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What children learn from arts and crafts
Feb 7th
The merits of arts and crafts such as drawing and coloring for kids are regularly argued by child development experts, educators and parents alike… especially so for the real impact they have on child development. However, it is difficult to argue with the top three reasons why we should all encourage the children in our care to take part in arts and crafts.
Creativity – If you were to ask a cross section of individuals what is the first personality characteristic that arts and crafts will develop in a young child – most would answer ‘creativity’. And they are certainly correct. Everyone has natural talents and skills and it is possible to improve and boost them… even if you only have a little natural talent. Creativity enables your child to try out and benefit from new ideas, options and alternatives in any future career. Kids learn to do things in new ways and literally profiting from thinking “out of the box”.
Perseverance – Perseverance is perhaps the single most important quality for any successful individual – be they a a business person, sportsman or other professional.In fact, most well-known accomplishments in life have been attributed to perseverance alone. Arts and crafts improve everyone’s level of perseverance. For instance, children learn to keep trying until they complete the task, be it a sculpture or a coloring in sheet. If something goes wrong… they are encouraged to perservere by trying different ways and means and the outcome is a wonderful piece of art that they have created.
Concentration – Akin to having perseverance, developing concentration is another quality well-worth having as an individual.Drawing, colouring, sculpting clay or aluminium foil, painting and even doodling will definitely teach your child to focus on one specific task at hand… ignoring other distractions. In a nutshell, their overall concentration will definitely improve.
Even from a young age kids can draw and color – therefore give them blank pieces of paper or coloring in sheets so that they can scribble away to their hearts content whilst also improving their fine motor skills.
For example at sites like Spiderman Coloring you’ll find Spiderman kids as well as coloring pages, funny pics and more.
Little girls on the other hand tend to prefer images of fairies and princesses – however, favorite characters such as those from Disney movies are also hits.
Give your child many opportunities to experience being creative, concentrating and perservering through the fun medium of arts and crafts. Provide them with materials as well as resources and the occasional canvas so that they can be creative and feel pride in what they create.
Teaching toddlers about colors
Jan 19th
Toddlers are interested in the world around them. They are inquisitive and always very eager to learn. Teaching a toddler something new isn't always easy - however because their attention spans are short and not all of them are ready for a 'lesson' just yet. If you plan teach your toddler all about the different colors, here is the best way to start.
The first activity you do together should be very simple and basic.Find some crayons and either a coloring book or some plain white paper. Start with the primary colors: red, yellow and blue.
Show your toddler each colored crayon and say the color to him, then together. If he does not want to say it, that’s okay – he is still learning by looking at the color and listening to you.
Choose a picture to color together. Little boys enjoy coloring pictures of cars and trucks while little girls usually enjoy coloring images from fairy tales and princesses - at sites like Barbie Coloring Pages you’ll find the best Barbie pictures to color
If you are using blank, white paper, let your toddler choose something that the two of you can draw and color together. Now it’s coloring time!
As he colors the pictures, tell him what color he is using. Then try to say the color together. Do not force him or her to tell you the color. This should be a fun activity for your child not a drill! Make sure to compliment his efforts by commenting as he colors, "What a pretty blue flower!” or “I love the way you colored the blue car.”
After you have colored together, make sure to put his picture on display somewhere prominent where visitors to your home can comment on it.This will give your child confidence and boost his or her self esteem – which is great for you because s/he will want to color and draw with you again – and you will have yet another opportunity to talk about colors together.
Once your toddler recognizes the basic colors of red, blue and yellow – you can move on to other colors – don’t overwhelm him/her with the rainbow just yet!
Remember that crayons pose a choking hazard - so always supervise your child while he draws and colors.
Children’s drawing and cultural influences
Dec 13th
Culture plays a large role in many things – from what we eat to how we dress – and it even has an effect on the minutae of life – like whether or not drawing will enter into a child’s repertoire of behavior.
For instance, studies have shown that Taiwanese-American & Chinese-American parents tend to plan more drawing time for their children than they European-American counterpart parents do. As a result of more time spent drawing, Taiwanese-American and Chinese-American children’s drawings have been deemed more advanced than those of their counterparts.
According to research carried out in 1983, when children are provided with drawing materials and encouragement they tend to create works that reflect their particular culture – and each culture has its own ‘style’. For instance, French children are prone to spending a good deal of time on drawing, filling the entire page with large, colorful designs, drawings by Japanese children meanwhile tend to be more complex, harmonious and complete than drawings by North-. Children from the island of Bali on the other hand, use many small and intricate marks to draw complex, colorful designs which fill the page.
While many cultures use and value drawing as art, there are a few cultures that do not foster coloring of drawing at all.
The children from the island of Ponape have no prior drawing experience. Yet when a recent study was carried out, those Ponape children that were given drawing materials tended to draw by starting in the center of the page making shapes that connected outward like groups of linked bubbles – they also tended not to fill the page and used only one color per drawing.
When children from cultures that do not encourage nor include drawing in their children’s early childhood are first introduced to the tools, they tend to experiment, scribble, or attempt realistic drawings right from the start. There appears to be great variation in first attempts. However, in general, it has been found that children usually draw from a cultural perspective – imitating the designs reflected in fabrics, architecture or other aspects of the adult culture including symbol systems such as written letters or characters and numerals.
Culture then … confines and defines the art of children.
Children from ‘First World’ countries and continents like Europe, Australia and the USA have many opportunities to draw and color and are encouraged to do so by their parents, teachers and other caregivers. Material is plentiful too with crayons, paper, coloring books and even online resources in plentiful supply. Little boys tend to enjoy coloring pictures that represent what they sees every day such as cars, trucks and machinery while little girls enjoy coloring images of fairytale scenes – however you can seldome go wrong with Disney characters as most children have a favourite and at sites like Disney Coloring Pages you’ll find many disney colouring
With both encouragement and resources a-plenty, our children are very lucky to have both the means as well as the support to express themselves creatively through drawing and colouring.