How Art Improves Your Child's Development

Creativity and Children

   Many studies have been done in the past two decades regarding the importance of art and creativity in the development of children. Working extensively in the arts (visual art, music, and theater) with at-risk youth these past eight years, I have come to realize that visual art activities work on several important skills in a child's development.

Encouraging creativity. When creating an artistic work, whether it is a crayon drawing on a wall or a developed self-portrait, a child is learning to communicate visually. Maybe they are only drawing what happened that day ("mommy and me at the zoo"), or maybe they are communicating something deeper ("today the cat died and this is me sad"). Many times, young children are only learning to experiment ("red paint and blue paint mixed together make a new color") or learning how to properly use an art tool. Creativity is an important skill that is invaluable at school, in the workplace, and in everyday life. 

Increasing fine motor skill function. Whether learning how to cut properly with scissors for the first time, learning how to draw, or attempting to control a paintbrush's strokes on a canvas, a child can learn intricate fine motor skills through the arts that is invaluable to future success.

Developing problem-solving skills. A child wants to recreate a happy memory visually. These thoughts may run through the child's head, "Should I use crayons, pencils, or magazine cut-outs? What kind of paper should I use? The glue is not working properly, what will work better?" Art encourages basic and advanced problem-solving skills in a variety of contexts.

Encouraging self-expression. A kindergartner expresses his happiness through a cheerful painting of flowers and sunshine, a misunderstood teen communicates his frustration through a series of morose drawings, or a young cancer patient paints her visions of heaven. Each example shows a child learning to portray visually what can not be said through words or actions. Self-expression is an important human trait manifested in the visual arts.

An effective form of therapy for troubled youth. Many times when dealing with a student that exhibited uncontrollable anger, I invited the child to draw their feelings on a piece of paper. The student would angrily scribble out his/her emotions in bold strokes of red and black. Abused and neglected children often express their experiences through visual art. Art therapy also aids in dealing with grief, depression, and abandonment issues. Of course, in all cases, if a child or teen regularly exhibits disturbing visual imagery, a professional should be consulted immediately.

Multicultural art activities encourage the acceptance of others. Children can learn about other cultures in a safe and age-appropriate manner through the use of fun multicultural arts activities. Whether its sewing a set of Latin American worry dolls, learning Japanese calligraphy, exploring aboriginal dream paintings, or creating Haitian metal sculptures, you and your child can explore exciting faraway worlds together through engaging arts activities.