Children love to create things. The imagination and creativity should be encouraged in children, and the way to do that is to give them the tools that they need. A time for arts and crafts is essential for a child's development, and can do wonders for the mind of a child. Drawing, painting, coloring, cutting and pasting can bring hours of enjoyment for a young mind, and it can encourage creativity. Here are some supply ideas, and some tips for conducting an arts and craft time for your child.

Drawing time

You can supply your child with color pencils, crayons, and washable markers to draw with. There are plenty of options as far as paper goes as well. Give them construction paper, a doodle or scribble pad, white paper from the printer, or stuffing paper from a bag purchase.

Drawing time can be themed. For example, have your child draw family or friends. You can encourage them to draw their favorite animals, or make a picture of what they want to be when they grow up. They can draw a picture of their favorite memory, or try to make an image of an item you place in front of them, like a chair or a fruit basket.

Painting time

There are two options with the kind of paint. You can buy finger paint, so they can use their hands only, or you can get paint that they need a brush for. Getting different sized brushes is a good idea. Thick paper is best for this activity. A large canvas can be exciting for a little one, if you have the space. It is also a good idea for your child to wear old clothes, or a smock so that they don't ruin their nice things.

Let the children use the imagination. They can paint an abstract artistic piece that may not represent anything particular. They will enjoy playing with the colors and just expressing themselves. This can also be a color lesson. You can show them how to mix colors to make new ones; for example, mixing blue and yellow creates green.

Other options

You might want to try and help your child make a collage. This is a group of cut-outs that are related to each other. You can use pictures or words from magazines. There are also images on the internet that you can print out, cut out, and paste on one big poster board.

Another option for arts and craft time is cutting out different shapes in construction paper, and pasting them into an image, like the shape of a person.