75 Creative Drawing Ideas for Kids to Foster Confidence & Creativity

Here are more than 75 creative drawing ideas for kids, including inspiring drawing prompts, games, and tips for improving drawing skills and confidence!

Looking for creative drawing ideas for kids?

Picking up a crayon and making marks on paper is often the very first art activity for young children.

Drawing requires very little in the way of materials (simply a sheet of paper and a drawing tool), is easy and engaging for all ages and levels of ability, and is usually mess-free.

Drawing Allows Children To

• EXPRESS themselves
• PROCESS their world
• EXPERIMENT with ideas and techniques
• MAKE ART anywhere
• INTERACT with others
• & develop FINE MOTOR SKILLS

Creative Drawing Ideas for Kids

Here are over 75 creative drawing ideas for kids! These ideas, activities, and posts include drawing games, creative drawing prompts, improving drawing skills, and ways of connecting through drawing.

Fostering Creativity and Confidence in Kids Drawing

Kids begin to draw full of confidence. Here are some ways to help them hold on to their creativity and confidence as they grow and develop.

• How to Encourage Kids Drawing Skills, Creativity, & Confidence
• Drawing for Kids – Encouraging the Reluctant Artist
• Creative Alternatives to Coloring Books

Drawing Skills and Techniques for Kids

Want to help your kids learn specific drawing skills and techniques such as observational drawing, perspective, or shading?

• How to Get Started with Observational Drawing for Kids
• Drawing Lessons for Kids with the Monart Method
• Drawing the Human Body for Kids (with tips and activities for different ages)

Using How to Draw Books for Kids

Books with step-by-step instructions on how to draw have their time and place, especially when used as a starting point for learning specific techniques.

• Drawing with Ed Emberley’s Books
• Our Obsession with Fingerprint Art

Activity Sheets to Encourage Kids Drawing

Drawing activity sheets can be good for art invitations, quiet-time art, or for keeping kids engaged while traveling.

• 16 Printable Art Activities for Kids
• 11 DIY Art Activity Pages for Kids

Kids Drawing Prompts

Using drawing prompts can be more fun and encourage more creativity that starting with a blank page.

• Drawing Prompts for Kids with Eye Stickers
• Magazine Pictures as Drawing Prompts for Kids
• Using Drawing Prompts with Kids
• Printable Drawing Prompts for Kids

Drawing Games for Kids

Drawing games are so much fun and a wonderful way to encourage creativity and connection.

• 12 Kids Art Games for Fun and Creativity
• Encourage Children’s Creativity with Drawing Games and Silliness

Connecting with Kids Through Drawing

Besides drawing games, here are some more great ways to connect with children through drawing.

• Why Read Aloud Time is Drawing Time
• Back-and-Forth Drawing with Kids
• And Interactive Heart Drawing Activity
• Drawing to Music with Children

Want more creative drawing ideas for kids? Click to see The Artful Parent archive for the entire category!

And if you’re looking for a particular drawing activity, use the search field in the right sidebar of the site.

Sidewalk Chalk

There are so many ways children can play with sidewalk chalk and get their creative juices flowing. Bonus? Sidewalk chalk can keep the kiddos busy for hours on end. Give your child a few sticks of chalk and let their imaginations run wild.

It is a fun way to encourage their creativity while also giving them an outlet for drawing that isn’t your traditional paper and markers. Sidewalk chalk is also easy to clean up. Just throw their chalk covered laundry in the washing machine and let Mother Nature clean up the chalk outside!

Here are a few sidewalk chalk sets to get you started:

• Chalk City Sidewalk Chalk, 20 count
• Walkie Chalk Stand-Up Sidewalk Chalk Holder
• Crayola Glitter Sidewalk Chalk

Blind Contour Drawing

Abstract portraits can also be a ton of fun for kids and can have them rolling in laughter as well. When you do a blind contour drawing, you can’t look down at the paper, and you can’t lift your drawing utensil.

Here are a few supplies you will need if the kids want to try after watching the video!

• Sketch Pad
• Melissa & Doug Sketch Pad – 2 Pack
• Deluxe Art Set for Kids
• Dual Tip Brush Marker Set

Learn About a Famous Artist

If your child loves all things art and drawing, then encourage them to learn about their favorite famous artist. It may inspire them to continue drawing themselves. Teaching art history to even preschoolers is good because it not only gives them a fun history lesson, but it also helps you come up with fun new drawing activities they can try out themselves.

Here are a few resources you can use to teach your children art history:

• The Arts: A Visual Encyclopedia
• Kid Artists: True Tales of Childhood from Creative Legends
• ABCs of Art

Finding Inspiration

Finding inspiration for kids is important, even when it comes to finding simple drawing ideas they can do at all ages. As a young artist, a child needs encouragement. However, you will also find that their curiosity alone may be enough to get them to pick up a pencil or marker and start drawing on their own without any drawing prompts.

Drawing gives them the chance to learn something new, make mistakes, and learn to try again. It also teaches lessons about their individuality.

When they get older, they will be more fixated on getting things to “look right,” but as a young artist, they are more concerned with learning and discovering new things along the way.

Other Creative Drawing Ideas for Kids

Now that we have covered some of the basics, let’s list a few other creative drawing ideas for kids that are easy enough to accomplish:

• Shadow Tracing
• Self-Portrait Art
• Sticker Art Drawing

Where does your child get their inspiration?

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