Have you been wanting to include art in your homeschool? There are many ways you can include art into your day of learning, you just need to know what resources are available. One of the top benefits of art is it has the power to stimulate creativity and helps to develop problem-solving skills. I’ve also noticed that implementing art into our homeschool routine has the power to enhance language development and can even improve fine motor skills in children. There are many creative ways to include art in your homeschool. Here are some of the ways we’ve found work for us.
Ways to Include Art in Your Homeschool
I have found that learning how to nurture creativity in kids takes a little time and effort. However, there are MANY ways you can bring out the creativity in your kids and one of those ways is by including art in their homeschool curriculum.
Different Art Forms
Exploring art isn’t something you can fit into a one-size-fits-all all box. Instead, it’s fun to discover that there are many different art forms to study. Some of the different art forms you can study and experiment with include painting, sculpture, photography, and collage. We’ve literally spent an entire semester before studying the chocolate sculpture work of Amaury Guichon because one of my children was absolutely fascinated by it.
Online Art Courses
As a homeschool mom, I’ve come to accept my limitations and one of the things that I am not is artistic. My brother (and my sister’s daughter) got the artistic gene and it completely skipped me. That’s why I love online art courses like the ones offered by Sparketh. Sparketh offers 1000+ art video lessons for 6 to 18-year-olds. My oldest daughter loves to draw and I simply cannot teach her anything related to drawing. So, I leave it to others and she loves it.
This is Jimmy. She drew Jimmy from one of the Sparketh classes she took. She has an affinity for all things animal, so she loves that there are classes that teach how to draw different animals.
Art Appreciation and History
If you have a homeschooled student who prefers to appreciate the finer things in life and learn about them, then it’s time to include art appreciation and history into your everyday learning. You can talk about famous artists and what types of art pieces they have done. You can also do a segment where your child has to create their own art piece based off of something they’ve learned in their art appreciation and history journey.
Get Hands-on And Visit Art Galleries
There are many ways to include art in your homeschool and one of those ways is getting hands-on. Not every child learns this way, but some thrive on the hands-on approach. You can implement more art in your homeschool by visiting art galleries or museums. Thanks to the Internet, you can also visit these places virtually! You may have noticed in my 5th Grade Plans for 2023-2024 article that we’re learning about Van Gogh this year. In addition to watching a series about him and recreating some of his work, we’ll be visiting some of his work in our local art gallery.
Participate in a Local Art Gallery
Visiting art galleries is a lot of fun. Submitting your own work to an art gallery can be a lot of fun too. Allow your children to try their hand at creating artwork to submit to the local art gallery. They may just surprise you.
Keep it Fun and Simple
Art doesn’t have to be kept a certain way. The great thing about homeschooling and art is that you can keep it fun and simple. Use what you have on hand to create art with your children. Some of the best artists in history only had a few simple items to help them create their masterpieces. Not only can you spend time with your kids by doing art with them, but you can make it a part of their learning too. We literally spent half a morning creating aged fantasy maps with perler beads and coffee grounds while I read Chronicles of Egg aloud this spring. It was a lot of fun.
Let Your Child Lead
One aspect of learning about art is that sometimes your child will be interested in a certain part of it. Talk to your homeschooler and figure out what they are interested in and from there, you can start adding art more to the school day. You may be surprised as to what your child is interested in when it comes to art and learning.
Art Classes at a Homeschool Co-Op
Sister has had the benefit of several art classes at our local homeschool co-ops. One was a historically artsy class that covered art throughout history which was very intriguing. The other was a drawing and shading techniques class taught by a brilliant pencil sketch artist who is a friend of ours. Our friend moved this year, and we only wish we could have kept her for four years of high school art!
Nature Art
One only has to look to nature for inspiration for art. When the kids were little, we spent some time painting with nature. From crafting with elements from the outdoors to using those elements to paint with, there are endless possibilities. A favorite is to use pine needles or feathers in paint on canvas. We also enjoy using sand to add texture to our painting.
More Ways to Include Art in Your Homeschool
- Nature Journals
- Picture Studies
- Strew coloring books around the house for them to use during idle time
- Subscription boxes with a focus on art
- Create and stock an art station or area that they can easily access
- Invest in a few How-to-Draw type books
- If you’re artistic, lead by example. If you’re not artistic, show them people who are and emphasize how much you appreciate their ability!
There are fun ways to include art in your homeschool, even for non-artsy parents like me.
It doesn’t matter the art form, time is never really wasted if spent pursuing creativity!