— by Jan Pierce
Get ARTS
With It!
Y
Twelve Benefits of Exposing
Your Children to Fine Arts
A
s our school classrooms
become more and more
focused on reading and
writing excellence, our children may be
missing out on some of the most impor-
tant skills they can learn —appreciation
of and active participation in the arts!
Fine arts can include much more
than drawing and painting. They include
music and drama. They encompass
many kinds of artistic expression such
as working with clay, creating mosaics,
three dimensional paper creations, pup-
petry, and making mobiles. They include
photography, cooking, flower arrange-
ment — any activity in which self-ex-
pression bursts forth.
Children naturally love to engage
in art projects. The creative process is
motivating in itself — an invitation to
create something unique. There isn’t just
one answer in artistic endeavors, rather
there are infinite possibilities. And that’s
good for children.
Child development specialists tell
us that the left hemisphere of the brain
is used in logical thinking and analyti-
34 WNY Family December 2018
cal processes — basically our math,
reading and science lessons. The right
hemisphere of the brain is used in our
emotional, intuitive and creative activi-
ties — artistic types of activities. Ideally,
our children need to develop both sides
of the brain and the sides must work to-
gether for optimal learning success.
It’s not only beneficial to expose our
children to the fine arts, it’s fun. And you
might be surprised at the learning that
takes place while a child paints or molds
playdough or plays the
part of Peter Rabbit in a
simple play.
Here are twelve ben-
efits of engaging in artistic
projects:
1. Children will improve
their fine motor skills.
Handling
paintbrushes,
drawing with a pencil, cut-
ting safely with scissors, all
these require precision. Correct
placement of fingers on piano keys,
learning to play a scale, and strum-
ming a guitar all build motor skills.
2. Language skills are enhanced.
Children learn a whole new vo-
cabulary when they enter the world
of the arts. They learn names of
famous painters, color and shape
words, they learn to describe the
items in their drawing and identify
various artistic processes such as
shading, adding focal points and
concepts such as perspective.
3. Visual-spatial skills are developed.
Children learn how to place items
on a piece of paper, how to connect
pieces of a three dimensional work,
and how to move their clay into the
shape they desire.
4. In art appreciation, children will
learn about the vast diversity
found in artistic expression around
the world. They’ll build cultural
awareness as they compare African
masks with those created by Alas-
kan natives.
5. Decision making will develop. In
creating any piece of art, there is a
series of decisions made. What col-
or, what shape, how big or small?
Should I use watercolor or tempera?
Art lends itself to experimentation
that can spill over into creativity in
other areas of life.
6. Children who sing, act, or create
art learn to express their feelings
either with or without words. They
learn to express themselves in many
different ways.
7. Children who might tend to be shy
or fearful develop confidence when
taking part in the arts. Singing with
a group, reciting a poem with class-
mates, taking a chance on the
bright purple paint all work
together to build confi-
dence in the decisions
they make.
8.
Because
there is not just one
way to create, children
in the arts learn to embrace
multiple points of view. If ten
children draw the same apple, there
will be ten different apples. And
that’s okay.