From June 29th to July 19th, 2022, we are celebrating Children’s Art Week.
Children’s Art Week is a UK-wide campaign instigated by Engage, the National Association for Gallery Education, and thousands of projects for children and young people have taken place across the UK during CAW over the last few years.
‘In 2022, to support the advocacy work of the viual arts engagement and participation sector, Engage will launch a new campaign, Let’s Create Art’ to celebrate the amazing health and wellbeing work delivered through the sector.’
During this time, schools, art galleries, museums and community groups are encouraged to plan and provide art activities and events with the goal of providing opportunities for early years, children, young people and families to take part in practical activities with artists and art educators.
If you are interested in learning more, pop over to this link.
Last week we had a blog post on holistic learning, here, (under the title of World Chocolate Day!) and art is a prime example.
Below is a perfect list from an American art website, Painting to Gogh. However, they do seem to have missed one very important benefit and that is the emotional impact of creating art, in any form. Creating something can sooth – think of colouring books for all ages – and relax. Art can be expressive to support emotions. And sometimes, art can help carers spot signs of concerns.
- Art stimulates creativity and problem-solving skills
- Art promotes self-esteem and self-expression
- Art contributes to fine motor skill development
- Art helps develop visual-spatial processing
- Art builds memory and self-control
- Art provides rest, relaxation and reward
- Art increases academic performance
- Art connects children to people and the world
Underpinning all of the above is the communication skills that are being learned. How to communicate if sharing equipment, using descriptive words, learning new words. And looking through the list, one other point I would consider would be fun! At the end of the day, a child or young person could just be splashing paint for no other reason than the enjoyment of seeing the result of the activity.
