Let your imagination run free

Extremely Creative 7 year old

My daughter is always drawing, writing poetry, and singing. What really blows me away is some of her drawings. I could never draw like that at her age, and I feel I should be doing more to help her, but I am not sure how. With the summer approaching I was thinking of getting her into some kind of art class to help her develop her talent. Does anyone have any suggestions on what kind of art classes would be good for a 7 year old ?

Replies are closed for this discussion.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Princess2008 on March 15, 2008 at 9:45pm: Well I dont have children and so cant really give advice, but I would definately say encourage what she is already doing, sounds like she is very bright and enjoys it. I would definately look around and see if there is an art club on for her, I used to go to one as a child in our local area and it was great it was put on just for the holidays and there would be many things to do including art, cooking, making things - it was great fun.

Permalink Reply by Louise on March 16, 2008 at 6:33pm: We have workshops for youngsters during holiday period and sometimes during term time on Saturdays, they have or had a very good range.
Some of them I would like to have gone to, but I'm wee bit too old!!

Permalink Reply by Jill on March 17, 2008 at 9:59pm: Hi

I think sometimes with children you can just give them some encouragement with an idea or a subject to explore and let their imagination do the rest. As long as she is having fun with and enjoying her creativity she will develop at her own pace. Perhaps some lessons on things like art techniques may help her skills develop but keeping her enthusiasm seems more important at this age really.

Bye for Now
Jill

Permalink Reply by Bright Spenser on March 18, 2008 at 12:02am: I used to teach art to grades 1-4. The really creative ones, and really they all are very clever and crafty, but they just need new things to do more often than not.
New materials. new ideas. Here are some that I found very successful with all
my kids...create a biosphere out of plastics things you usually throw away from packaging, caps, tubes, straws etc. Make it like the real one. Look 'biosphere' up online with your child. It's an entire world.
Make a fairy house from a shoe box, some lace place mats, bits of dried flowers, etc. Make boats and canoes like the real ones. Teepees and old homes like they made in Ireland. This gives them a great sense of independencse, knowing they
can build a home of their own with their own hands.
Study cultures from around the world...see how they cook, clothe themselves and
these things will give your daughter a lot of material to work from. Also look up
journalling and artist stamps and things like that that will fill her head with the
things of the world, but don't make her grow up too fast, I don't mean that. Just
enough to keep it fresh and exciting for her. BUt like someone said, Jiil, yes, Jill,
don't stand in her way, don't make her do one thing that you like. Say, if you want to do this such and such...and stand back and allow her the space time and materials and understanding to go, experiment and possibly fail. Failure is just a lesson for learning. Good luck.

Bright

Permalink Reply by Leighdu on March 23, 2008 at 4:35pm: Wow, these are some awesome ideas, and some I would have never thought of. Teachers are always so good at coming up with creative ideas :-). Thank you so much ! I am gonna get started on some of these and just let her run with it. I usually don't persuade her to do things that I would enjoy, and she is usually so full of her own ideas that I could never get the chance anyways. She's has actually made a "princess castle" (as she calls it) out of an old cereal box before, and that seemed to be her favorite thing to do so far.

Thanks all for the great advice ! I am so glad I found this site.

Permalink Reply by Bright Spenser on March 25, 2008 at 3:05pm: Leighdu, you are welcome. It's so good to see a mother who has taken such an interest in her child's development.

Bright

Permalink Reply by Sophie on March 21, 2008 at 7:29pm: When I was young my parents put me in drama class or small plays and I always found that to be a great creative outlet for me. Contact your local community schedule and see what type of acting classes they have in the summer.

Permalink Reply by princee18 on May 2, 2008 at 3:37pm: i was also verey good in drawing and painting when i was just 6.I left painting due to pressure of studies.So, i suggest to give a lot of free time to your daughter and she should join some classes whiuch teach about color combinations and other aspects of art.