Why is art so important in early childhood classrooms?

Question

Why is art so important in early childhood classrooms?

Answer 1

Art IN Early Childhood Education is not so much for the child's creativity as it is for Fine Motor Development.  

The use of scissors strengthens the fingers and develops hand eye coordination.

Painting, drawing, pasting all  develop hand eye coordination and

Fine Motor Development.  

Encouragement and praise over a simple task for a child develops self esteem.

Answer 2

Fine arts is important at all stages of life, not just in early childhood. Being involved with arts helps children exercise a different part of their brain. Children who are involved in fine arts are more creative, imaginative, and yes, more outgoing.

Research shows that children involved in music can make improvements in math and in reading. They exercise these skills when reading music, etc. Children involved in the art (painting, drawing, etc) become very receptive and can find small details anywhere. They can explain why they used certain colors in their paintings and tell you what kinds of feelings they were attempting to evoke. Children like these also learn to tune into their feelings and other's feelings easily. Think about it, when a child is involved in arts and theater or performances from early on, he / she is less likely to become shy when they have to present a project in front of a class. This is a skill that carries them through high school, college...the rest of their lives!

Why wouldn't one want their child involved in any type of creative art? Involving your child in the arts gives them the opportunity to tap into talents/gifts that they may otherwise never find out about. It gives them yet one more thing to try and excel at. Just feeling successful with art raises a child's self-esteem & confidence...who doesn't love knowing that a whole group of people is clapping or cheering just for you?

Answer 3

I think that art is incredibly important in not just the classrooms of early children, but should be placed in bedooms for babies, in daycares, and also in classrooms for highschool students as well.

Art stimulates the mind. It is a great teaching tool. It makes you think and wonder about the message that the creator was trying to establish when the piece of art was created. It opens the mind to new things.

Because a child that is in daycare or in preschool has not grasped the concept of letter writing, they express their feelings, emotions and ideas through art. Most children when given the opportunity will draw a picture for you.

Children are very visual. When they see a picture or a piece of art, they stop to observe it. It establishes the idea of creativity to them. By giving a child a piece of paper and some object whether it be a pen, pencil, crayons, markers anything to mark with, they become creative in their own way into what they will use that penvil for or what they will put on that piece of paper.

Also because it promotes creativity and makes you think, it is a good idea to place it in the classrooms of older students as well. If a student is the type to have their mind wander sometimes, then if they have a piece of art to look at, then it makes them think and wonder about the central idea of that piece and it shows creativity.

Answer 4

Self expression of idea, emotion and experiences. They can't really write yet but they definitely can draw and use diff. colours to express their feeling.

Answer 5

gives them more open chances to have imagination, that is a wonderful thing to let them have their own mind and it helps teaching them when it comes to education games

Answer 6

Art unlocks the creativity in you and creativity will lead to a very smart person.

Answer 7

Creation unlocks self-discovery.

Without the arts, everyone would be mindless drones, coming out fo the same machine.

By supporting the arts in a child's early years, you are giving them a head start at finding their talents/artistic passions.

Answer 8

It helps the children develop creativity.   Plus most little ones love to do art.  How else would you get all those cut pictures to put on the fridge?  Art projects that are not pre-made are better though.  Like ones they have to think with.  It generally makes it more enjoyable that way too.  Some of the benefits from art projects is developing physical skills, social skills, encouraging creativity and decision making, boosting self-confidence, and building basic concepts.  Kids go through predictable stages in learning to create art.  Children 1 to 4 years of age generally scribble.  Ages 4 to 6 years start to draw some things that may resemble real objects.  That stage is called symbolic.  Ages 5 to 10 years start to make increasingly complex designs.  That stage is called realistic.  Do not recreate or redraw kis pictures for them if you may not really like them.  You have to remember they are just learning.

Answer 9

Art is a waste of time.

Answer 10

Art inspires creativity and fosters self confidence. In many cases children work on projects as a group which helps them learn important social skills.

Answer 11

As the oldest child and three, college athlete and mother of 4 and 6 year old little girls, providing the opportunity for the child’s mind to expand and explore at an early age, which is when the mind absorbs, collects and establishes the stepping stones that will take them through life, the arts, music and sports provides all of these elements. Not by force nor by alternative motives, but simply by the child’s interest, identify them and then expand as the child grows!  This is a huge contributing factor to the relationship I am establishing with my little girls, something I did not have as a young child.

Answer 12

it stimulates creativity

Answer 13

Good art experiences and projects should be designed to engage, influence, an raise a child's senses and creativity. Even in very young children, like the toddlers i teach, who are yet unable to manipulate scissors, they can do a lot in the art 'process'. The use of these senses helps lead up to the fine motor skills they will eventually master with age. Getting 'messy' and using all their senses can be a  great building block for future learning and, it's just fun! It is  best to incorporate some pre-reading and pre-writing skills as well as math concepts within the art experiences.. (like left to right and top to bottom  for reading and writing, and basic counting for math skills.)Art can also go a long ways to introducing and reinforcing color and shape recognition.  We ( my co-lead teacher and I) tie much of the art we do to the songs and stories we sing and read and the children are familiar with, as well as to the seasons and holidays.

Answer 14

ask lisa @ yahoo answers

Answer 15

Creativity.  It also lets your child express how he or she feels.  It's just art.

Answer 16

to encourage the creative aspect of a child