3 Ways to Help Your Child Find their Forever Art Form

Helping your child choose an instrument or art form can feel like a challenging decision. We want to help guide you with 3 things you can do as a parent to support your child’s experimentation and help them get the most out of everything they try.

1. Try before you buy - The key to getting a child to stick with anything long term is making it enjoyable. One way to ensure enjoyment, is putting your child in an environment where they can try a lot of different things and choose for themselves what they love! This is one of the major advantages of programs like our performing arts camps where children are given the opportunity to try a variety of instruments and artistic disciplines in a fun environment surrounded by friends. Actually hitting a drum, or playing an acting game for the first time may turn them on to something they hadn’t expected to like, or show them that a certain medium may not be a good fit for them after all.

2. Know What They Are Learning- When your child begins their lessons, talk to their teachers. Ask them what kind of support from home is the most helpful for students in their particular art form. This could be as simple as learning how to make sure an instrument is properly in tune, or listening through the repertoire, or something more involved like taking notes during lessons to help your child keep track of what they need to be practicing or running lines with them. Most children need help learning to practice- they may want to practice but be unsure of what they are supposed to be doing/struggle to manage their time. Keeping on top of what they are learning and what they need to be practicing is something that will be easier for an adult and offering that support will help them progress faster and move through the frustrating parts of learning with greater ease.

3. Be There Through The Growing Pains- When anyone begins anything for the first time, there will be periods of struggle and frustration. This can be especially true of artistic mediums which require entirely new sets of motor skills and muscles like instruments or dance. Many children sincerely love an instrument and want to learn but get deeply frustrated and discouraged when they cannot perform well immediately. Attentive encouragement and empathetic support through moments of frustration will go a long way towards helping a child stick with their artistic practice. If it’s hard for them to practice on their own, often times the culprit isn’t a lack of interest, but feelings of failure or frustration. Children need help and direction persevering through these growing pains in order to enjoy the satisfaction of mastery. You and the teacher are your child’s greatest resource on this front.

These 3 strategies ultimately focus on emphasizing enjoyment. Children do what feels good. If you want your child to stick with something, do your utmost to ensure it is enjoyable. Once they experience some success in a medium, they are much more likely to be self directed/motivated within their practice. Depending on how challenging the medium is, they may need more or less support to get that place at the outset. Provide them with that support , listen to their needs, and watch them flourish!

Do you want to give your child the opportunity to experience all things arts as a means to finding their forever art form?

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