Kids Summer Art Activities: 3 Fun Projects for Kids During Summer Break!

It's officially summer break for the kiddos! While this exciting time of year is often synonymous with fun and relaxation, it can also sometimes mean boredom if your child finds entertainment light. What better way, then, to keep your kid's excitement high than by getting their creativity on? Here are 3 easy summer art activities for you to try out that are sure to keep your little artist's hands busy!

Summer Art Activity 1: Name Art

This is a fun project that will make your kid improve not only their artistic skills, but their ability to think creatively as well! To begin, have them start by writing their name in bubble letters. As a straight-forward example, I have gone and used the name Amy in capital letters. Lowercase letters work fine also, giving you a different series of results, so go ahead and experiment!

Now that you have your name written down, have your child brainstorm things that begin with each of their name's letters. For example, what starts with the letter A? Perhaps the word "alligator" is the first thing that comes to mind, or "award." Do this for each letter until you have a list of a few things. Then, try drawing the "thing" in the shape of the bubble letters!

Looking at our example with the name Amy, here are the three "things" I have come up with for each letter. For the A, I have drawn an apple, with its little stem and pits in the middle hole of the letter. For the M, I have opted for a mouse, with two little round ears and a pink, round nose. The letter Y is yarn, with a fun knit pattern and a little loose string. Try this activity with different combination of items! As a fun extra, challenge you kid to invent a story with the different items in their name. For example, maybe a mouse ate an apple, got scared, and hid in her nest of yarn. The possibilities are endless, so have fun with this one.

Summer Art Activity 2: Item Doodle

For this project, go around the house with your child and take pictures of single items you find interesting. This could be as simple as a TV remote, a pen, or maybe even a chair! Once you have this, go ahead and print out the image. As an alternative, you can do this project fully digitally, if you have the tools. For this example, I have chosen a hair clip.

Now, get the creative juices flowing and ask your child to imagine the item as something else. For this example, I found that the clip looks interestingly similar to teeth, maybe that of an animal's growling. The next step in the process is to have your little artist take this idea and draw it onto their image. There are no rules for this, and it's important to experiment and have fun! Here is how my drawing came out:

I ended up drawing an angry dog showing its teeth! The possibilities for this activity are endless, so try this out with different items and ideas!

Summer Art Activity 3: Puzzle Zentangle

This last activity is easy, fun, and can be done anywhere at any time! The first step is learning how to do the puzzle doodle. This can be achieved by drawing a square, with the connecting lines having outwards or inward bumps in the middle. Experiment with how you disperse the outwards or inwards bumps, but know that all you puzzle pieces will look the same, as you will be building on one side of puzzle to repeat your pattern. Here is an example of how to draw the puzzle piece.

Once you have one puzzle piece, repeat this by connecting the next puzzle piece to the first one. You will have a spread that looks similar to this.

Once this is done, the fun part begins! Colour in each of your puzzle pieces using whatever colour you want, and draw designs in each section! Experiment with patterns and textures for a multitude of results. In the end, your work may end up looking a little like this.

The great part about this activity is that it can go on forever, so have fun and try to see how many pieces you can fit on a page!

Did you try any of these activities? Or do you know someone who might like this? Share this with those you know!

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Art is a great way for kids to have fun and keep busy during the summer break. Not only are these activities highly entertaining and sure to keep you artist busy, but they are the perfect way to promote a lifelong love of creativity. So give these a try and show us what you and your kiddo came up with! Have a wonderful and artistic summer!