Incorporating Art in Your Homeschool

When we asked our Facebook community what one thing they would change about their homeschool, many responded saying they wished they did more hands-on activities like arts and crafts.

Even if you’re not an artistic parent, here are a few things you can do to incorporate more arts and crafts into your homeschool—without racking up bills or cleaning up too much mess!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

There is something very satisfying about turning garbage into an art project. Start a craft basket for old magazines, junk mail, or other unwanted materials that can be cut up for collages. The trick is, everything you keep needs to fit in your craft basket. Two-dimensional garbage is ideal. We are not looking to overwhelm your office with junk disguised as art supplies.

To accompany your craft basket, grab your kids some Mod Podge, glue sticks, age-appropriate scissors, and water colors and see what happens when you stick all these ingredients in a room. No directions. No rules.

Rethink the Goal.

Many parents shy away from art projects because they start with a vision of picture-perfect creations like those on social media and think, “My child can’t make that!” or “even I can’t make that!” Because of this, many parents need to start by rethinking art time.

The goal of arts and crafts for your child is not to make something Pinterest-worthy. Allowing your child to create and tear apart and reimagine and recreate is an invaluable process. When you set your child (and yourself) free from expectations, art becomes a more natural part of the learning process—the bumpy, imperfect, wonderful learning process.

Keep it simple.

This is another step that may require an adjustment of expectations. Finding inspiration for art projects online can be a lot of fun, but a multi-step, requires-a-hot-glue-gun craft might not be the best place to start when you have an already busy homeschool life.

When looking for craft ideas, keep it simple. Look for crafts that are five steps or fewer. Look for projects that require supplies you already have. The idea is to make arts and crafts the norm rather than making it an unachievable feat that exhausts you and your kids.