Comments on: My Kid Hates Art: Tape Project

By: Erica

Erica — Mon, 15 Jun 2020 12:34:23 +0000

In reply to Johanna. Thanks for your comment, good luck with your new art journey!

By: Johanna

Johanna — Fri, 12 Jun 2020 00:01:58 +0000

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.

By: Erica

Erica — Tue, 29 Oct 2019 14:39:41 +0000

In reply to Emily Greene. You missed the point.

By: Emily Greene

Emily Greene — Tue, 29 Oct 2019 13:28:20 +0000

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.

By: Erica MomandKiddo

Erica MomandKiddo — Thu, 16 Oct 2014 13:19:19 +0000

In reply to Angelica Courtin. I remember doing this as a kid with a hot plate and loving it. Thanks for the suggestion!

By: Kym Thorpe

Kym Thorpe — Thu, 16 Oct 2014 11:19:04 +0000

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!

By: Angelica Courtin

Angelica Courtin — Thu, 16 Oct 2014 11:06:32 +0000

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

By: Erica MomandKiddo

Erica MomandKiddo — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 12:33:06 +0000

In reply to Stephanie. Thanks Stephanie! I agree, The Artful Parent is a great source. I wonder if my son would finger knit. That sounds like fun.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 23:20:43 +0000

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!

By: Erica MomandKiddo

Erica MomandKiddo — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 14:30:38 +0000

In reply to Ann. You are right, it's a challenge for most of us!