As kids, we are all creative explorers in our own right, but we need the proper encouragement and practice to maintain our creative abilities into adulthood. Encouraging our kids to explore the world of art is one of the most fruitful things a parent can do. After all, a person with a creative outlet is a happier person. If you’re looking for an easy way to get your kids into art, drawing is one of the most fun and simple ways. 

Here are the 5 simple and most importantly fun steps to teaching your kids how to draw:

• Exploring different mediums
• Start Easy
• Encourage Experimentation and Exploration
• Provide Guidance and Support
• Make it FUN!

The Basics of Drawing for Kids

1. Explore Different Mediums

Art is far from one-dimensional. The combinations of things you can use to let your kids explore are endless. You can use colored pencils, markers, crayons, pencils, pens, or even their fingers. But you can also use paper, cardboard, canvas, recycled material, and any other surface you see around you. It's important for kids learning to draw, to explore multiple different mediums to find the one that suits them best. 

During the exploration of different materials, parents should:

• Focus on encouraging creativity and exploration rather than perfection or even advancement
• Let kids draw outside the lines and even the paper
• Make it fun from start to finish, including the cleanup. The ideal place for exploring different mediums is outdoors so your house can remain stain-free. Plus a bit of fresh air never hurt anyone.

2. Start Easy

Not even Monet was Monet when they started. It takes time and practice to become one of the great masters. What we can learn from all the master artists is that we all just have to start. The goal is to slowly build confidence in your kid's ability by taking incremental steps toward using more advanced drawing techniques. The only goal is a fun exploration of colors and movement. 

A good way to start is:

• Practice drawing basic shapes and then combining the basic shapes to become something else. For example, a triangle on top of a square looks like a house.
• Once the basics have been learned you can help them expand by saying things like, make the house look like a wedding cake. Or place the house on top of a mountain. 
• Prompt the kids to be silly with how they alter the basic shapes. Don’t forget to encourage free expression. There is no need to worry about perfection. 

3. Encourage Exploration and Experimentation

There needs to be space to make mistakes and have fun while doing it at every step. With the freedom to explore, kids begin to notice what they like and what they don’t. All the while, they begin to find their own path and style that suits them. Drawing is all about freedom. Some will draw dragons, while others might paint flowers. Whatever appeals to your little one is what you should encourage them to explore. 

Some fun tips to help kids explore are:

• Change their environment. If they normally draw at a table, have them lay down or vice versa 
• Change the way they draw. Have them draw with their non-dominant hand for fun
• Change their perspective. They can draw a house starting with the roof rather than the foundation. Or they can draw it sideways.

4. Provide Guidance and Support

While learning, some people might get stuck or frustrated with themselves. That’s when it’s most important for a parent to step in and provide support of guidance. Even though its part of the process for mistakes to happen and for kids to explore drawing at their own pace, you can always use prompts to help spark a creative idea. Once the prompt gets them to start, that’s when you leave it up to them.

Things that you can do to show support:

• Ask them questions about their creation 
• Hang the artwork around the house and create a rotational gallery exhibit on a wall or the fridge

5. Make It FUN!

Last but certainly not least is that the process must be fun. If it's not fun, kids will stop drawing and exploring their creativity which is a total shame because kids’ creativity is one of the most beautiful things in the world. Nothing brings joy to the world like kid drawings, no matter how good they are. 

Ideas for how to make learning to draw fun:

• Do it together! Draw along side your kids so they don’t take it as a chore but more as a fun family activity
• Do art classes with their friends at a studio or just a guided session by you
• Use different materials including food so art time becomes playtime

If you or your kid is already more advanced and is looking for new guided lessons we found that art hub for kids is a great place with online videos. Learning how to draw is first and foremost about exploration and having fun. So let your kids imagination run wild and create something magnificent. At nxtgenart, we love showcasing kids' art so if you have art that you are proud of, please share it with us.