I know lots of you want to keep your big(ish) kids creative but feel stuck in a mental-energy and demand-avoidant black hole. 

I’ve finally found some good ways to bridge the art/anxiety/demand barriers for my own ‘nearly tweens’ and other people’s teens, to help them enjoy painting, making and other creative sessions. Let’s face it a lot of them are stuck in that tricky spot between wanting to be little kids again but not wanting to be treated like children. 

1. Paint by numbers - quite complex and beautiful kits at Hobbycraft are on sale at the moment (summer 2026) and for a fiver you can get some really good kits which are fiddly enough to be interesting but easy enough that don’t have to think of what to paint or gather materials or choose colours. I’d recommend sitting down to do one with a cup of tea and a child will appear to join you, much higher success rate than suggesting they do it themselves! They’re helping you out, which means they’re not as stressed about mucking it up and they get you time as well. Bonus. If you can afford to buy a few, then ask your most creative kid which one you should do because you can’t choose and that might lure them in, then you have a spare one for when they steal the first one off you, and maybe a spare for the next present you have to produce without warning.
   
   
   
2. Paper aeroplanes/fortune tellers/claws/birds - scrape your memory for how to make a plane and then they can throw them around, draw on them, add plane windows full of monsters or cats or their favourite characters. I expect you’ve all made the fortune tellers before, younger kids love those but I’d really recommend tonnes of great tutorials on YouTube for simple origami claws which we had a great time making and then had a full set of incredibly cheap accessories for dressing up as monsters/alligators/birds. Essential: if you or kiddo like head scritches then the claws are a must. They’re sensory delight on the scalp, but that might just be me!
   
   
   
   
3. Warhammer/DnD minifigures - whether they be official merch or bulk sets from eBay these are so easy to spraypaint black and enjoy a good paint. It lured my absolutely non-painty big kid in even though he does no art other than extremely excellent comics of stick superheroes. All highly-pigmented acrylic paint will work, the higher quality the better as it’ll have more pigment in, which makes it easier to get good details onto miniatures. If you pop into your local Warhammer store they can let you know the monthly date that the free figure is released and kids can paint in store. Great for creativity and community.
   
   
   
4. Beads - I could spend hours stringing tiny beads together. I’m not sure you need me to explain this one. I’d recommend acrylic thread and potentially a needle to make stringing the beads on a bit easier.
   
   
   
   
5. Air dry clay - I don’t mean the colourful foamy stuff although thats great too, I mean the more clay like version. Roll it out flat, cut or stamp shapes out with cookie cutters, dry well on both sides then paint and varnish for a snazzy jewellery dish, snack bowl (nothing wet!), brooch, earrings, and loads of more complicated ideas on instagram for the more ambitious. I made a crab to hold my brush, and a paint palette. Loads of fun.
   
   
   
   
6. Antiperfection upcycling of clothes - whether it’s upgrading buttons on a shirt or making a full Jedi cloak out of cheap fabric or old sheets I’m finding that even my less creative kiddo can really enjoy making creative decisions and feeling part of creative projects if they’re doing it with me. We made bags for carrying precious stones around in last summer, then wash bags this winter to put sanitary products in for when they one day consider using them. This year we’re chopping up charity shop clothes. I’m hoping it rubs off even if it’s a bit advanced for them right now.
   
   
   
   
7. Acrylic paint pens on EVERYTHING - there are so many small wooden objects you can buy from hobbycraft or any art section of a shop. I love the little wooden dolls and you can also make an HQ for superheroes out of an old tin. I love upcycling old desk accessories and adding sparkly bits, or shoeboxes to make private/precious treasure boxes for memories of whatever sort and you can’t beat hiding pebbles with pretty pictures on for creativity and getting them outside!
   
   
   

The one thing I can say with moderate confidence: The more you are creative around them the more likely they are to be creative. Obviously because they learn what they see around them, but also just because Sod’s Law states that if you’re having a lovely quiet time doing something you would quite like no help with, that will be the project they join! So I try to see it as a frustrating win-win. Either I get me-time, or I tempt them into creativity.

Do these sound useful? Would you like more ideas? I try to make sure things can be done with minimal manual dexterity, and if things are fiddly we pour on oodles of antiperfection.

Don’t also forget that the Antiperfection Art Club is built with adults in mind but loads of the tutorials are perfect for all ages of kids to join in with. SO you can join and pretend it’s for the kids and actually it’s for you to build a creativity habit :) Treat yourself to a membership and use it for everyone, message me for tutorial recommendations for each age group.

Can you add anything to the list that is good for bigger kids who have a low tolerance for errors?

Have a great summer, see you soon!