Art and creativity instill lifelong traits that will help your child succeed in life. Even though schools focus more on subjects like math, science and language arts, the creative arts are something that should be a part of every child’s life.
Young children will be assisted in many ways of their development through the creative use of various art projects.
- Physical Development
- Social Development
- Cognitive Development
- Emotional Development
- Imaginative Development
Skills that your child can develop through practicing creativity in any form:
- Confidence If a child is encouraged to bring forth their own interpretations in a drawing, a sculpture or the writing of their own poem, they will develop a sense of confidence in their own skills. They learn how to step out of their own comfort zones.
- Thinking Creatively Many jobs require out of the box thinking. If your child has practiced this type of creative thinking when deciding what to make, how to make, and through the execution of an art project, they will be in a good place once they leave school.
- Collaboration Learning to collaborate on a piece of art, a dance for a recital or play a musical instrument in a group … all these kinds of creative activities teach a child how to work well with others.
- Problem Solving When tackling any creative endeavor, children have to basically problem solve throughout the process. This is such a valuable skill to develop for any future career.
As a parent or teacher, you have the ability to introduce your child to a plethora of artistic activities and projects. Kids are usually biting at the bit to try new art techniques so you shouldn’t have any resistance on their part. Be sure to always keep lots of fun and colorful art supplies on hand so art will become a normal weekly activity. And why not get artsy yourself? Kids really love it when parents and caregivers work alongside them doing separate but similar projects.
To help you come up with ideas other than drawing or painting, here are some fun and creative suggestions.
- Make a sculpture from air-dry clay.
- Cut colored paper and make a collage.
- Make a Memory Jug like the one shown. This was a fun project that enabled not only the child choosing his pieces to be used but also how to artistically place them.
- Make a robot from odds and ends and found objects.
- Gather unusual materials, such as beads, feathers, twigs, paint and set materials out on a table. Let the creative little minds come up with their own projects.
