You don't have to follow specific steps. You need to be pretty good improvisers to problem-solve, no matter what field you go into. Watercolors, sponges, pencils, glue, scissors and clay are recommended. Learning to use glue doesn't seem like a big deal, but it helps kids with their spatial awareness, which they'll need for geometry. Kathe Parris, art department chairwoman at the School of Creative and Performing Arts in Paradise Hills, said younger children can play with finger paints and modeling clay.
Older ones can shape ceramic clay.
See what they'd like to try and let them try it. You don't have to spend much money, either, Parris added. Museums often offer inexpensive half-day art instruction for children, and free festivals and art galleries abound, she said. Expose your children to the arts, but don't force it on them, said Joy McCullough, assistant director of the San Diego Dance Institute. His child has yet to be born.