Most of us outgrown the drawing pencil or crayon. Perhaps our own dreams of becoming artists will not come true. But maybe we can inspire the kids in our lives to pick up where we left off. Art games could be a fun introduction to the world of color.
Art games are not a replacement for formal art lessons for kids. So, don’t make them drop their palette and brush, but check out these interactive art websites for fun with your kids.
Poki Games
If you are familiar with the vast world of video games, you may have heard of Poki. This online platform makes countless games available to Internet users for free and through the browser. You just have to access its page and choose from the more than 450 free games offered by the platform, without the need to download or install any program or pay to play.
Among Poki’s game catalog we can find different categories: soccer games, racing games, FPS games –first person shooter in English–, logic, puzzle or multiplayer. One of the attractions of Poki is that it contains games that have already become the history of popular culture.
For example, arcade games, those that were played in the now defunct arcade machines. Pure archeology of internet culture.
Other Interactive Art Websites For Fun With Your Kids
1. PBS Kids Coloring Games
Any search for online activities for elementary students will take you to PBS Kids. The network is the most popular platform for children’s programming and content in the United States.
The PBS Kids portal is full of interactive games for kids, so you’ll be spoiled for choice. This particular link leads to online coloring games of all kinds.
2. Sesame Street
Art Maker on this PBS site is another popular online destination that has a small collection of art games for kids. They can paint Elmo the furry muppet or go up against Cookie Monster with a coloring brush in their virtual hands.
Everything is online, but you can show your kids how to paint with crayons, oil paints, or watercolors, etc. and ignite the creative fires in your children.
3. GirlsGoGames
This site has a collection of casual art games designed for girls. But it doesn’t have to be gender specific because it’s all about having fun with color and craft.
Try trendy makeovers, decorate a friend, or become a hairdresser with a click of the play button.
4. Smithsonian for Kids and Teens
Smithsonian doesn’t take half measures when it comes to science, history, nature, and even pop culture. This section of their vast site is dedicated to arts and crafts activities for children of all ages. Many of the resources are part of the Smithsonian Learning Lab.
For example, you can help your kids make an ArtBot, an art-making robot with detailed instructions on the site. There are softer activities like coloring sheets and collage work too if you want to skip the robot.
The Smithsonian may be a fun art website, but you’ll get more out of it as a serious educational resource.
5. Tate for children
Art appreciation can start early with visits to museums like the Tate art museums in Great Britain. But you can also do a lot from home. For example, Tate has an entire section dedicated to free art games, art activities, and fun quizzes on their site.
Kids can make art like Andy Warhol or paint virtual walls with graffiti at Street Art. There is no one to stop them once they start their artistic adventures.
6. Toy theater
Toy Theater is a small, clean place full of educational activities for elementary students. Head straight to the collection of interactive art games that will help your kids develop visual learning skills, expression of abstract ideas, and design awareness.
The activities are perfectly suited for students from kindergarten through third grade.
7. Artsology
Artsology is another collection of 107 art games for kids of all ages. Start by spray painting the walls of New York City with graffiti and work your way through surreal art with an arcade game.
There are some games marked with the Flash logo. Therefore, everyone can enjoy Flash games until December 2020, at least when Adobe will stop updating Flash officially.
8. Drawize
Drawize can replace Pictionary as it is a similar game of “guess what I drew”. Your kids can draw and participate in the daily drawing challenge or go online to play with friends or a stranger anywhere in the world.
The draw and guess game is also available on Android and iOS.
9. Quick, draw!
This Google AI experiment will keep kids engaged for 20 seconds at a time as they continue to play against the neural network and its image recognition ability.
It’s an awesome research project, but you can also use it as a quick drawing game like Pictionary. The game uses its neural engine to guess the drawing. If you guess correctly, the “game” is over.
The 22nd timer will also get your kids to draw from their intuition instead of stopping and deliberating on their drawing. Drawings don’t have to be perfect, and that means anyone with no artistic ability can join in and have fun.
10. AutoDraw
Auto Draw is another AI powered game from Google. It’s a bit different from the previous game because the automated bot will “guess” your doodle and suggest a more polished clip piece to replace it.
Kids can also see in an instant if their own doodles are close enough to suggested drawings by icon artists.
AutoDraw is a nifty little tool for non-artistic kids because they can swap their rough drawings for prettier clip art and use them in any art project.
Some other art websites for children
Many art games can now be found as mobile apps. But here are some simpler art games that your kids can enjoy in the browser.
Art Pad
Color with leo
Beautiful curves
NASA Coloring Books
Crazy games: explore
Disney Junior Coloring Pages
Son of string art
ThisIsSand
Tessellation
Silk fabric
Spark creativity with art and drawing
Art games can make kids just draw for free. After all, they’re not wasting paint on canvas or paper and making a mess of things. In fact, art is just the space kids need to mix things up and see what happens.
These interactive art websites are perfect for kids, and then there is the ocean of drawing and painting apps and some even disguised as games on Android and iOS. Point your kids to sites that teach the basics of drawing and they’ll start building the foundation for a great hobby.
