Fun Drawing Ideas For 11-Year-Olds to Boost Their Creativity

I have a Daughter, who is a little artist. I mean really! She sees the word in a way that amazes me from time to time. 😊

A few weeks ago we went to a tiny museum of a local sculptor. She spent 2 hours there, watching all the masterpieces, video tutorials, and drafts… one of the pieces she spent quite some time observing was a half-relief, entitled “Refugees”. She called my attention to it and to the fact of how strange the way the sculptor presents running away.

After the museum, we went on a small tour with a local tour guide we met at the museum by accident. She showed us sculptures of this artist around the city. One of those was about soldiers. My Daughter told me to look, it was just like the “Refugees”. I told her that not at all, these were soldiers… One minute later we heard the tour guide speaking about that masterpiece that is actually based on the “Refugees” one. My Daughter noticed it, in an instant! 

So she is an artist. She uses drawing for everything: reducing stress, fighting boredom, and of course explaining what is going on in her mind.

As I am pretty curious and love to dive deep into understanding (and organizing) things around us, I spent some time researching the benefits of drawing for kids, as well as pulled together a list of easy drawing ideas that can boost creativity in young artists around 8-11! 😊

Why is Drawing Important for Kids

I suppose most parents are happy seeing their young children spending time with creative activities like drawing, instead of playing video games in all their free time. 

But did you know that drawing activities actually have real benefits even if your little one is not going to become a professional artist?

So what are some essential skills that can be gained in an excellent way by some fun art projects?

1. Fine Motor Skills Development: Drawing involves precise movements of the hands and fingers, helping children develop and refine their fine motor skills. These skills are essential for tasks such as writing, typing, and other activities that require hand-eye coordination.
2. Cognitive Development: Drawing stimulates various cognitive functions, including spatial awareness, understanding of proportions, and visualization. It encourages children to think creatively and problem-solve as they plan and execute their drawings.
3. Communication and Expression: Drawing provides a visual medium for younger children to express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas. For those who may not have fully developed verbal communication skills, drawing becomes an alternative and effective way to communicate.
4. Creativity and Imagination: Drawing fosters creativity and imagination by allowing children to create their own worlds, characters, and stories. It encourages the little artists to express what is in their mind by filling a blank page with different colors just the way they imagine it.
5. Emotional Development: Through drawing, children can express their emotions and experiences, helping them understand and manage their feelings. It provides a safe outlet for self-expression and self-reflection.
6. Pre-writing Skills: Holding and controlling a pencil or crayon helps children develop the basic skills needed for writing. Drawing straight lines, basic shapes, and patterns contributes to the development of pre-writing skills.
7. Focus and Concentration: Drawing requires concentration and focus as kids pay attention to details, follow instructions, and complete their artwork. This helps to improve their attention spans and overall concentration. In this sense, drawing can also be considered as a branch of educational activities.
8. Confidence Building: Successfully creating a drawing provides a sense of accomplishment and boosts a child’s self-esteem. Positive reinforcement and encouragement from adults further contribute to the development of confidence.

30 Creative Drawing Ideas For 11-Year-Olds

Do you have kids ready for such an artistic adventure, but facing a lack of ideas on how to start when they finally have that blank piece of paper in front of them?

According to my experience, as soon as they find a great idea they do not need step-by-step instructions, they just let their imagination flow!

Check out these drawing prompts and fun ideas to start with!

1. Imaginary Creatures: Encourage them to create their fantastical creatures using a combination of different animals or entirely from their imagination. (You can also play that you both draw a creature and try to figure out the “elements” of each other’s creature!)
2. Superhero Self-Portrait: Have them draw themselves as a superhero with unique powers and an original costume. (As a parent, it might be really interesting to figure out how your kids are thinking about themselves, and what they consider as their superpower!)
3. Dreamy Landscapes: Ask them to illustrate a dreamy or imaginary landscape with colorful skies, unusual plants, and creative features.

4. Doodle Monsters: Invite them to fill a page with friendly or funny doodle monsters. Each section of the page can have a different type of monster.
5. Robot Revolution: Challenge them to design their robots with special functions and features. (When I was a little girl, my Dad wrote me a tiny book about Robbie the robot and illustrated it himself. I loved it! Robots are cool. 😎)

6. Underwater World: Have them create an underwater scene with fish, plants, and maybe even a hidden treasure. (If you can visit an aquarium with your family, it is a great idea to suggest to your kids after the trip to draw their favorites from the underwater world!)
7. Magical Creatures: Combine two or more mythical creatures (e.g., dragon-unicorn) into a single drawing.
8. Crazy Hats: Draw characters wearing the most imaginative and outrageous hats they can think of. (That could be so much fun!)
9. Invent a Board Game: Have them design the board and characters for a board game of their creation. (We play it a lot!)
10. Floating Islands: Encourage them to draw islands floating in the sky with unique landscapes and inhabitants.
11. Time Travel Adventure: Illustrate a scene where characters travel through time, encountering different historical periods. (Well, it might not be for everyone, but if your kids are into history and reading or learning about ancient times, they could enjoy this pretty much!)
12. Giant Candy World: Create a world where everything is made of candy, from candy houses to chocolate rivers. (Ah we just saw Wonka in the cinema… I think we will have some candy world drawings in the upcoming weeks…😅)

