Making art at home is a good way to develop your children’s creative and expressive skills. It also allows your children to practice their fine motor skills and critical thinking. More importantly, making art gives your children a creative way to help relieve stress. By creating art at home, your children also connect to their culture and all that it has to offer.
Organizing art activities at home does not have to be complicated or messy. Here are a few suggestions put together by Kativik Ilisarniliriniq’s team to support art activities at home during the unforeseen school closures.
Ideas to do at home
Printmaking
Printmaking is an artform practiced in Nunavik since the 1960’s. It is possible to practice printmaking easily at home with recycled materials.
Carving
Carving has been practiced by Inuit for thousands of years. Carving can also be practiced at home with a few items found around the house.
Soap carving
Finding Inspiration
Finding inspiration might be hard for your children. They might not know where to start.
You can first ask your children what material they would like to use by walking around the house looking for art supplies (buttons, colorful papers, paint, crayons, threads, noodles, recycled material such as plastic bottles, aluminum foil, cereal boxes, etc.) or going for a walk outside (branches, moss, rocks, leaves, etc.).
Once your children decide what material they want to use, you can help them find the inspiration they need to create something great. Here are a few ways to inspire them:
- Reading a book
- Looking through the window
- Telling legends (you can view some Inuit legends on the NFB website)
- Paying attention to people’s actions
- Walking around your community
- Watching movies about art (you can view movies on Inuit art on the NFB website)
Inspiration can also come from the work of professional artists. There is a lot to learn by looking at their artwork. By browsing through the Nunavik Art Alive, Avataq Cultural Institute website and Kativik Ilisarniliriniq’s biographies using the following links, your children will be able to see a collection of artwork by Nunavik artists.
