Why are arts and crafts important for kids? Every parent should know the emotional benefits of engaging in arts and crafts and its role in cognitive development and learning in kids.
The importance of art and craft in early education is well-known. Be it making miniature statues from clay or coloring with crayons, folding papers expertly to make origami shapes, or preparing a handmade birthday card, there are numerous benefits of art and craft activities.
Also, arts and crafts activities spike a child’s interest and tap his artistic potential. By introducing your child to art and craft or encouraging him to take it up, you will sow the seeds for his physical, social, and cognitive development.
The importance of art and craft in child development can be gauged by its emotional, physical, cognitive and learning benefits. Here are a few positives of childhood art and craft activities:
Arts and crafts for physical benefits
- Develops fine motor skills: As most arts and crafts activities involve moving the hands and fingers, they help in developing fine motor skills. Even simple actions like coloring with pencils or holding a paintbrush help to strengthen the muscles and improve their control.
- Increases dexterity: Arts and crafts can increase the agility and dexterity of a child. With practice and improvement of fine motor skills, his manual dexterity, speed, and artistic skills will also increase.
- Improves hand-eye coordination: Engaging in arts and crafts-related activities from a very young age leads to tremendous improvement in hand-eye coordination. This will help a child during the later primary school years when she is forming letters or spacing out words.
- Encourages self-expression: Engaging in a creative pursuit like arts and crafts gives a child the opportunity to express his feelings in a meaningful, tangible, and positive way. He also derives satisfaction from making something on his own.
- Helps in socializing: Being together with other children in an art class gives a child the opportunity to interact and socialize with those sharing similar interests. And when parents show an interest in doing the activity with their child, it also strengthens the parent-child bond.
- Boosts self-esteem: Art and craft-related activities instill a sense of pride and achievement in a child, which helps in boosting his self-esteem.
- Enhances innovation and creative ability: The opportunity to create whatever a child wants to encourage innovation. And the ability to think and solve problems she might face while making something enhances creativity.
- Sharpens decision-making skills: Facing and solving artistic challenges will help a child learn to make effective and correct decisions. This helps to develop a problem-solving attitude, which will also help him in other endeavors of his life.
- Improves visual learning and memory: Through arts and crafts, a child not only learns about new shapes and colors but also becomes aware of different patterns and figures. Activities such as jewelry making or sculpting even require visualizing and memorizing complex designs in the mind.
5 Ways Parents Can Encourage Kids to Love Arts and Crafts
Parents can be a big influence on their children’s lives and can certainly cultivate their love for art. Here are some ways to do exactly that:
- Parents can begin to introduce the arts to their children by involving them in some of their activities. If listening to music or visiting the museum are some things you enjoy, tag your kids along. This will open their eyes up to a whole new world and help them develop an interest in the arts. Try working on a fun project together to encourage them further.
- Besides buying toys or books for your child, gift them with material to play and create. Simple items like clay, glitter, glue, scissors, paint, and colored paper help to bring out their creative side however if they are still young, do not overwhelm them with too many ideas!
- Parents tend to enroll their children in all classes besides school these days. To help build their love for art, try giving them space and time to explore other areas to be creative. Be supportive and flexible by allowing them to express themselves through arts and crafts.
- Asking open-ended questions can help your children’s imagination flow freely. Instead of following a regimented question-and-answer dialogue, give your child the freedom to think openly. Try finding out what textures and materials they like or the types of supplies they intend to use on your next shopping trip to the craft store.
- Parents can teach their children to solve problems using arts and crafts. The key is to be as creative as possible when presented with a challenge. This makes the task at hand all the more fun and you might be surprised at all the possible ways and ideas your child comes up with.
6 Arts and Crafts Activities Parents Can Do with Kids at Home
- Take a walk outside and start to pick up different types of material like flowers, leaves, and twigs. Once back from your walk, use the various supplies to build a collage. This creates fun art you can display and most importantly, positive memories.
- A fun thing to do together is to pick up pebbles or rocks and decorate them with paints, markers, and any other type of material that will stay on the smooth surface. Paint them to resemble cactuses, then glue them together and place the painted rocks in a pot of sand. Voila! You now have a cactus that doesn’t need watering.
- Instead of buying a card, make one together with your child for a special occasion. You can allow your child to be as creative as they like with crayons, markers, glitter, and glue. This is also a thoughtful gift that the receiver can appreciate.
- Wooden salad servers are a great way to enhance your kitchen utensils. Work on decorating the handle with finger paint to transform a boring, lifeless piece of wood into something much more appealing. It is usable too and creates a good story and idea for other parents at a dinner party.
- Another way to spruce up your household items is by taking a plain old napkin and giving it life! Use items like leaves, flowers or even fruit and vegetable to dip into paint and start decorating. What an amazing idea!
- If you have a bunch of old magazines and newspapers, you can use them to create a piece of mosaic artwork instead of throwing it away. Use a hard piece of paper as a backing and draw a picture. From there, your child can tear up pieces of magazines and newspapers to fill in the drawing, pasting the scraps with glue. It is fun for hours!
The various benefits of arts and crafts also extend to the development of cultural awareness and improved academic performance as well. When so many benefits are packaged in arts and crafts, and that too with fun and excitement, why not allow your child to engage in it?
By: Silvia Irene
Source:
Ananya Subramanian. Importance of Art and Craft in Early Childhood Education. https://www.parentcircle.com/benefits-of-arts-and-craft-in-early-education/article
The Importance of Arts and Crafts for Kids in Early Childhood Education. https://prsschool.com.sg/the-importance-of-arts-and-crafts-for-kids-in-early-childhood-education/#:~:text=Art%20and%20craft%20develop%20your,styles%20and%20pieces%20of%20artwork.
