Materials:
-Paper
-something to draw and write with
Here's an activity to get the creative juices flowing--have your kids write a story and illustrate it. And it's a two-for-one project: you're combining writing skills and art.
Some kids have a hard time coming up with anything to draw when faced with a blank sheet of paper. They're usually so full of ideas, but once they have that pencil in hand and a clean piece of paper in front of them, their mind just goes blank. Other kids "don't like art" and don't think they're creative, so they just won't try when given an art assignment. And there's the kid who always insists on drawing a dog or a tree, no matter what the assigned project happens to be, because they're afraid of going beyond what they know. (these are all examples from classes that I've taught)
This activity helps all of these kids stretch their creative muscles without realizing it. First, have your child write a story. It doesn't matter what it's about as long as it's at least a few paragraphs long. Storytelling seems to come naturally to pretty much all the kids I know. Once they have the story finished, ask them to pick a few scenes to illustrate. It's not so scary when there's already some ideas there for them to draw. It can be as simple as showing what the characters look like to an epic, highly detailed action scene. The point is that they're creating pictures to go with their story.
An alternative activity could be to have one child come up with the story and another to illustrate it. I used to do this with my younger sister, Leah. Ever since we were little, she has has always been a wonderful storyteller, whereas I was always more interested in coloring in all the pictures in my chapter books. She would fill her notebooks up with a fantastic tales, and I would draw the characters for her. It was a fun thing for us to do together.
The point of the project is just to get your kids drawing, giving them a jumping off point for their art. Sometimes a few constraints can open up a world of possibility. Rather than starting with a blank page, this can jump start their imagination and creativity.
