How to Create a Children’s Art Fair

Is your refrigerator or classroom covered in masterpieces created by the little ones in your life? Imagine a 5-year-old who mostly illustrates (although he is starting to add a little writing) a book a day.  And, an eager 4-year-old who produces lots and lots and lots of drawings, paintings, and sculptures each week.  The pace of creating masterpieces quickly outgrows the prime real estate on the front of the fridge.  Enter the aha moment….Let’s have a kid designed art fair!

Albert Einstein said, “Creativity is intelligence having fun.”  Boy oh boy, did we have fun pulling off this event completely initiated by my kiddos.

My kids have been to several local art fairs which helped to fuel the fire for this project. They picked up the pieces above last year. Illustrating and writing working hand in hand for young writers.  My oldest son was able to create stories long before he was able to add words to his books.  He has created some amazing wordless picture books.  I think we keep Bare Books in business.

So, how did we pull this off?  And, most importantly, how can you do it too?  Here is your step-by-step guide.

Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Children’s Art Fair

Full Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

Creating the Artwork

We collected artwork that my kids made for several months prior to the big day.  Sometimes we worked in our art studio, other times we worked outside, and most of the time we sat, kneeled, or stood at the kitchen table.

We tried to work in lots of mediums inspired by studying the illustrations in children’s books.  We did small projects, big projects, and even large outdoor installations with our fairy garden.

Here are few of our go-to places for art project inspiration.

Art Hub for Kids– great on-line drawing tutorials

The Artful Parent–  oddles of process art ideas ( I especially love The Artful Year book.)

Pick a Date and Send Out the Invitations

We chose a super hot day in June.  In retrospect, a cooler fall day in early October may have been a better idea.

The kids could design their own invitation.  We opted for a little technology integration and created ours with a free design program called Canva.  We picked a template and edited our details.  Presto, download, print, and send.

Planning the Food

We prepared simple and colorful appetizers.  Fruit kabobs, smoky peach salsa from Trader Joe’s (my fav) and chips, hummus and veggies, rice krispie treats, watermelon lemonade, and cucumber and lime infused water.

You will be busy getting art work displayed so keep the food easy.  Everything we chose could be made before the art fair.

Displaying the Art Work

This is the step that takes the most creativity and time.  We chose to use yard sale signs covered with blank paper as the stands for many flat pieces.  We attached the artwork the night before and then the kids were able to arrange them in the yard the next day.

We also used easels to hold canvases and utilized steps to prop up other pieces.

Tables were also set up for showcasing sculptures.

Since it was so hot, we had some art work displayed inside.  Windows worked great for displaying pieces.

Add label cards to describe each piece.

The kids chose which pieces would be for sale and priced them with them price stickers. This is a great way to work on math skills.

Art Fair Activities

We have the art.  We have the food.  Just need some entertainment.

We chose to have a portrait station.  My oldest son drew portraits for anyone willing to sit.  You just need an easel, paper, pencils and two chairs.

We also covered a table with cardboard (or you could use paper) and set out a container of crayons for collaborative drawing.

And, the Lego table was open for creative sculpture building.

Party Time

We were open for business. We had a great mix of friends, family, and neighbors who all went home with at least one piece of art.

We had a few people send us pictures of the art work in their homes which was so fun to see.

Final Thoughts

Everyone had a blast and my kids are eager to do it again next year.  Again, I think we will pick a little cooler time of year.

Wondering what the kids did with their money they collected?  Bought more art supplies of course!

I hope you are inspired to hold your own art fair for the budding illustrators in your life.  Share pictures on Instagram and be sure to tag me @growingbookbybook.