Even reluctant artists will enjoy this easy tape art project that requires no prep time and offers open-ended creativity!
If your child has never told you he "hates art" or that "art is for girls" consider yourself lucky. I'm embarrassed to say that is exactly what my 5-year-old has been saying lately. The "for girls" part is especially annoying! I mean really. Where did he learn that nonsense?
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I am on a mission of sorts. Without scaring my son off with added pressure to do more art, I am trying to find ways to sneak it in, if not every day, then at least a few times a week.
Of course, these ideas I'll be sharing are not just for the art-resistant kid. If you have a naturally art-y child, I'm sure he or she will take it to a whole new level.
Tape Art Journal Page
This project harnesses your child's love of cutting with scissors (every kid loves that!) and love of stickers!
Materials
Rolls of different colored art tape, like this rainbow tape, or washi tape
Art journal. I adore our mixed media spiral bound journals. We've uses them for Zentangles and tandom drawing projects.
Scissors. Kid-sized scissors are just right!
Instructions:
Since this is a process-art project, you want to ensure you don't give too many proscriptive instructions to your child. Let them explore!
After I saw a fun package of rainbow tape at the local art store, I brought it home and left it out on the table for my son to discover. Purposefully leaving things out as if they are not meant to be there is a good way to get a child interested in something, if you know what I mean.
He was intrigued by the tape rolls and sat down so I swiftly pulled out his art journal and opened it up to a blank page.
Cutting tape is a good fine motor exercise for children. The stickiness adds a sensory element to the fine motor muscle work. Some kids "hate art" because they find wielding a writing implement challenging.
At first he wanted me to do the cutting for him, but when I shook my head "no" he decided to give it a go himself. Note that some kids might be able to tear the tape instead of using the scissors. This is totally fine.
With the art journal page conveniently located in front of him on the table, he naturally started sticking the pieces to the page. At this point every child's intention about what to do with the tape will be different.
Some might stick the tape down with a design in mind, others will do so haphazardly. Either way is totally fine! And since art tape and washi tape is usually low tack, a few bits stuck to the table shouldn't do any damage (check first if you are concerned).
MORE ART FOR ART RESISTANT KIDS:
Holly McCormick says
Thanks for this project, I thought my son (4 years old) was the only kid who "hates art" and I also figured that he finds the fine motor skills challenging.
Erica MomandKiddo says
I definitely feel his dislike of art is related to his feeling that he "can't draw" because of his motor skill delays.
Ann says
That does look fun! My daughter loves art and my son does too but sometimes he tried to make things too perfect and then he gets frustrated and doesn't enjoy it. I think it is natural. I am an art professional and I still get frustrated all the time. A new art making material is a perfect idea!
Erica MomandKiddo says
You are right, it's a challenge for most of us!
Gina says
Tape is also great for kids with fine-motor issues. I started buying washi tape for my daughter as an alternative to crafts that stressed her hands, and she ended up happily making a bunch of holiday presents for relatives with it. It's the first crafty supply that she can manipulate easily and is so happy with the results.
Erica MomandKiddo says
I agree about the fine motor issue. I find tape is a very useful tool for that.
Jeanette Nyberg says
Perfect solution! What kid doesn't like messing around with tape, and they don;t even know they're being creative or making "girl art." 🙂
Stephanie says
I adore your blog! And I also have a son who "hates art." I sneak it in via science experiments. Artful Parent has tons of ideas along those lines. We also use the Science Arts book by MaryAnne Kohl. I have snuck in learning finger knitting while he was sick and we listened to the free pod cast of Sparkle Stories where Martin and Sylvia finger knit. He's enjoyed decorating for Halloween and loves the spider webs, sculpting them into webs, I've seen him Zen out in this activity. I won't give up! And I'm buying tape!
Erica MomandKiddo says
Thanks Stephanie! I agree, The Artful Parent is a great source. I wonder if my son would finger knit. That sounds like fun.
Angelica Courtin says
Hi,
My mother used to hold art classes for young children. Her philosophy was to find projects that children could do themselves and for which, whatever their skill level, the project would turn out beautiful.
Maybe a possible reason could be the fear of failure? Not being good at it? (amoung other reasons of course, like having a hard time with fine motor skills)
Being successfull at something makes you want more of it. Knowing (or thinking) you aren't good at something makes you draw away from it and sometimes find reasons "I hate it / that's for girls".
If you help your child succeed with minimum effort on their part, maybe it could reverse it somewhat?
Anyway, the best example for that is melted crayon art.
All you need is a heating tray (I've actually used an iron set on low, held on it's back, with a bunch of aluminum foil wrapped on the heating part to make sure no crayon will touch the iron), aluminum foil, crayons and paper. Of course, to be done under adult supervision!
Glide the crayons on the heated aluminum foil, swirl the colors around and when finished, place a piece of paper to capture the art. When cooled, cut out the paper in whatever shape (star, heart, circle, square, cloud, or whatever wacky shapes) and place on window for light to shine through. Always a success.
For one, you can focus the fun on the process much more easily with this activity than other art forms: the sensation of the gliding melting crayon is something no child (or adult) can resist and you'll want more of it.
And last but not least: whatever color is used, whatever pattern (as long as you immortalize the art before it becomes one solid mucky brown uniform mess), the result will be stunning, just like stained glass when placed in the sun.
You should have a try at it and let me know how it turns out if you do!
Angelica
Erica MomandKiddo says
I remember doing this as a kid with a hot plate and loving it. Thanks for the suggestion!
Kym Thorpe says
Nice idea for an art-resistant kid - yes, I have a couple of those too. One of mine is grown up now, and the other one is in high school, but I wish I'd had m ore ideas to engage them when they were little. Anyway, thank you for linking up to the Virtual Fridge! I look forward to more of your posts!
Emily Greene says
What a horrible and manipulative thing to do to a child, let alone a person. That's more toxic than exposing them to video games. If your child genuinely doesn't want to do art or hates it, then stop pressuring them. As a child, I was prodded to do so by my parents who are sadly pro-art. They would boast about "accomplishments", which honestly bored me. When I got into music, my parents played down my passion and interest and would try to "encourage" me to "go back to what I was best at". Needless to say, after years of that, relations between my parents and I are strained, if not nearly dead - in that instance. I feel very sorry for your son. I hope you would be open to encourage him more productive and important skills that maybe he is interested in. Perhaps he is interested in music, perhaps in mathematics, perhaps in caring for other people or animals or both, etc.
If you keep this toxic behavior up, it could backfire on you - as it did with me and my parents. At least, with my children, even if I'm not interested in their skills of choice, as long as they are not corrupt or amoral, then I will try to let them learn the skills that they find interesting and worthwhile.
Yes, you are forcing your love of art onto others and yes, its toxic.
Erica says
You missed the point.
Johanna says
Oh how I wish I’d found your website sooner. Me too I have an “art is boring” kid. He’s my eldest and now nearly 10. Coincidentally he too has fine motor issues but also vision issues and only got his glasses 9 months ago. I think he’s now at the point where he thinks he’s just “bad” at art mainly due to the fact that they do art at school, rather formally (no such thing as process art or zen-tangle there) and he compares himself to his peers. It’s sad in some ways because he is creative and has a beautiful imagination! So I started back all over again : process art 101 where he can just scribble, spin paint, marble paint, blow paint bubbles and no pressure if it ends up muddy! He now comes to the table when I have something out for his younger brother and participates. I have to let him be because if I try to “guide” a bit too much he pulls back.
So thank you for your website and sharing your journey with your “I don’t like art” boy.
Erica says
Thanks for your comment, good luck with your new art journey!