7 Reasons Why Your Child Should Get into Arts & Crafts

Engaging in arts and crafts projects could transform your home into a mess. Bear in mind however that your kids are learning very important skills that will help them in school and life. Although, arts and crafts could be messy for kids as it translates into a typhoon of paint, toll tubes, toilet papers, etc. It is actually a worthy cause.

If you resent the idea of engaging in arts and crafts with your kids, it might help to be aware that they can learn a wide range of skills. They get to improve on learning, build on their creativity, boost their confidence and you have some quality time together. This written piece will address the top seven reasons why your child should get involved:

1.       They learn Commitment

Being able to complete projects is a way to build commitment in kids. Commencing an art project no matter how small gives children the pride and satisfaction that comes with getting it completed. You have to start small with the kid and as the child grows, introduce technical and hard projects that will take more time.

Seeing as kids can get easily distracted, it helps to introduce a zero tolerance policy for abandoned projects. Doing this will teach them life-long lessons always to follow through with what they start.

2.       They get to use their Imagination

Arts and crafts give a kid the chance to be creative. It allows them to use their imagination and come up with whatever they desire. By being creative, they get to express themselves and even personalize their craft project. While their creativity or personalization might look odd to you, it is their way of expressing themselves. Asides, allowing them to personalize, their arts and crafts projects give them the chance to come up with something “creative in their world.” There are many easy projects kids can make and later gift them.

3.       Improvement in School Work

One of the bright sides of arts and crafts is the importance it brings to the kid’s education. Kids get to see practical concepts that are tricky to grasp. With a little lateral thinking, they get to see this concept from another dimension which will make more sense to them.

Building a house from various day to day items, for instance, could help make the understanding of 3D shapes stick to memory.

Kids would prefer to see their favorite comic character painted with scraps of colored cloths. This will make reading fun and build their interest in discovering more.

4.       They Learn Social Skills and Team Work

Joint work with your kid on an art and craft project is a proven way to build their team spirit. Not only that, they build their social skills, communication skills and learn to cooperate and communicate among their peers to get a project to completion.

Building a team spirit into your kid early in life is a quality that will stay with them for life. This valuable skill will make them almost indispensable in all walks of life.

5.       Teaches Your Child to Follow Instructions

Crafts, arts are distinct activities that offer a unique learning opportunity for your child. According to Anna Reyner, an American art therapist, “While art is flexible or ‘unstructured’ activity, crafts are structured with specific direction.”

Hence with crafts, kids are made to learn to follow instructions. This is because they will have to go through a process to achieve the desired aim. Also, kids get to see the consequences of not following instructions. They see clearly what happens when instructions are ignored.

6.       Crafting Develops Fine Motor Skills

Simple activities in crafts and arts like cutting, sticking, gumming, coloring and following line pattern can help in building fine motor skill. It is also a way to improve hand to eye coordination in children. This task doesn’t have to be technical. It can be as simple as separating the triangles of a tissue paper and arranging them up in the right shape.

Kids learn to follow instructions to complete an activity and also build their motor skills through paper art crafts like these.

7.       Building their Problem Solving Skills

Kids who are a bit matured could be asked to recreate a piece of craft. These could be a photo which can be created with simple household items. With this, they learn to pay attention to things and get even more creative in the process – by looking for alternatives to things not available at home.

This will help them to use their imagination and creativity to think outside the box – a skill that will be helpful later in life.

Conclusion

There are many benefits that your child will benefit from going into arts and crafts. Thus, you just have to look past the mess and allow your kids to express themselves through arts. You will be surprised at how creative they can get!

What is your child’s favorite activity ?

  About the author: Annabelle Carter Short is a freelance writer/editor and seamstress of more than 7 years. She also works with few organizations to provide families with the best resources for raising and educating a special needs child. When not working, she’s spending time with her family or putting pen to paper for her own personal pursuits. Annabelle likes to make DIY and crafty projects in her free time with her two kids: Elizabeth (age 6) and Michael (age 8).