Encouraging art in your children

~~Today is the first day that we've spent at home in over a week. Boy, does it feel nice! I'm such a homebody anyways. I've been catching up on laundry and some things around the house.


~~If you go on any art forum, like Wetcanvas, there is always the debate on whether artistic talent and a love of art is something that is genetic or developed. I'm not totally sure, but I'm starting to believe that it's a combination of both. I didn't realize how much the love of art could actually be born in a person until I had my children. My 5 year old, Sierra, is already showing such a great love of drawing and she's very talented for her age (if I do say so myself!) Her Pre-K teacher would tell me over and over how amazed she was at Sierra's drawing abilities. The funny thing is that I've never pushed her to like drawing. It's just something that she's come to love on her own. And she's very passionate about it. Last night she had been drawing for quite a while and she said, "Mommy, my arm is hurting." I suggested that she take a little break and she said, "I don't want to take a break. I just love to draw!" Aaaaah. That's my girl.
My Grandma was (is) and artist and my Dad is talented at drawing also. My Sister will be starting her first year teaching Highschool art this Fall and my Brother does some great cartooning. So there has to be something to the genetic part of it.
~~But I also believe that in order to grow as an artist, you must constantly be learning. Children need encouragement in order to pursue their gifts. So I have been trying to think of ways to encourage Sierra without pushing her. I was very excited to find these neat drawing books by Walter Foster. I remember my Dad buying me Walter Foster books. There are more in the series and you can go to the website by clicking the photos. I found them at Hobby Lobby and Michael's.
~~What I like about these books is that they are geared perfectly towards her age. They have things that she's interested in and the drawings aren't too difficult. Each object, say a puppy, is broken down into steps and teaches children to look for the shapes in objects. We have the two books above and Sierra has made some great pictures using them.
~~My friend and fellow Artist Mom Nicole Caulfield recently had a post about her plans for doing art camp with her daughters and their friends. She says "My plan is we go on little picnics for art camp in different places around towns, and invite her friends to come along - we eat, we draw or paint from nature, the kids can run around and its FREE! :-) I like that bit a lot!" I think it's a great idea and one I may just have to borrow.
~~So how about you all out there. Do you have ideas on sharing a love of art with your children? Don't be shy. I'd love to hear your thoughts.