Visual Arts in Early Childhood Development

An Artist's Guide to Raising Children | The New Yorker

We all have experiences doing art projects when we were younger. From paintings to chalk drawings, we all have some memory whether it was in school or at home; but how did this improve your development? Art is not just some elective that you’re required to take, it fosters development in multiple domains that you might not even realize!

The article “An introduction to the visual arts in early childhood education” dives deeper and breaks down what activities in the visual arts really does to help your child develop. Various main aspects of development that are promoted are mediated thinking, facilitated communication, imagination and creativity, appreciation of diversity and cultural knowledge, critical literacy and understanding in art, and even emotional support. Different activities can tune into different themes of development, but by integrating various activities that include arts whether that be by examining historical pieces or creating art of your own, all these positive aspects of development can be touched upon.

Now, when you think back to your own experiences in your art classes, you can see how important each lesson was. Not only was it fun and engaging, but it taught you a lot! Next time your child comes home with a new art project, think about all that was learned in that lesson. It is cool what art can do!

Read the full article here!

Mikayla Clemens

Research assistant, UConn KIDS