Doing art activities with your child helps in achieving the full potential of the mind.
Gifted children’s brains show that when they solve problems in their areas of giftedness, there is an increased electrical activity in the left and right sides of the brain.
We all know that the left side of the brain is responsible for the logical and analytical processes while the right side is for emotional perception, intuition and creativity.
Studies show that for the brain to really work efficiently, the two sides or hemispheres should work together.
Art is a great medium to stimulate the right brain and connect to the left brain.
But not all artwork is the same.
For art to truly serve its purpose in the children’s development, art should be process oriented.
Process oriented art is:
- Free from step by step instruction
- Free from samples, patterns, dittos and cut outs
- Free from the idea of the “right” way to do and explore things
- Focus on experience and exploration of technique, tools and materials
Children do:
- Unique and original artwork
- Relaxing and calming experience while making art
- Their own art
- Own choice of art – process, material and product.
You will hear:
- “Look what I made!”
- “I am going to do another.”
- “Can I have more time?’
- and whispers from parents and other adults:
- “What is that?”
Aha! Then, you did your job well.
What you will probably see in your room or art centre:
- Mess. Lots and lots of it
- Paint on hands and arms, clothes, hair – everywhere! And not just on kids but might be on yours too.
- All sorts of traditional art materials and non-art materials like toothbrushes, twigs, tissue rolls etc.
- Paper – strips, rims and rolls of all kinds
- Display of different art works
- Paint smeared, smiling faces
If you are a bit apprehensive to proceed, remember the children learn and develop:
- Big and small muscles development
- Eye and hand coordination
- Knowledge of colors and shapes by exploring different materials
- Social skills by share and interact with other children
- Sense of responsibility in caring for materials and packing away
- Self-esteem when their artwork is valued
- Imagination and experimentation as it is encouraged in creating original artwork.
- Observe, describe, analyze and interpret things around them as inspiration for art work
- Creativity and open mindedness
- Self-expression of feelings and ideas using visual representation
- Problem-solving skills and critical-thinking skills
- Multiple points of view in expressing self through art and knowing that there is no one right way or answer to do it.
- Persistence and resilience even when experiencing difficulties and setbacks
- About own culture and others’ by continuing traditions and building communities
Moreover, researchers from Michigan State University said that children exposed to arts and craft are able to think out of the box.
Highlighting that children “exposed to a wide variety of arts and crafts were more likely to create unique inventions that is worthy of patents, come up with ideas good enough to start a new company, or publish provocative papers on science and technology.”
Indeed, the results of the study show a strong connection between “childhood engagement in the creative arts and the measurable success later in life.”
Convinced?
Following the guidelines of The National Association for Education of Young Children (NAEYC) these are the tips for leading process-focused arts:
- Provide open-ended art. Make sure different materials are available for your children to use during their art creation.
- Provide plenty of time so that the children can fully undergo the process in their heads. As much as possible, do not hurry them to finish their work, let them get absorbed.
- Let children do their work in their own time. Set a day or a big chunk of your class schedule to just do art. This way, you will not have the need to make them start or finish following a class schedule.
- Respect children’s art, do not throw or pack away unfinished creations. The child may be planning to come back to it in a while or tomorrow.
- Notice and comment on what you see. Describe what the child draw, example “I see yellow dots and red lines,” but try not to over comment.
- Say Yes to children’s ideas even if it seems impossible or unheard of, try it together. Your child might be onto something – a new discovery or a masterpiece. Whatever is the end product, what matters is you listened to his/her idea, you modeled curiosity and willingness to experiment.
- Offer new and interesting materials from inside your home and school and even outdoors.
- Play music in the background for added inspiration.
- Take materials outside in the natural light. Things look different in natural light than indoors, besides, it may inspire your children differently when working outside.
- Display children’s books with colorful and creative illustrations like Eric Carle, Lois Ehlert and Javaka Steptoe to name a few.
- Always ask the children if they want their work displayed in school or brought home.
- Make it a fun experience for the children. If you are a neat freak, be emotionally prepared for the mess and just enjoy the whole process with the children.
- And lastly, remember that this is the child’s art and not yours. Try not to dictate what to do. If your child wants a red banana and a purple apple then let him/her.
Art is not just something you give the children to pass time. Nor is it merely something to make as a project to display or bring home.
Art has a lot more to offer than that, it benefits the children’s development in all domains and it can be therapeutic to everyone engage in it.
Moreover, you do not need to be artistic to teach art to children – all you need is to be open, curious and adventurous.
Remember, the process in making art is more important than the end product.
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