5 Life Skills your kids will learn through Art

Social skills: By sharing materials and collaborating on creative projects, children learn to take it in turns, negotiate and work as a team.

Cognitive development: From early sensory exploration (the feel of a crayon across paper, the smell of paint) and decision making (what to portray, what materials to use) to problem solving (how to get two materials to stick together), art teaches children to think for themselves.

Self-expression: Art is a valuable form of language. A pre-cursor to written and verbal communication, it enables children to tell stories as well as expressing what they are thinking and feeling.

Motor development: The small movements of the fingers, hands and wrists associated with holding a crayon or paintbrush, drawing, painting or manipulating clay develops the fine motor skills of young children while the large arm movements required for painting at an easel or on a large piece of paper on the floor develops large muscle groups.

Inventiveness: When children are encouraged to experiment and take risks by trying new things during the creative process they develop a sense of innovation – a valuable skill in business and in life.