Art is empowering. Not only is it one of the most beneficial activities for a child’s development, but it is a multi-faceted learning tool that teaches skills and abilities that reach far outside of art itself. Art encourages freedom of expression for any age. Through finger painting, sketching, or coloring, your little ones can explore the freedom to choose their own colors, interests, and designs. They become more confident in themselves and their own unique thoughts and ideas.
Why Art is Crucial For Healthy Development and Teamwork
Art activities are beneficial to the physical and emotional development of children. It encourages the formation and strengthening of fine motor skills. Cutting shapes, folding paper, or holding a paintbrush all contribute.
Art is a tool for mental and emotional growth. Through art activities, children learn about patience and perseverance. They learn that with a little bit of hard work and concentration, they can not only create a masterpiece but discover pride in themselves.
Art teaches the concept of collaboration. As a part of a family or classroom group, each child is contributing their own style. Learning to complete a piece of art as a group, teaches children how to be an effective team player and to learn how to focus on the big picture or long term projects.
Art teaches endlessly and is an essential part of education. The best part? Art knows no bounds and the joy of it is never outgrown.
Art is unquestionably one of the purest and highest elements in human happiness. It trains the mind through the eye, and the eye through the mind. As the sun colors flowers, so does art color life.
― John Lubbock
How to Implement Art into Daily Educational Activities
Art can be added into educational activities in many ways. Here are a few ways that you can implement art today!
Art + Nature
Go for an adventure walk and bring along a piece of paper and a notebook. Have your child collect things they find along the way. Use glue, glitter, markers, or any other materials to create a fun masterpiece. Help your child identify and label the items they found and talk about what it is and what it does.
Art +Science
This one is a favorite among all kiddos I know. All you need is a tray, some baking soda and some vinegar and food coloring. The baking soda is placed in a tray and set on a flat surface. Vinegar is then placed in separate jars and colored with food coloring droplets. The child uses a dropper to drop the vinegar into the pan. You can use this activity as a great opportunity to teach about chemical reactions.
Art + Math
Yes, you can use art to teach math! Collect a few stones outside and set up a painting station for your child. Have them color and design the stones as they like. While the stones are drying using a piece of poster paper or cardboard to draw a grid or a series of circles. Color the circles or grid various colors and then encourage your child to place the stones in the appropriate spaces. You can also place numbers on the stones and paper to further direct this activity. Join in with them on counting the number of stones in each space. This activity is versatile so feel free to put a twist on this activity in any way you’d like!
Art + Spelling
Doodle for Google is a yearly competition that allows children to draw a new Google theme. Enter the competition or simply create one of your own. Word art is a great way for kids to illustrate and give meaning to letters and words. This type of activity can be an opportunity to discuss how words are spelled and properly used. Try this with some choice vocabulary words and see what they come up with. You may be surprised how much fun grammar can be!
Art + Writing
“Show don’t tell.” Think of a commonly eaten food, like a strawberry, and give your child the task of explaining that food item only by explaining its taste, smell, sound, or feel. Display the item next to them as a reference to help them come up with 10-20 describing words to use in a paragraph. Let them be expressive and silly. This is a great way to inspire an early love of research and writing.
Art + History
Children LOVE taking pictures and videos. Inspire your little one’s artistic abilities by recreating and filming an important historical event. This is a fantastic way for them to get a hands-on look at some pretty cool things that have happened in the history of the world. Provide pictures of important characters and encourage your child to put together an outfit to fully embody their character in the story. I guarantee this is a history lesson they won’t soon forget.
All in all, we see that art can be an amazing way to bring some life into topics that may be seen as initially ‘boring’. Let’s face it, implementing creativity into learning is not only dynamic for educational purposes but it’s so much fun for you as a teacher, so let’s do more of it!
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