My friend’s little 5-year-old daughter would love to learn how to draw. We started her on her journey with some instructions to develop her drawing skills. Lines, circles, scribbles. Her hands are small, her grip is weak, her eye-hand coordination is developing bus she has an awesome attention span. She definitely is interested and tries hard. In time and with practice, strength and direction will come automatically. It takes time and lots of practice. One hour a week in an instructional class will not make anyone an artist. It certainly will not teach a skill.

The best chance a kid has to learn anything she is interested in is when her parents support her in what she loves to do and they help find her ways to enjoy it. They learn best when they imitate the adults they look up to and trust. Parents should be drawing, painting, enjoying arts and crafts with the children at home, if they want them to learn to enjoy arts and crafts.

There are lots of drawings and art work in the studio. There is also a mural in progress on the wall. She thought if we could draw on the wall then she could draw on the wall as well. And she did. Which goes to show that young kids love to imitate adults. Just make sure that kids have a separation of the studio from the home. We don’t want them to go home and start drawing on the freshly painted walls. There is a time and place for everything.

Parents should not push their kids into classes to learn. Kids should be there to have fun. The focus should be to engage them, and in a way that won’t make their interest fizzle. At a minimum, a parent who wishes a child to learn a skill should discuss this with the child, so when they get here the child will know exactly what to expect and why he/she is here.

The most important thing is to spend time practicing. So draw and paint with the child at home, and practice, practice, and practice some more.