The well known sculptor Henry Moore, once said: “Art is the expression of imagination, not the reproduction of reality”.
For young children, art is vital in their development as they learn so many skills while having fun exploring and experimenting in the creative process. It is during the process of creating, rather than from the end product, that art helps feed the brain as cognitive skills, fine motor skills, language skills, creativity, self confidence and so much more develop.
From using a paintbrush to holding a crayon, a childs fine motor skills that can be refined doing art, and they are essential for life skills as simple as tying shoe laces and holding a spoon, and then learning to write and so much more. Cognitive skills like logic and reasoning, memory and visual and auditory processing are strengthened by doing art, and these are all essential skills needed for life. The stronger they are in a young child, the more confidence it will give them to accept the challenges of life ahead and face problems with a creative mind and to be able to come up with solutions and work with others and lead successful lives.
I know from my experience running a playschool over many years, the most exciting time of the day was messy play time, as we called it! It was a creative time where they could have fun making or baking something, where they were fully involved in the whole process and could be proud of the end result! On a daily basis we did something either in the art line, like painting, or we did some baking. It was always a happy time.
Baking, like art, also has so many benefits, from being creative as in decorating cupcakes, to teaching maths skills when measuring out ingredients and of course the pure excitement of mixing and stirring (and developing muscle strength) and tasting as ingredients are added to a bowl and then eventually end up as a chocolate chip cookie or a carrot cake muffin! Seeing a project through from beginning to end is an important life skill for children to learn, and they gain patience and build self esteem as they progress and eventually see how their efforts yield amazing results, whether in a lovely piece of artwork, or in a delicious muffin or iced gingerbread cookie. Kids art is beautiful because they made it, and home made baked goods like an odd shaped peanutbutter cookies or a cupcake with messy icing dripping off it, taste delicious no matter what they look like!
Art allows for relaxation time and can help to destress. Being able to freely express themselves through art is good for overall mental well being. Children can use art to help them deal with things happening in their lives and it can give them a way to express complex feelings.
Creativity is not just for artists and designers. Art can boost creativity and developing good creative skills helps in the ability to think creatively and solve problems in order to come up with new ideas and complete projects etc. This in turn builds confidence and self esteem, so vital for any child, as the confident child is the one who best accepts the challenge of learning.
Art is fun and we all like to have fun. Art can be fun for the whole family too, so put aside time to make a gingerbread house together one Sunday or to make Easter crowns when together over the Easter weekend, and see who can make the cutest or brightest or funniest in the family. Art can be used to develop strong family bonds and memories that will last a lifetime! So, enjoy and embrace the mess that can come with art at home, and make it fun tidying up afterwards!
Art and being creative can help us all in life for many of the reasons described here, and that should indicate how very important it is to early childhood development, as your child can learn a variety of different life skills through having fun ‘playing’ as they get creative, learning so much through that artistic play.