Why is art developmentally appropriate

And for children age 3 — 8 experts say it is the most important way to help them grow and develop. As a kindergarten teacher and mother, I can personally vouch for the benefits first-hand as I started doing arts and crafts at home with my daughter Kelly from a very young age.

Here are 6 important areas of child development that you can help your kids practice by doing art and crafts with them at home in Hong Kong. When kids use their fingers to manipulate art materials they are developing their fine motors skills as they use those small muscles in their hands. Their bilateral coordination skills improve as they learn to use both hands at the same time.

All this happens when they paint, colour, glue and cut. The quicker their fine motors skills develop the more they can do on their own, from eating by themselves to tying their own shoelaces. I remember when we first taught Kelly to tie her laces, she could tie them herself after a day! Early child literacy skills in art and crafts cover a wide range of areas — from speaking and reading to listening and understanding.

When kids make art or crafts they get to talk about their work which develops their communication skills. A skill all parents want our kids to grasp as soon as possible so they can start listening to us! Kelly is still practising this one! Unlike older kids and adults, most toddlers and preschoolers aren't self-conscious about what they're doing or focused on creating a finished product.

But letting go—and allowing kids to enjoy the process of creation—can reap big rewards. Fostering creativity won't just increase your child's chances of becoming the next Picasso. You're also helping him develop mentally, socially, and emotionally, says Ecklund-Flores.

Creating art may boost young children's ability to analyze and problem-solve in myriad ways, according to Mary Ann F. As kids manipulate a paintbrush, their fine motor skills improve. By counting pieces and colors, they learn the basics of math. When children experiment with materials, they dabble in science.

Most important perhaps, when kids feel good while they are creating, art helps boost self-confidence. And children who feel able to experiment and to make mistakes feel free to invent new ways of thinking, which extends well beyond the craft room.

Foster process-focused art with advice from Leslie Bushara, deputy director for education at the Children's Museum of Manhattan. Go beyond doodling with markers or crayons with these projects from art educators that encourage kids to enjoy the process of making art.

Natural arrangements Present your child with natural objects such as pinecones, stones, sticks, leaves, and shells, and a blank stretched canvas. Let her choose and arrange her nature materials in various patterns and designs on the canvas. Shaving-cream canvas Spray shaving cream onto a cookie sheet and add a few drops of food coloring.

Let your child blend colors and make designs in the foam. Found-object printmaking Take everyday objects bottle caps, wood pieces, cut cardboard, fruit and vegetable slices, corks, sponges, marker caps and let children ages 4 and up dip them in washable paint that's been spread on a foam tray. Use the objects to make unique prints.

Packing-peanut sculpture Slightly dampen the end of one packing "peanut" the biodegradable kind made from cornstarch and stick it to another to build tall, spiraling towers and beautiful shapes. Why Art and Creativity Are Important. He is fascinated by the way the layers of color change, even though his completed painting is a drippy, brown mass that is almost too wet to remove from the easel.

Still ego-oriented, however, Danny excitedly calls to his teacher, "Look what I did! Preschoolers develop their creative problem-solving skills and increase hand-eye coordination through the use of materials. Enjoying repetition, young children experience cause and effect or discover how parts relate to the whole.

While young threes are using gross-motor skills to manipulate blocks to construct a tall sculpture, older threes and fours use fine-motor skills to string buttons into colorful patterns. When modeling with clay, threes delight in pulling their creations apart and beginning again, while fours tend to add to their clay creations. Tactile materials hold a special appeal for curious preschoolers ready for new adventures.

Before washing his finger paint-covered hands, Wilfred, a 3-year-old, notices with great fascination that he doesn't always need paper to draw. He can create interesting lines on the back of his hand by using his index finger. Taisha, age 4, wants everyone to come and see the magical, growing mound of soft sawdust that her sawing has created.

After turning the glue bottle upside down and squeezing, Emma, a typical 4-year-old who loves to boast, announces, "I made a gigantic pile of the stickiest glue I've ever seen!

Interested in new materials, threes love to slide their fingers along as they dab paste on paper. They might tear off a few pieces of construction paper to add to the paste. However, creating a collage isn't really an important goal for 3-year-olds. Fascinated with change, they delight in simply snipping away at a whole sheet of paper to make little pieces. Fours, however, feel a real sense of mastery when they use scissors to cut assorted papers or magazine pictures to feature in their collages.

They learn to discriminate among shapes, colors, textures, and sizes as they select different materials-lace, cork, feathers, and more-to use in this open-ended activity. Preschoolers, especially inquisitive fours, relish new activities and novel materials.

While scissors help children take things apart, tape, staples, yarn, and string encourage them to put materials together. Using everyday items in unique ways, such as making paint prints with spoons, is so exciting for preschoolers that you can almost see children thinking about their actions.

Here are some ways you can help young children explore, rearrange, combine, or transform materials to nurture their spontaneity and sense of wonder. Provide open-ended, unstructured materials to choose during free play. To strengthen children's perceptual skills, offer items such as clay, paint at the easel, and various drawing implements. Organize materials for easy access and exploration. Use see-through containers to encourage children to try different media and tools.

Store items on reachable shelves to foster children's independent choice. Schedule long, uninterrupted periods for preschoolers to experiment at their own pace. Give children plenty of time to make decisions, play, and reflect on their discoveries.

Encourage them to share their findings with friends in a leisurely manner. If children lose interest or need a challenge, add new or more complex materials. Ask parents to send in interesting recyclables such as aerosol can tops, paper towel tubes, or ribbons to stretch children's imaginations. Encourage children to pursue their interests and ideas. Let them initiate their own activities, rather than always following ideas that you suggest.

Share children's excitement about their discoveries. Listen attentively to what they say, write down their comments, or document the process with photos or a video recording.