Studies have shown (links below) that making art decreases stress levels, lowers anxiety and boosts academics; helping with a child’s overall mental health. Doodling like Basquiat, painting like Monet, manipulating clay or immersing in a sensory bin activates the reward centers in the brain. For young people, this means that they feel good and are able to naturally relax. They walk away with a sense of accomplishment and the motivation to creative again.
There is value in both process and product art experiences.
Social & Emotional
Children relax, focus, and can express their feelings
Language and literacy
Children may choose to discuss their art and add text to it to convey a story
Cognitive
Children plan, predict, construct and problem solve
Physical
Children use motor skills to paint, write, glue, use clay, and make collages
Reduced screen time
Engaging in artistic pursuits naturally shifts focus from screens to hands-on creation, effectively reducing screen time.
The Benefits of Art
PROCESS ART VS PRODUCT ART
PROCESS ART
Let your child’s inner artist express themselves in any way imaginable - no restrictions needed!
Very few directions for children to follow.
Art focuses on the experience and exploring techniques, tools, and materials.
The child is not interrupted or corrected on how/where they draw, glue, or paint.
The finished product is unique, original, and entirely the child's own.
An open-ended, enjoyable experience.
Motor skill development
Stress/anxiety reduction
Develops creativity and imagination
Nurtures cognitive skills
Allows the child to have agency over their art based on their interests to create something with personal significance.
PRODUCT ART
Product art can take shape in many ways. It can mean taking ideas from paintings and sculptures and applying them creatively to everyday products such as clocks, cushions, and mugs. Children can also be presented with a sample for step by step instructions to be followed. These are often reminiscent of traditional preschool projects (paper plate animals and cotton ball sheep. There are endless sources of inspiration to draw from, while adding your unique design sense.
Fine motor skill development
Stress/anxiety reduction
Develops creativity
Learn how to remember and follow multi-step instructions
Practice self-discipline. Children cannot mix and apply any color they want if they want the painting to look like their favorite cartoon character
If painting from memory, children can work on recalling images
Still allows the child to put their twist on the project