Choose the right drawing materials too as this is very  important. Many craft materials can be improvised (think of kitchen roll tubes, yogurt pots etc) but when drawing tools and paper are required, opt for a small selection of good quality age-appropriate products, rather than loads of inferior products. Be sure to check safety information and follow instructions. Young children should always be surpervised during arts and crafts activities because many necessary materials – such as crayons – pose a choking hazard.

Surroundings:As with writing or working at a computer, good posture and a comfortable position are important for drawing. A child sized table and chair is actually preferable to an easel. If the chair is a little high, provide a phone book for a footrest. An inexpensive plastic chair  set in front of a coffee table works well. A small kitchen storage trolley is perfect for containing supplies, or if space does not allow, a portable fishing tackle box is a great option too. Messy toddlers may need a drop-cloth and supervision to avoid ink-stained walls, as even ‘washable’ pens often don’t deliver on that promise!

Art Materials:Avoid cheap markers, too-hard pencils and thin paints – these types of materials are discouraging to the child and therefore  a waste of money. Provide many sheets of blank paper to inspire their creativity and occasionally invest in a canvas so that your child can paint something and chances are you’ll want to hang it on your wall!Provide coloring books as well or coloring pages which are bountiful online. True – coloring pages are not so great for creativity, however they do provide children with the chance to practice their fine motor skills – plus sometimes it’s very relaxing and just what they need. They can simply color in without feeling the ‘pressure’ about WHAT to draw.  Little boys typically enjoy coloring pictures of cars and trucks while little girls usually enjoy colouring images of princesses and fairies - however you can’t go wrong with Disney characters and at sites like Disney Coloring Pages you’ll find the best Mickey Mouse coloring.

When it comes to drawing and coloring, at each age/stage of your child’s life provide….

Toddlers:

• Child-safe markers and wipe-off boards
• Chalk boards and safe chalk
• Plain paper and coloring pages

Juniors:

• Sketchbook
• Student colored pencils
• Washable Markers
• Oil pastels
• Plain paper and coloring pages

Middle School:

• Sketchbook  or scrapbook
• Graphite Pencils
• Watercolor sketch paper
• Watercolor pencils
• Marker pens, marker paper
• Plain paper and coloring pages

High School

• Sketchbook  or scrapbook
• Quality drawing papers and boards
• Graphite Pencils
• Artists’ quality colored pencils
• Illustration markers, marker paper
• Pastel paper and hard pastels if liked
• Plain paper and canvases to work on

All ages:

• Safe sharpeners, erasers, dusters, stencils and rulers
• A  folder for storing large pieces
• Storage boxes for smaller pieces
• Consider photographing or scanning pieces for a permanent record.

Creativity – If you were to ask a cross section of individuals what is the first personality characteristic that arts and crafts will develop in a young child – most would answer ‘creativity’. And they are certainly correct. Everyone has natural talents and skills and it is possible to improve and boost them… even if you only have a tiny bit of little natural talent. Creativity enables your child to try out and profit from new
ideas, options and alternatives in any future career. Kids learn to do things in new and alternate ways and literally profit from thinking “out of the box”.

Perseverance – Perseverance is perhaps the single most important quality for any successful individual – be they a a business person, sportsman or other professional.In fact, most well-known accomplishments in life have been attributed to perseverance alone. Arts and crafts improve everyone’s level of perseverance. For instance, children learn to keep trying until they complete the task, be it a sculpture or a coloring in sheet. If something goes wrong… they are encouraged to perservere by trying different ways and means and the outcome is a wonderful piece of art that they have created.

Concentration – Akin to having perseverance, developing concentration is another quality well-worth having as an individual. Drawing, coloring, sculpting, painting and even doodling will definitely teach your child to focus on one specific task at hand… ignoring other distractions. In short their overall concentration will definitely improve.

Even from a young age children can draw & colour – so give them blank pieces of paper or coloring in sheets so that they can scribble away to their hearts content whilst also improving their fine motor skills.

For example little girls enjoy coloring images of princesses and fairies and at sites like Fairy Coloring Pages you’ll find the best fairy colouring pages

Little boys on the other hand tend to prefer images of cars, trucks and machinery – however, favorite characters such as those from Disney movies are also hits with little boys.

Give your child many opportunities to experience being creative, concentrating and perservering through the fun medium of arts and crafts. Provide them with materials as well as resources and the occasional canvas – this way, they can be creative and feel pride in what they create.

Parents and caregivers can promote drawing and coloring  as a way to improve physical, social, emotional and cognitive development – and to have a lot of fun along the way too. Here are some ideas you can try:

1.Provide kids with nontoxic materials, blank sheets of white paper and coloring pages.

2. Model drawing. Show children that you like to draw and color too -  make designs but do not show your children what they  should draw.

3.Encourage all drawing and coloring activity and efforts by talking about the beautiful colors, the lines and shapes the child has made.

4.Rather than ask, “What have you drawn?,”  say “Tell me about your drawing”.Asking “What is that?” suggests to the child that s/he has failed to depict what they intended.

