Children's Crafts

Mini Art Lessons for Kids

By editor ⋅ August 12, 2007 ⋅ Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

I grew up with Arthur Mee’s The Children’s Encyclopedia, a ten-volume set that later became, I believe, The Book of Knowledge in the U.S., and eventually was absorbed, at least in part, by Groliers.  In each of the ten volumes were art lessons, as well as things to make and do - these sections called for creativity and imagination while also providing detailed instructions on specific arts and crafts techniques. 

It was a winning formula, and it’s something I always keep in mind when adding arts and crafts to the Free Crafts for Children section of AllFreeCrafts. 

The latest addition is How to Draw a Monkey, with step-by-step photos that are almost foolproof, so most children will be able to follow along and draw a cute monkey face that is very appealing.  If they make the monkey face in a suitable size and find an odd glove lying around (or maybe even popsicle sticks), then they have the makings of a simple monkey puppet.

I think similar possibilities exist if your children follow this mini art lesson on How to Draw a Frog, which also offers step-by-step photos and instructions.

If your kids aren’t old enough yet for these art projects, check out our Kid’s Paint Recipes for easy-to-make face paint, watercolors, window paint and foamy bath paints.  There are even more ideas on Kid’s Craft Recipes which includes formulas for paper paste, finger paint, paper mache and bread clay.  This page even has instructions on how to make your own picture transfers using the comic section of your newspaper and evaporated milk.  Now, how creative is that?