Teaching Kids Art Through Picture Books

I ran across this quote by cartoonist Scott Adams this week: “Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.” We learn quite young to try not to mess up. We want to please others, we don’t want to be punished, we want to be the best in the class. It is hard to turn off all of those motivations when it comes to being creative. 

Art is about learning a skill as well as being creative, so there is legitimacy in trying to follow instructions well. But how to balance learning to be creative with fear of not messing up?

Last week we were talking about fear of messing up (FOMU) and how powerfully that fear affects all of us when it comes to creating art. Did you know that you can encourage your kids and yourselves to quiet that fear of messing up so creativity--and art--can flourish?

Here are some simple suggestions to combat the fear of making mistakes while trying practicing creativity in art. This applies when learning any new skill, whether you are...