Does your child love doodling, writing, coloring, and creating? My children all enjoy these things and we are always looking for new ways to satisfy their longing to create. The challenge is, some of my children enjoy coloring over drawing, and some of them enjoy drawing and creating instead of coloring. It can be difficult to find good resources that teach useful skills while balancing everyone’s interest.
It’s easy to buy a simple coloring book or a drawing tablet at the store to satisfy our children’s artistic desires, but what if we approach satisfying their desires with a different mindset. What if we found resources that intentionally connect their artistic desires while cultivating lifelong skills. How great would it be if our children learned skills that will help them throughout life, while having fun and satisfying their artistic needs.
There are three resources my family has used recently that I feel accomplishes this. These three resources teach important lifelong skills while satisfying my children’s artistic needs. The best thing about them is that they are fun and exciting to use, not overwhelming or daunting for my kids.
1. Draw Write Now
At the beginning of school last year, we found ourselves in a slump lacking enthusiasm for handwriting. My children hurriedly worked through their lesson everyday and would get frustrated when I asked them to make corrections. (I do not expect perfection, but I do ask that they form letters correctly and neatly.) After struggling with this for months, we decided to try something different. I came across Draw Write Now through Sonlight and decided it would be a perfect fit for our situation.
As I mentioned, my children love to draw and color. This resource not only teaches handwriting, it also teaches children how to draw and color with the right technique. It truly helps connect my children’s artistic desires with important lifelong skills. Using this resource, I feel like we are being good stewards of our time and my children enjoy doing it because it is fun. They try hard to write neatly because they want their artwork sheet to look nice.
Each book presents easy, step-by-step drawing skills and copy work that teach facts about the picture being drawn. My children have really enjoyed learning about different animals and people as they learn to draw and write. This is a great resource to use for older and younger elementary children.
2. Do You Doodle?
This book is not your typical doodling book. It gives scenarios that require more than simple doodling. This resource challenges children to use logic, imagination, and to apply previous experience to complete.
Instead of just allowing my children to doodle aimlessly, I have used each page as a conversation starter, helping them brainstorm, discussing each scenario. This has proven to be such a sweet time learning together. My daughter not only has fun doodling, she is learning how to problem solve, think outside of the box, and independently create.
Think of the connections you can make with your children and the fun you can have together. Working through this book could help your family learn lifelong skills that will benefit your children in years to come. It’s funny what a simple doodling book can accomplish when we approach it as a tool instead of only a book for entertainment.
3. This Book Thinks You Are An Artist
This resource is a little more involved and focuses on creating art in various forms. It is a good book for older elementary children and middle school preteens/teens that are looking to learn how to create art using different mediums.
Our oldest child has enjoyed working through this book. She likes how it gives detailed, step-by-step instructions on how to complete each project. She has also enjoyed the art facts that go along with the lessons. These creative lessons encourage her to think outside the box about what art is. This book does a really great job connecting art appreciation and art skill in a fun and exciting way.
These are important skills that our daughter will be able to draw from in the future. Having a working knowledge of different aspects of art will benefit her as she interacts with people along her life journey. This beneficial working knowledge can begin with something as simple as this book, it doesn’t have to be an extensive art class.
Adding quality art resources in our homeschool routine can enhance so much more than just an art skill. We can equip our children with skills that they will take with them throughout life, this can also include fostering better confidence in their abilities. Our family plans to always include some aspect of art in our day.
What about your family? How are you connecting with art resources in your home? Leave a comment and share.
If you are looking for resources and would like to try these visit Sonlight to check out more details. You can also fill out the Sonlight form below and signup for a free giveaway for a chance to win the resources shared in this post. Or you can click here to enter Sonlight’s 30 Anniversary Giveaway this week. Enter for your chance to win these amazing resources free.
