Weekends are the best time to let your family’s creativity run loose and create some wonderfully fun art projects for kids (and grown-ups, too!) Doing art together is a great way to create stronger bonds, encourage communication, and make your own fun at home. At Sparketh, we have a lot of art tutorials and courses that are fun and doable for all ages (and artistic levels). Here are 10 fun art projects to dive into as a family, whether you are trying to learn a specific skill, explore a whole new art style, or tackle a unique creative challenge! So clear some table space and roll up those sleeves–we’ve got your weekend plans right here!
Tutorials for Learning a Specific Skill
Got perfectionists in your tribe? If certain members of your family are detail-oriented, or get overwhelmed with big-picture projects, then you may want to try an art tutorial that focuses on learning a specific skill! Learning and honing a specific artistic skill is incredibly satisfying and can yield creative breakthroughs, too! We have tutorials on the site for all different kinds of drawing and painting techniques, but here are some of the ones that we think would be the most fun to try as a family.
1) Work on a certain element of a portrait.
You don’t have to create an entire portrait to work on your people (drawing) skills! Instead, you could work on different textures of hair, drawing hands, or work on gesture drawing.
Focusing on certain elements of a portrait individually is a lot less pressure than doing a whole portrait, and it’s fun to see how much your skills can grow from focusing on something specific. Plus, you could end up with a crazy cool abstract page full of different types of hair, hands and gestures. (Perhaps the invention of a whole new art style?)
2) Learn how to draw a still life.
Learning how to draw a still life is a very important artistic skill that can help you see ordinary things in creative ways. Drawing a still life is a fun challenge to do as a family too, and see how each person’s unique style is reflected in a drawing of the exact same thing. If you’re looking for a good still life challenge for the whole family, we have several on the Sparketh site, like this Glass of Water tutorial!
3) Learn how to draw bubbles.
Bubbles present a unique challenge with their shape, texture and the way they reflect light, so learning how to draw them presents a fun artistic challenge. Sparketh has an incredible video teaching how to draw bubbles. Plus bubbles are beautiful and happy-looking, so share some giggles with your kids while blowing bubbles, then drawing them, in this fun art project for kids.
Learn a New Style
Learning about a variety of artistic styles opens up new ways for our kids to see the world. In turn, it can also help them find new ways to express themselves! Trying out a new art style always makes a fun art project for kids, and adults will enjoy trying something out-of-the-ordinary, too!
4) Manga – Manga is a style of drawing that is used in Japanese comics and graphic novels. The characters in Manga have fun and expressive faces. Try out some of Sparketh’s many Manga videos for a fun art project for kids (links to specific courses are below):
- Learn how to draw Manga eyes in this tutorial (Beginner)
- Practice drawing a Manga man with this step-by-step tutorial (Intermediate)
- Create an original Manga character using this course (Advanced)
5) Impressionism – Drawing in an Impressionistic style can be a really fun art project for kids because it demonstrates how to think about the subject being drawn in a different way: in terms of light, color and feeling. It’s always fun to try family projects that prompt conversations about the way we see and think about the world. This tutorial on Sparketh demonstrates how to tackle an Impressionist portrait!
6) Surrealism – Encourage your kids to use their wildest imagination to draw something surreal and unexpected. This is a fun art project for kids that encourages thinking outside the box. The whole family can enjoy getting creative with a Surrealism project like this one and (later) talking about each other’s designs.
Take a Challenge
Does your family love to play games or have competitive challenges? Sparketh’s art video lessons include many challenges that make fun art projects for kids. Have your whole family sit around the table and participate in trying something new with art. Any group would have a great time with the following art challenges!
7) Non-Dominant Challenge – Try drawing with your non-dominant hand. It’s harder than you might think! This is a great opportunity to laugh together over the difficulty of a seemingly simple task. It’s definitely a fun project to do with others and your family will make a lot of great memories– along with some interesting-looking art!
8) Word Art Challenge – Check out Sparketh’s Word Art challenge. This fun art project for kids and adults won’t look the same for any two people! It’s a truly creative challenge that is sure to produce some fascinating artwork.
9) Whatcha Knead Challenge – This intriguing challenge involves using abstract forms! It’s a fun art project for kids or adults of any age and level!
10) Free for All!
Lastly, a tried and true art project for the whole family involves filling a table with all of your art supplies and encouraging everyone to simply follow their imaginations. Get crazy by using a bunch of different types of media, such as paints, pencils, crayons, glue, glitter, cut up magazines, twigs, or even salt! Each person can create something totally unique and-when everyone is finished- you can talk about what you made and what inspired you!
Doing art as a family is a wonderful way to relax, have fun and make special memories together. I always love making art with my family–it’s never been a mistake! If you are looking for a great way to make your own art party at home, we hope you’ll consider making this weekend a “Family Art Weekend,” and maybe even try out some of the courses mentioned here! Sparketh has thousands of fun art project videos for kids to choose from that are informative, bite-sized educational videos taught by actual art teachers, so don’t stop with these videos—there are plenty more once you’ve done the ones listed here!
Don’t forget to post your finished products to our gallery so that the rest of the Sparketh community can get inspired by your amazing creations!