Giving Girls the Freedom to Create
january 9TH, 2020
We’re huge fans of using art and creativity to empower girls. (Something we definitely had in mind when creating our coloring and sticker books.) But art projects don’t always have to be so scripted. Giving girls the freedom to think outside the box and create their own completely unique pieces of art can be wonderful too. The question is: How do you set things up so she’s creating art that’s truly thoughtful and reflects her heart? There are a couple of easy ways to do this.
Use Light Direction
One of the easiest things you can do is to give a girl an art challenge. You can be casual about it (ex: "Would you mind making me a piece of art? I’d love to see a picture of you doing something challenging.”) or make an activity out of it. (Ex: “Let’s do some art challenges this afternoon! I’m going to give you a few challenges, and you create the art.”) The idea is to giver her a prompt, but don’t be overly specific about what she should create. Here are a few ideas for prompts, but feel free to make up your own! This can be especially useful if you’ve noticed that she’s struggling with something.
Art Challenges
Create a picture of yourself:
- Doing something scary, but fun
- Trying something hard and succeeding
- Solving some kind of mystery
- Finding the answer to a very difficult problem
- Doing something totally new
When she’s done with the piece, encourage her to tell you about it. Ask questions to understand her thinking and share your own experiences that relate to hers. Remember, there’s no wrong way to create a piece of art. If she veers totally off topic with her piece, you can still chat about the topic and share something from your own life.
Try No Direction
Another thing you can try is not giving any direction! This works great as a follow-up to using light direction, as you’ll have already set her wheels turning. Ex: “How about doing another picture? Anything you want. I love seeing what you come up with.” Be sure to ask her about the piece, why she chose that subject, how creating it made her feel, etc.
We hope you and your budding artists have fun with this!
Giving Girls the Freedom to Create
january 9TH, 2020
We’re huge fans of using art and creativity to empower girls. (Something we definitely had in mind when creating our coloring and sticker books.) But art projects don’t always have to be so scripted. Giving girls the freedom to think outside the box and create their own completely unique pieces of art can be wonderful too. The question is: How do you set things up so she’s creating art that’s truly thoughtful and reflects her heart? There are a couple of easy ways to do this.
Use Light Direction
One of the easiest things you can do is to give a girl an art challenge. You can be casual about it (ex: "Would you mind making me a piece of art? I’d love to see a picture of you doing something challenging.”) or make an activity out of it. (Ex: “Let’s do some art challenges this afternoon! I’m going to give you a few challenges, and you create the art.”) The idea is to giver her a prompt, but don’t be overly specific about what she should create. Here are a few ideas for prompts, but feel free to make up your own! This can be especially useful if you’ve noticed that she’s struggling with something.
Art Challenges
Create a picture of yourself:
- Doing something scary, but fun
- Trying something hard and succeeding
- Solving some kind of mystery
- Finding the answer to a very difficult problem
- Doing something totally new
When she’s done with the piece, encourage her to tell you about it. Ask questions to understand her thinking and share your own experiences that relate to hers. Remember, there’s no wrong way to create a piece of art. If she veers totally off topic with her piece, you can still chat about the topic and share something from your own life.
Try No Direction
Another thing you can try is not giving any direction! This works great as a follow-up to using light direction, as you’ll have already set her wheels turning. Ex: “How about doing another picture? Anything you want. I love seeing what you come up with.” Be sure to ask her about the piece, why she chose that subject, how creating it made her feel, etc.
We hope you and your budding artists have fun with this!