Over the last few weeks, I’ve noticed that my youngest son Drew is spending a crazy amount of time drawing. You can usually find him sprawled out on the floor of his bedroom with sheets of paper everywhere and a circle of Sharpies around him. He loves it, so what harm can come from it?

The thing is, the source for his new love of drawing comes from a Youtube channel that we found one day while he was looking for some drawing inspiration. The channel is the Art for Kids Hub.

After we checked it over, we thought it was okay for him to be left alone with it for an hour. Now though, we’re at the point where he doesn’t draw without it.

I remember being slightly older than Drew when I first started taking an interest in drawing. I did the same thing, except instead of watching Youtube videos, I frequently drew from books and comics that I had in my room. After a while, I realised that I had enough of the basics down that I could pretty much draw anything. And I did.

The concern we have now is that he’s using a screen to do it. Sometimes he can be in his room for hours drawing. When’s he’s done he will come down with about ten drawings from a single session. Is that amount of time spent in front of a screen good for him?

There are so many conflicting reports and findings of kids and the amount of screen time they should have. The saving grace here I suppose is that he’s not just sitting there doing nothing. He’s doing something creative, and the screen is only a guide.

As long as he’s producing drawings, I can’t see any harm in it. I think in time, he’ll realise that he doesn’t need the iPad and he’ll start drawing on his own.