Why Craft? Why Art?

Young children are eager learners. But due to their limited language, they learn more from hands-on experiences rather than from verbal instruction. They learn by moving, touching, exploring, discovering — using their five senses and movement as they learn about their expanding world.

Crafting and art are important mediums of playful learning. Play is very important for children to learn and grow. They will learn from what is interesting to them and they are capable of understanding, and doing, for their age and abilities. While they are learning, their brains are making synapses, or connections of neurons, which will enhance their learning in the future. However, it must be developmentally appropriate to hold their attention and to be beneficial. You can't rush a child to learn something they are not ready to learn. Let children enjoy childhood.

The process of making an art product can be of great interest to a young child. Children enjoy touching different textures and exploring materials as well as putting together and taking apart objects to create something unique - or just for the joy of exploring and changing something. When children are encouraged to play with art materials, they are developing: 

• Creativity: Assembling something unique
• Originality: Finding new ways of doing things fosters problem-solving skills
• Planning: Thinking, following through, finishing a project
• Cognitive Skills: Linear or sequential thinking to reach the desired result
• Knowledge: Learning about their world by exploring textures, materials, reactions
• Fine Motor Skills: Feeling, manipulating, sorting, arranging, pushing, placing objects
• Exploration, Discovery & Science: How things work and change like pouring glue, playdough formations, paint mixing, gravity, and velocity
• Language: Expression of how something feels, looks, sounds; its name and purpose
• Math: Sorting, patterning, ordering, categorizing
• Self-Esteem: Pride in finished project, sense of accomplishment
• Family Play or Traditions: Family connectivity, a sense of belonging, feeling valued and wanted through proudly displayed art work.

A mother expressed her concern that her four-year-old was merely playing at his preschool while some of his peers had already memorized letters and numbers at their preschool. David Elkind, Child Psychologist and author of The Power of Play and The Hurried Child replied to her, “You know, they are having a good time, enjoying themselves here and now, and that is every bit as important and valuable as preparing for the future. Play is what young children do. While we adults may be concerned only with an activity’s long-term benefits, children are playing for the fun of it.” And they are learning in an interesting way.

The following are excerpts taken from the University of Maine Extension Program from an article titled: “Children and Brain Development: What We Know about How Children Learn.”

 At birth, a baby’s brain contains 100 billion neurons, roughly as many nerve cells as there are stars in the Milky Way, and almost all the neurons the brain will ever have. Most of its 100 billion neurons are not yet connected in networks. Forming and reinforcing these connections are the key tasks of early brain development. Connections among neurons are formed as the growing child experiences the surrounding world and forms attachments to parents, family members and other caregivers.

Early stimulation sets the stage for how children will learn and interact with others throughout life. A child’s experiences, good or bad, influence the wiring of his brain and the connection in his nervous system... In the first decade of life, a child’s brain forms trillions of connections or synapses.  As the neurons mature, more and more synapses are made. The neural network expands exponentially. If they are not used repeatedly, or often enough, they are eliminated. In this way, experience plays a crucial role in “wiring” a young child’s brain. Brain development does not stop after early childhood, but it is the foundation upon which the brain continues developing. Early childhood is the time to build either a strong and supportive, or fragile and unreliable foundation. These early years are very important in the development that continues in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. To read the entire article, click here.

PLAY IS A CHILD'S WORK. 

Child asks, "Why doesn't glue stick to the bottle?" 
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For a glimpse into kindergarten, see  Kindergarten: Tattle-Tales, Tools, Tactics, Triumphs and Tasty Treats for Teachers and Parents. Let  Mommy with Selective Memory and me help your sanity with inexpensive playful activities and learn about the child development benefits in The Happy Mommy Handbook: The Ultimate How-to Guide on Keeping Your Toddlers and Preschoolers Busy, Out of Trouble and Motivated to Learn. Both are bestsellers and make helpful gifts for parents and teachers. Also available on Barnes & Noble and Kobo.

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