Drawing Becoming a Lost Art
Parents in 56 percent of UK households don’t allow their children to draw at home for fear of mess, jeopardising their artistic and creative growth, according to research commissioned by leading games developer and publisher THQ.
The research findings are being published in a collaboration between THQ and The Campaign for Drawing, which is dedicated to halting the decline in drawing among children.
The research showed that 41 percent of parents preferred their children to engage in more passive pursuits like watching TV instead of drawing and painting, leading to the admission that their kids are less likely to be as creative as they were at the same age.
Nervous mums worried about kids damaging the furniture and their own lack of time to clean up as reasons for banning messy art projects at home.
Nearly half (49 percent) said they feel on edge if their children start drawing and painting in the house, and 6 out of 10 said that they worry that children’s art projects will damage the furniture.
Traditional recreational activities like drawing, painting, potato printing and papier mâché are all on the list of activities that mums actively discourage.
"The decline in drawing among children is worrying because this is how young people express themselves, interpret their surroundings and exercise their imaginations," said Sue Grayson Ford, Director of The Campaign for Drawing, an 11- year-old arts educational charity that has attracted major creative figures as patrons, including Gerald Scarfe CBE, Quentin Blake CBE and Norman Foster.
"This change in attitude could have long term implications on the growth of the UK creative industries, worth £17.3 billion and the third-largest contributor to our national economy."
To reconcile the gap between children’s creative endeavours and the increasing amount of technology and gadgets in the home, THQ has developed the uDraw GameTablet, a revolutionary new accessory for the Wii, that lets players use a tablet as a canvas to draw images that appear on their TV screens.
Wayne Cline, Director of Product Development at THQ, commented: "Parents are increasingly house-proud and have huge time pressures. We developed the uDraw to resolve families’ everyday needs for art, technology and play.
"We wanted to encourage children to embrace traditional creativity in a modern medium they love - and without making a mess!"
Tagged in Parenting