Aside from the fact that art is everywhere and part of everything
we do, art REALLY IS IMPORTANT! All children need a variety of
experiences to assist them in exploring their environment.
Through art, children learn to value their own uniqueness and to
appreciate the individuality of others. Although not everyone
will become an artist, it's important to remember that every
child will become an active, lifelong perceiver of images and
objects in a variety of forms. Also, I recognize that not every
child will pursue art-making in their adult lives. However, they
will use the skills they develop through the creation of art.
Productive work habits such as setting goals, imagining
possibilities, generating and refining ideas, considering
alternatives and making choices, testing and going beyond
predictable outcomes, applying standards, and reflecting
critically on performance are appreciated in every modern
workplace and beyond the world of work.
Art helps individuals to personally grow by providing an
opportunity to augment their creative expression, self discovery,
self esteem and self concept.
Art helps children to learn to work socially by providing
opportunities to cooperate during group art projects.
Art also helps children physically by developing small
muscles, eye-hand coordination, dexterity, and a sense of rhythm
as children engage in art activities.
Young learners use art as a means of expression that does
not rely on verbal or decoding skills, so their language
development increases. Looking at and analyzing artwork enhances
visual literacy as well.
Art enhances cognitive development in the following areas:
o Correspondences such as one-to-one or one-to-several
o Part-Whole relations
o Order, relationships, seriation
o Symbolic representation
o Classification
o Spatial relationships
o Dimensional relations
o States of matter
o Number and quantity
o Topological relationships
Art is related to science, physical education, history,
math, language arts, technology, in short, THE WORLD!