Take risks, embrace failure and be comfortable with uncertainty: three activities to help your child think like an artist

The habits of an artist include the ability to generate ideas, trust creative processes and tolerate ambiguity. Here are three simple exercises to help children grow.
Artist. A young girl in floral baseball cap leaning over charcoal drawing using her finger to draw. Child artist taking a risk.

As a visual artist and educator, I know how important it is to encourage your child to think and behave like an artist. But this is not necessarily about drawing or painting in a particular way.

You can draw anything, but portraits are a lot of fun. Look closely at your subject and slowly draw what you see, looking for lines and contours to draw in and around them.

Unlock Padlock Icon

Unlock this content?

Access this content and more

The Conversation Australia and New Zealand is a unique collaboration between academics and journalists that in just 10 years has become the world’s leading publisher of research-based news and analysis.