The first memory I have of my oldest son doing some kind of artistic activity together is when I was a 10/11 month old baby. Since then (and I've done it with the little one too) I have tried to stimulate creativity at home by spending a lot of time, devising fun crafts and (above all) putting at your disposal different materials that you can use without inhibitions.
Thus, at home we have a closet with papers and paintings of different types, illustrated craft albums, brushes, a box with various elements that can be converted into accessories (cork stoppers, stationery clips, chunks of rope, heat, glue, etc.), and many other diverse things.
I think creativity is something innate to people who we begin to develop from the moment we are able to interact and communicate with the outside world, although you can also learn. In fact it is not only related to artistic expression, because basically it would help us find solutions to the problems that are presented to us and produce new ideas. Today I can say that I have a 'thinker' child with a great reading hobby, who likes to put himself in the place of others, as well as understand situations different from his own; and a restless girl with a great capacity to develop and translate ideas, and a lot of manual ability. I could not say which is more creative since the second will be more able to express emotions and the first to find answers.
What traits define a creative person? In general, they must be sensitive, flexible, original, adaptable beings, with a great capacity for abstraction / and synthesis too, and capable of organizing
But if we want to specify a little more and stick to the purpose of this post ...
What if you have an artist at home and you don't know it?
As you lose nothing, first of all say that it is convenient not to repress the imagination of children when they try to create new works. I say this because many times parents have preconceived ideas about what a drawing is, about how to mix colors or what they have to do with the expression of ideas.
My children have never liked to color without going out, and although there was a season in which they wanted me to print Internet drawings to paint, now they prefer to take a pencil and a blank sheet to capture what they want at that time
Perhaps leaving them completely at your leisure is not a good idea at all, but we should limit ourselves to suggesting, asking for meanings or enrolling them in some specialized activity if we see that they have an interest and can help them.
Tips to guide the small creator
It is convenient respect their learning times and interests (Let's take advantage of the fact that we have the home space, because in schools it is not always possible).
Encourage make their own decisions: 'Mom, what can I paint?', 'I don't know, daughter, what would you like to do? What do you want to tell What do you think you need to do it?
In the creative process they are very important active learning and control over the ideas developed.
Whether you have notions of art or not, it is not a good idea to correct drawings or modify proportions of a sculpture. This is easily understood when we realize that by creating we also express ideas.
Another thing is to answer your questions about the type of paint to use, help them choose the absorbent paper to paint with watercolor, or provide them with previous technical indications
Allow them to be wrong, because new learning develops from mistakes.
Show your works of art to family and friends.
It is good to encourage the critical thinking of children by expressing your opinion about their creations. It is not enough just with a 'how beautiful it is!', It is much more useful 'I like the combination of colors although I find those shapes strange, what have you wanted to tell?
All parents would have to devote weekly time to drawing, molding or making a collage of photos with the children, so that they are comforted with the presence of their parents.
I do not know if I have an artist at home, and the truth is that in these moments of their lives I care more that they have enough time to play. But when I see my daughter use small pieces of paintings to 'build' (as if it were 'the Art Attack handyman') spaces and characters on the floor of the dining room, or make face sculptures with vegetables, I feel satisfied by the initiative that demonstrates.
