Arts enhance our daily lives. Activities such as dance, drama, drawing, and sculpting can provide children an artistic outlet. Such activities allow children to express how they feel, think, or imagine! Encouraging artistic outlets is important to a child’s development. It allows children to explore cultural and individual identity. It allows children to develop their own thoughts, opinions and feelings. Being artistic with your child will help promote language, social and intellectual development. It encourages your child to interpret and think about their own worlds.
Help your child get involved in the arts. This could mean taking them to a child based photography class. This may mean simply providing them some markers and paper to draw, scribble, and create. You can take this time to also teach your child numbers, colors, letters, shapes, and objects.
Allow your child to pursue their artistic interests. Singing and dancing will help develop your child’s sense of rhythm, melody, harmony, and timing. Encourage dramatic play by providing dress up clothes and different scenes to act out. A great family game would be Charades.
It is important to encourage your child’s attempts for success. If your child is learning to play the piano you can show interest by listening to them play and praise them for work well done - even if it does not sound like Tchaikovsky! Children learn at different levels. They will only get better with practice and encouragement!
