HOW ARTS EDUCATION BENIFITS OUR KIDS
July 13, 2022
Art plays a major role in a child’s development. As we mentioned in How Educators Foster Creativity To Keep Away Pandemic, art helped lots of children overcome challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing, music, writing, and crafting gave them an outlet to process and express the complicated emotions induced by the crises around them.
Even beyond times of crisis, arts education remains important. Children that study art are well-equipped to develop better emotional regulation techniques, refine their motor skills, build confidence, and more. Below, we’ve discussed the best benefits of arts education for children’s development.
Emotional Regulation
How Drawing to Distract Improves Mood in Children, a study conducted by Jennifer E. Drake of the Brooklyn College Department of Psychology, discovered that drawing had a significant power to elevate the mood of children aged 6-12. The study argued that because drawing was a pleasurable activity, becoming absorbed in the act displaces negative thoughts, allowing more positive thoughts to enter. When children study art, the joy they derive from participating in art-related activities re-shifts their focus and causes negative feelings to dissipate.
Confidence
Art is creation. The works children make provides them with concrete evidence of their own skills. Participating in art-related activities and seeing results, be it writing, singing, or drawing, helps children build their sense of self-worth. Parents can help add to their confidence, too, by providing praise and encouragement. According to Julie King's How to Talk So Little Kids Will Listen, affirmation plays a major role in fostering self-esteem. However, try not to overdo praise, lest they become overconfident. To help children build a healthy and realistic view of themselves, praise their efforts.
Self-Expression
Each child’s art is unique to them. Creating gives them the opportunity to convey their strengths, interests, and later on, their beliefs. Drawing, for example, might be at first a way for to express admiration for the things that they like. Later, they may figure out how to use shapes, colors, and composition to express their emotions. Through art, children can figure out their own point of view, and build a healthy sense of identity.
Motor Skills
Studying art helps children hone their fine and large motor skills. Learning how to draw and write early on helps young children gain stronger control over their muscles. A VeryWell Family article entitled Large Motor Skills Activities Inspired by Art also recommends trying larger creative projects to improve muscle control in the arms, legs, and trunk. Children can participate in mural projects and sidewalk chalk art to get their whole bodies moving.
Problem-Solving
Children will not always have the resource to express the contents of their unlimited imaginations. However, that lack of resources helps them stretch their imaginations even further. Let’s say your child wants to draw a landscape but doesn’t have any crayons to color in its different shades and hues. They might strengthen their linework to make the distinctions between shapes even clearer. Or they might play around with shading to convey darker and lighter hues. Art teaches children how to execute their ideas even when they think they lack the means.
Children need arts education. Not only does learning about art open their minds to a world of creative possibilities, but it also helps them hone valuable life skills, including emotional regulation, self-expression, and problem-solving.
Submitted by Taylor Scott for just-zipit.com