PLAY, find a picture to be inspired by! Don’t get glued to the tv or video games, it inhibits creativity. Just have fun and experiment.
I want to recommend some supplies for creating art with. Chalk pastels on black construction paper really makes things pop! This is how we did these fabulous Nativity scenes at night. Get a fixative, I like this brand one of the best. You have to order fixative online as it does not seem to be in stores much. As for Chalk pastels Sargent is a very inexpensive brand for beginners, but if you have an older student who is really into art, I recommend Prismacolor brand as it has less chalk and more pigment.
A mixed Media Pad is good for doing watercolors and dry media. The weight of the paper should be at least 100 lbs (it feels like cardstock). If the paper is too thin it will bubble and wrinkle a lot. I like Prang watercolors as they are quite affordable. DO NOT get Crayola, Rose Art or cheap watercolors from Michael’s or Hobby Lobby as they have a lot of filler and very little pigment.
For basic drawing get a retractable eraser to get into small areas. A blending stump is good for blending and smoothing out pastels. It will save you your fingerprints much later in life, like mine! I also like a Primacolor Ebony Jet Black graphite pencil to get really nice dark values in my work.
When an art piece has both dark and light values in it, not all greys it will really stand out. The best way to see how the work is in value is to shoot a picture and then turn it to a black and white photo. If you see both Blacks and whites with some grey of course you are on the right path. Most of the time you will need to place some more dark values in the piece to cause more contrast.