No age is too young to start your child in an art class. Currently, we offer art classes for children, ages as young as 3. Aside from letting your three year old make a mess at Spiva’s Preschool Summer Camp instead of your home, why should you enroll them in art class? What benefit would they get from taking art classes? There are a lot of good reasons to bring your child to art classes, not the least of which is simply because art if FUN!
Here are five ways that art helps kids grow and learn to be successful as an adult.
Refine a Young Child’s Motor Skills
According to the National Institutes of Health, developmental milestones around age three should include drawing a circle and beginning to use safety scissors. Around age four, children may be able to draw a square and begin cutting straight lines with scissors. Art projects or playing an instrument is fantastic for a younger child’s motor skills development. Simple things like holding a paintbrush or scissors and scribbling with a crayon are vital to developing these fine motor skills.
Foster That Childlike Creativity
This one may seem like the obvious answer, but practicing the arts allow kids to express themselves more so than math or science. What isn’t so obvious, though, is that yes, they indeed have to practice being creative. If children have practice thinking in a creative way, it will come naturally to them now and in their future.
In the process of participating in an art class, children are exposed to different possibilities, to discover and have the freedom to make decisions about their work.
Learn How To Work as a Team
In many art applications, children are required to work together. They share responsibility for the outcome of their work to achieve a common goal. Kids learn that their contribution to the group matters. Art also provides a common ground for kids across racial stereotypes, barriers, and other prejudices.
Art Makes Kids Smarter
A report by Americans for the Arts says that young people who regularly participate in the arts are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement, to participate in a math and science fair or to win an award for writing an essay or poem than kids who do not participate in arts.
Your Child Will Be More Likely to Have Refined Critical Thinking Skills
Art stimulates perception and teaches children to think openly. It allows oneself to question instead of merely respond. Art strengthens problem solving and critical thinking skills. Learning how to make choices (How should I paint this character? What color should I use to convey this?) will undoubtedly carry over into their academic education and into their intra and interpersonal parts of life in adolescence and adulthood.
If your child is looking to become more involved in art, Spiva Center for the Arts offers classes for all ages and interests. For more information on our art classes in Joplin, please contact us at (417) 623-0183.