When kids learn art, they think, they discover, they thrive! Art teaches creativity and critical thinking. Children who learn through art do better in all areas.
We know that “art,” understood as spontaneous creative play, is what young children naturally do—singing, dancing, drawing, and role-playing. We also know that the arts engage all the senses and involve a variety of modalities including the kinesthetic, auditory, and visual. When caregivers engage and encourage children in arts activities, they are laying the foundation for—and even helping wire children’s brains for—successful learning. Art is defined as something aesthetic to the senses. A “work of art” is both an activity and a result. One of the great aims of education is to make it possible for people to be engaged in the process of creating themselves. Here at Art By Mia we nurture, foster and support the magic of Art, knowing that if we sow the seeds the garden will grow, and we all benefit from the blooms.
Art reminds us that the limits of our language do not define the limits of our thinking.
The Benefits of Arts Education for Children
- Stimulates and develops the imagination and critical thinking, and refines cognitive and creative skills.
- Has a tremendous impact on the developmental growth of every child and has proven to help level the “learning field” across socio-economic boundaries.
- Strengthens problem-solving and critical-thinking skills, adding to overall academic achievement and school success.
- Develops a sense of craftsmanship, quality task performance, and goal-setting—skills needed to succeed in the classroom and beyond.
- Teaches children life skills such as developing an informed perception; articulating a vision; learning to solve problems and make decisions; building self-confidence and self-discipline; developing the ability to imagine what might be; and accepting responsibility to complete tasks from start to finish.
- Nurtures important values, including team-building skills; respecting alternative viewpoints; and appreciating and being aware of different cultures and traditions.
As children describe people and things in their world using pictures, body movements, and mime, they enhance their descriptive, nonverbal, cognitive capabilities, while repeating stories, poems, and songs strengthens memory.
Art is critical for educating the whole child
- Arts education fosters brain development, especially of the creative and intuitive right brain functions.
- Skills developed through art lead to better learning in other areas.
- Students in quality art programs benefit from a wide range of positive effects including development of creativity and thinking skills, better self-expression, appreciation of art and music, learning about other cultures, and enriched personal satisfaction with their achievements.
- The arts provide experiences that cannot be duplicated by other means.
- Art gives pleasure and meaning to our daily experience.
- Insights from the arts are as important in giving meaning to the world as those from science and history.
- Through art, students develop cultural awareness and appreciation of other viewpoints.
- Art develops social skills and teamwork. In art class, students are encouraged to share ideas and help each other.
Art is a basic part of a good education
- Creating art helps children discover the unexpected possibilities of their creativity.
- Art teaches critical thinking rather than getting the right answer.
- Through art children learn that problems can have more than one solution and that questions can have more than one answer.
- Art teaches children to evaluate and make good judgments about qualitative relationships.
- Art celebrates multiple perspectives and different ways to see and interpret the world.