13. Space Exploration: Draw astronauts exploring alien planets or spaceships cruising through the galaxy.
14. Funky Fashion Show: Design a runway scene with models showcasing wild and creative outfits.
15. Book Cover Illustration: Choose a favorite book or story and create an original cover illustration for it. (I think this is such a great prompt both for younger and older kids.)
16. Garden of Imagination: Draw a garden where each plant represents a different idea or thought, and use vibrant colors.
17. Surreal Self-Portrait: Create a self-portrait with imaginative and surreal elements that represent aspects of their personality or interests.
18. Cute Animals Parade: Draw a parade featuring their favorite animals celebrating a special occasion. (There are lots of instructional videos about drawing cute animals, using these can be a great way to support the development of your kids’ drawing skills!)
19. Invisible Friends: Illustrate scenes with imaginary friends that only they can see.
20. Alien Pets: Design unique and adorable pets from outer space. (If you are getting bored with fun animals, you can add a twist and start suggesting drawing alien pets as the next generation of cute things.)

21. Seasonal Transformations: Draw a single scene that captures the transformation of a landscape through all four seasons.
22. Magic Potion Lab: Create a scene of a magical laboratory where potions are being brewed with fantastic effects.
23. Wild West Adventure: Illustrate a scene from a Wild West adventure with cowboys, bandits, and dusty towns.
24. Night Sky Silhouettes: Draw a landscape using silhouettes against a colorful night sky. (Focusing on the basic outline of a city needs a higher skill level I suppose, but can be interesting for those kids with advanced artistic abilities.)
25. Time-Traveling Machines: Design futuristic time-travel machines and illustrate scenes of people traveling to different eras. (You can combine this with the Time Travel Adventure!)
26. Musical Animals: Combine animals with musical instruments to create a band of whimsical, musical creatures. (Just as funny as the hat one!)
27. Crazy Contraptions: Draw imaginative and elaborate contraptions with various gears, levers, and buttons.
28. Haunted House Makeover: Draw a spooky haunted house and then give it a whimsical or friendly makeover.
29. Giant Flower Garden: Draw a garden where flowers are enormous, and maybe even serve as homes for tiny creatures. (This can be a good choice for the littlest artists, as drawing flowers is among the first easy things we all learn.)
30. Ice Cream Island: Imagine an island made entirely of ice cream, with different flavors serving as landscapes.

Art Supplies You Might Consider Purchasing

I put together a list of whatever might be great to have if your kids are little artists:

Drawing Paper:

Provide a variety of papers, including white, colorful, and textured sheets.

Crayons:

Crayons are the first art supplies I think most kids get introduced to.

Graphite and Colored Pencils:

Ideal for more detailed and precise drawings.

Colorful Gel Pens:

Adds a vibrant touch to drawings, appealing to a variety of artistic tastes.

Watercolor Paints:

Encourage experimentation with different painting techniques.

Oil Pastels:

Offer a rich and vibrant medium for creating colorful and textured artwork.

Erasers and Sharpeners:

Ensure a clean and precise drawing experience.

Markers:

Great for bold and defined lines, adding variety to artwork.

Sketchbook:

Provide a dedicated space for your child to explore ideas and concepts.

Paintbrushes:

Various sizes for different painting techniques.

Modeling Clay:

Allows for three-dimensional creativity.

Safety Scissors:

For cutting and crafting activities.

Craft Glue:

Essential for collage projects.

Masking Tape:

Useful for creating defined edges or securing paper. And I realized that masking tape is a tool that can be basically anything in the hands of your kids – without making a huge mess! Besides art projects, we used masking tape to “build” a house (well its plans) on the floor, set up a “Ninja Warrior” challenge… 😁

Storage Box:

Keep art supplies organized and easily accessible.

But you do not need a lot of new things to start with some easy drawings!

What I would suggest to always keep at home from this long list in an easily reachable place (you can never know when your kids need something… immediately) are the followings:

• some sheet of paper (white ones, colorful ones, some with different textures)
• crayons
• charcoal pencils
• colored pencils
• my Daughter nowadays loves colorful gel pens
• watercolor paints

Oh and do not forget about an eraser and a sharpener. Well, I would say more than one… we have I think at least 3 of both in each room. 😅

Takeaway

Supporting your kid in drawing activities, by providing new ideas and themes is actually an investment in their holistic development. Drawing has various benefits, ranging from the development of fine motor skills to reducing stress and helping in building confidence.

You can use our prompts to help your children face the white paper and with these great drawing ideas, they will surely come up with some pretty cool drawings!

Well, honestly, from time to time I also join my Daughter in her drawing activities. She enjoys so much teaching me something she already knows. So you can have a great bonding time with drawing as well! 

You can buy together some basic art supplies and see later on what techniques are interesting for your kids – we just bought 20 different charcoal pencils, as now drawing with graphite is one of the most interesting things… 

I think these artistic activities are not something we, as parents, should “force”, but rather provide the necessary supplies and some ideas and let our kids use their imagination and turn to these activities in those moments they feel like to do so.

More Drawing Ideas

If you’re looking for step by step directed drawing tutorials, we also have some of these here at In The Playroom…

• How to Draw Pikachu Easy Step by Step Guide
• How To Draw Eevee Easy Step By Step Guide
• How To Draw Bulbasaur Easy Step By Step Guide
• How to Draw Halloween Pictures Step by Step
• How To Draw An Acorn Step by Step Printable
• How To Draw An Apple Step by Step Printable
• How to Draw Bugs Printables
• How to Draw a Leaf Guided Drawing Printable
• How To Draw Fireworks Step by Step Free Printable