large cardboard box and let your child use their creativity, see what they can come up with. It could become a plane, a robot costume, or something completely new. 
  • Combine painting, clay making, or drawing with digital media. You can make a clay model out of sticks and then take pictures of it, now ask your child to make a story out of the photos. 
  • Head out for a nature walk and create a photo album of the things you see and experience there. 

More fun ways to help your child explore creativity and art 

  • Create a dress-up box and use props like cooking utensils for your child to explore.
  • Help your child make simple puppets and then put on a puppet show.
  • Try to video a play where your child will write the script and you can use the costumes you have to create a play. Record it on the smartphone and edit and add special effects. Show it to your child so that they can find new ways to improve on it. 
  • Make up a story and ask your child to add to it. See what they say on what happens next. Let the game continue as long as possible and if they need help, try to add more people and events to the story to make it interesting. 
  • If your child is old enough to create and understand words, consider playing games like Pictionary or charades. 

These are just a few ideas that can help your child explore art and creativity. School-age children also like to make up and act out their own stories through simple props. They could act out events or stories based on daily events or consider a TV show. The dramatic activities can also give them a chance to work out the real-life problems like how to react when someone is angry or if their pet is ill. When growing up, it is important to have diversity in play. It will let your child learn about people from different backgrounds and also understand the importance of equality.