5. Talk about concepts like  thin, thick, wide, narrow, dark, light, edge, shape, contour, etc.

6. Display their art on the kitchen fridge, in their room and in places where visitors to your home will see them. Point them out to visitors – the praise for the work will boost a child’s self esteeem and confidence.

7. Give children the freedom to choose the subjects of their drawings and of their coloring sheets. For example little boys  may enjoy coloring images of  cars, trucks or a favourite character such as Pokemon -  and at sites like Pokemon Coloring Pages you’ll find Pikachu coloring pictures. Little girls on the other hand prefer images from fairy tales such as Princess pictures - choose whatever pleases your child to encourage their enthusiasm for the activity and their interest in it. 

8. Always supervise younger children while they draw and color – crayons pose a choking hazard.

Washable window paints
A selection of tempera paints (powdered or premixed)
Clear dishwashing liquid
Mix powdered paints with dishwashing liquid until they resemble house paint. Line the window sashes with masking tape and spread newspaper under the window area to protect flooring. To erase paint or touch up mistakes just wipe paint away with a dry paper towel.

Home-made coloring books

Go online and download a dozen or so coloring book pages and collate them into a coloring book. Put this aside for rainy days or for long car/train/plane journeys. Little girls love to color pretty images such as those from fairy tales and of Princesses while boys prefer images of cars and trucks and of favorite characters such as Pokemon’s Pikachu. At sites like Pokemon Coloring Pages you’ll find  an array of free Pokemon coloring

Cinnamon ornaments
3/4-1 cup applesauce
1 (4.12-oz.) bottle of ground cinnamon
Mix applesauce with cinnamon to form a stiff dough. Roll out to 5mm thickness. Cut with cookie cutter and make hole for ribbon using the end of a drinking straw. Carefully put this aside to dry for several days – turning occasionally. This recipe makes 12 sweet smelling ornaments/drawer scenters.

Goop

2 packets of cornflour
2 cups of water
Several drops of food colouring

Place newspaper or plastic sheets on your work surface. Mix the ingredients in a fairly large bowl. Children love goop’s squishy consistency. You can also use black or coloured paper to make goop paintings that are very different – if you wish. To remove goop from carpets, allow it to dry, then brush or vacuum. The wonderful thing about goop is that it may be re-used after it has dried out. Crumble it into a powder then restore it to its original consistency by adding water a tablespoonful at a time.

Funny putty
2 tablespoons of white glue
1 tablespoon of liquid starch
Food colouring
Mix glue together with the desired food colour. Pour starch over top. Swish so that all the glue is covered. Let set 5 minutes. Squeeze off the extra starch and knead until mixed.

Bubbles
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of glycerine
2 tablespoons of liquid dish soap
Mix water, glycerine and soap. Pour in sugar. Add food colouring if desired.

Papier mâché

1 cup flour
1 cup warm water
1/2 inch strips of newspaper
Balloon/s

In a fairly large bowl mix together the flour and water – add more flour is mixture is too sloppy (dripping). Place newspaper strips into mixture, then smooth onto blown up balloon. Cover balloon completely twice, letting dry in between layers. Do not cover the balloon’s knot. Dry in a nice, warm place for two or three days… then hold the knot and pop the balloon with a pin. Paint, glitter and decorate the balloon as is or cut in half so you have a bowl/hat shape to embellish.

Modelling/play dough
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
water
food colouring

Mix the ingredients and knead to a dough consistency. Place the dough artwork in the oven on a low heat to speed up the drying process.

Soap crayons

1 3/4 cups of soap flakes

50 drops food colouring
1/4 cup water

Mix water and soap flakes together. Add food colouring and put mixture into an ice cube tray. When hardened, pop the ‘ice cubes’ out. These soap crayons are fun to write with on the tub and tiles during bath time. If grouting stains – make sure to spray with a weak solution of bleach.

Sand dye

Fine sand

Water

Food colouring

Paper cups

Plastic spoons

Fill paper cups half full with sand. Next, add water to cups to completely cover sand. Add food colouring until you get the desired colour. Stir with plastic spoon and let set for 15 minutes. Pour off water and then spoon sand onto paper towels and spread the sand out to dry. Use sand to make sand – art – pictures (spread glue on paper and sprinkle sand on top) or to fill pretty bottles in layers.

Cornstarch Art/Finger-paint

3 tablespoons of cornstarch

1/4 cup cold water

2 drops of dishwashing liquid

1 cup boiling water

Food colouring

Combine cornstarch and cold water – stir until smooth. Add dishwashing liquid. Pour boiling water into the bowl – then stir until the mixture thickens. Add food colouring and let cool. Use as you would finger paint.

Puffy Paint

Flour

Salt

Water

Tempera paint

Mix equal parts of flour, salt and water in a bowl. Add a small amount of tempera paint to the mixture and pour into a small plastic squeezy bottle. Repeat this over and over to make as many colours as you wish. Squeeze onto heavy paper or cardboard to make designs. This mixture will harden into puffy shapes.

Colourful Salt

1/2 cup salt

5 to 6 drops of food colouring

Add food colouring to salt. Stir well. Cook this in a microwave oven for 1-2 minutes or spread on waxed paper and let salt air dry. Store in an airtight container and use as you would glitter.