Aside from being loads of fun, arts and crafts have lots of unseen benefits for children. As well as being a great bonding activity, arts and crafts for children help them develop and grow. Allowing your child to be creative is great for both mental and physical wellbeing, especially in children aged 3-8. But, arts and crafts can be messy and pose a hassle to parents. If you’ve never been a fan of arts and crafts for your children, here are some benefits that might change your mind.
Motor Skills
Arts and crafts involve a lot of small and intricate tasks. Holding pens and pencils, colouring between the lines, and glueing sequins or pipe cleaners all require a lot of control from little hands. All this hard work will improve your children’s motor skills, as well as their hand-eye coordination.
Individuality
When children create arts and crafts together, they’ll see that every creation comes out differently. This is a great opportunity to teach your child about their individuality and the uniqueness of their imagination. Creating and finishing their arts and crafts will strengthen this individuality and help your child come into their own.
Decision-Making
From what colour to put where, to how the finished project will look, decision-making goes hand in hand with creativity. This is one of those benefits that work behind the scenes, as it’ll empower your child to problem solve, and trust their own choices.
Imagination
Of course, arts and crafts require a lot of imagination. By giving your child the power to realise the things they’ve dreamt up, arts and crafts encourage creative imaginations. It also helps them to focus on the tasks at hand, as they’ll already have an idea of what they want the finished project to look like.
Self Esteem
When your child has finished their arts and crafts project, they’ll have something they made all by themselves to keep forever. This is great for your child’s confidence and allows them to be proud of their achievement. If something goes wrong with their creation, arts and crafts are the perfect way to teach them that they can fix their mistakes with hard work.
Preparation and Clean-Up
Usually drawing, painting, and crafting requires a lot of different materials. Getting your child familiar with the process of arts and crafts will teach them how to prepare for more messy creations. Not to mention, with table covers or floor mats that they can lay out, they won’t have to worry about keeping things tidy. Plus, clearing everything away when they’re finished will impart useful and practical cleaning skills to your children.
How Can Parents Supplement Arts and Crafts?
As well as the inherent benefits of being creative, parents can help improve the effects of arts and crafts on children, too. You can set out a specific time each week for arts and crafts, or compile a creative kit that your child can use whenever the instinct to create takes them.
Join in with your child, and ask if you can make something of your own. This turns arts and crafts into a great bonding activity between parent and child. This will expose them to other creative techniques, and the many different ways they can bring their creations to life. You’ll both get to learn more about each other, and work together on beautiful final projects that you can display around your home.
Finally, the best way to consolidate the benefits of arts and crafts is to talk to your children about their creations. Check in with your little one while they’re creating to find out more about their project and inspiration. Ask open-ended questions about their choice of colours and images. This will help improve your child’s communication skills, and boost their confidence when creating.