‘Creativity is intelligence having fun.’ — Albert Einstein 

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”
― Pablo Picasso

Whenever someone says ‘I am an artist.’ we hear ‘starving artist’. The fact that not all artists  make money is so scary that many  of us have  forgotten about the benefits of arts and their trans-formative power.

“And people would say, “Aren’t you afraid you’re never going to have any success? Aren’t you afraid the humiliation of rejection will kill you? Aren’t you afraid that you’re going to work your whole life at this craft and nothing’s ever going to come of it and you’re going to die on a scrap heap of broken dreams with your mouth filled with bitter ash of failure?”

Elizabeth Gilbert author of Eat Pray Love

Arts are so much more than just learning the skills of drawings, painting, theater  etc

Here are some of the reasons children learn when they make art

Out of the box – Creative thinking

While doing art, kids learn that ‘things are not as they seem’. They pick up an object and totally transform it. This gives them confidence and understanding that there are many answers to one question and many solutions to one problem.It broaden their horizon and the children develop an ‘outside the box approach’ that boosts their creative thinking. According to the International Child Art Foundation, “Research indicates that a child who is exposed to the arts acquires a special ability to think creatively, be original, discover, innovate, and create intellectual property—key attributes for individual success and social prosperity in the twenty-first century.”

We need better thinkers with creative approaches to solve world problems and save our planet with this incredible amount of pain that it is in.

 

COLLABORATION

While doing art projects, kids learn how to collaborate which is one of the major life skills.One can have great ideas but all is waste if s/he doesn’t know how to collaborate and communicate. By doing art projects,kids build social skills and how to solve problems by communication. They learn team work and what does it take for a team to accomplish a goal. They learn to share their ideas with each other and also listen to difference of opinions which will teach them tolerance and help them in dealing with people in the future.

 

CONFIDENCE

When kids make something from ‘nothing’ it gives boost to their confidence and develops their self-esteem. The art that they make is often showcased in their room so it becomes a constant reminder of the fact that they made it themselves.

This confidence helps them explore new ideas and techniques.

Theater trainings helps children stepping out of their comfort zone and helps them how to make your point infront of an audience. This confidence also helps them perform infront of large audience.

 

DECISION MAKING

Weighing the pros and cons of a situation and making the right call at the right time is one of the major challenges of life and sometimes when your whole life comes down to these moments, many people waste it all away just because of the poor decision making. Arts help kids in this aspect as well. Kids learn to observe and describe. They learn how to analyze and interpret different situations. They learn to express feelings and decision making skills in different scenarios. Decision making skill developed at the such a level will stick with them in their future life and will potentially benefit them at crossroads of life.

 

PROBLEM SOLVING

All arts constantly challenge kids to solve problems. How to I turn this paper into a crane? What techniques will make my clay tree stand erect? They try different techniques,it builds patience and perseverance. All this develop problem solving and analytical thinking in kids which is important for success in whatever field they go in their life.

 

MOTOR SKILLS

Making art develops their fine motor skills and eye hand coordination. From squeezing, flattening, rolling clay to holding a brush making different colors, folding paper into different folds for origami,cutting by the use of scissors all develop kids  fine motor skills which is a vital skill for handwriting and many other skills. Kids love making art so they who engage in these activities have improved dexterity and coordination.

 

FOCUS

It teaches them focus and determination.Researches suggest that children who engage in art show focus in other aspects of their lives as well. Kids reflect on the results and learn how to improve their projects.

Making art go beyond just learning a skill but even provides channel to express their personal voice and share the making of their world view.

 

Editor: Ahmed Faraz Khan