My son absolutely stinks at art

Ok, I realize he is 6 but my son stinks at art. I am ok with him not being picasso but his people are still stick people and they don't look quite human. It doesn't help that he has 0 interest in drawing.

Anyone have a pep talk for this situation?

 

We are teaching our kids Art this year with our homeschool co-op group. Here are some good practice sheets for younger students: http://donnayoung.org/art/draw1-younger.htm

It's kind of like handwriting practice for Art. My kids aren't very good at drawing either, but these sheets seem to help a bit. They are learning to control their hands more. There are a ton of art blogs and resources out there, too. Look for something other than drawing that might get him interested in Art and having fun, then he can move on to drawing and learn how to draw. Here are a few things we've done this month:

Abstract Art: http://www.kinderart.com/drawing/drawex.shtml
Color Wheel Flower: http://www.deepspacesparkle.com/2010/05/colorwheel-bouquet-art-lesson/
Color Fish: http://www.deepspacesparkle.com/2010/09/primary-and-secondary-colors-art-lesson/
Kandinsky's Color Circles: http://artteacheradventures.blogspot.com/2010/12/kindergarten-concentric-circles-my-new.html
Leaf Rubbings: http://www.filthwizardry.com/2009/11/leaf-rubbing-and-paint-mural.html

Good luck!

 

Timothy has seriously hated art for many years. He's in second grade now and they have a different art teacher at school and FINALLY he is excited about art class. And yes, he was bad at it. He knew it. And he knows his sister and the other kids are better. So he acted like he didn't care and complained, protested and whined every time it was art day.

This new teacher seems to have clicked with him. He still draws poorly, but he finally has confidence in his ability. He's proud to bring home his art and show me. That hasn't happened before.

We've also talked about how art is subjective. That means there is really no wrong way to do it. We've looked through other art and talked about what we've thought and pointed out there is no wrong answer. That seems to have helped some.

Marissa

 

Some kids just don't like art and aren't good at it. And that is OK. Jonathan HATES art, anything related to art, etc. He does what he is asked in class, and that is it. But, he is great in academics and sports. Kids don't have to be able to do everything. I also found encouraging him at art only frustrates him more. He does what is required and moves on.

 

My first thought was along the same lines as what Marissa wrote, perhaps he doesn't enjoy drawing because he knows he's not as good at it as others and that discourages him from trying. If you think that might be part of the problem then you could try making a big deal of praising the effort he puts into drawing (rather than focusing on the result). Removing some of the pressure by talking about how art has no right answers is a good idea as well. A cute children's story along those lines is the dot. It's about a little girl who thinks she can't draw, but is encouraged to just make a mark. She starts with a dot and ends up painting lots of different amazing arty dots.

I think Rebecca posted some great ideas for art activities, maybe he will enjoy less drawing-based art more. I also agree with what Sharon said though, if he truly dislikes doing art there is no point pushing him and making both of you miserable.