Learning Through Art and Craft @LittleDoers


We at Little Doers are passionate about teaching little children through art and craft. We have personally seen with our special needs son, how making things using a myriad of materials can have a positive effect on his mood and ability.

That’s the real reason why, early in 2011 we came up with the idea of Little Doers. We had long been aware that creativity had a positive effect on people but as we started to research its effects on children we were amazed at the evidence that soon started to mount up in favour of teaching children through art.

There have been a myriad of articles published in the last ten years on how art can help your child develop.

Jill Englebright Fox, Ph.D., and Stacey Berry, M.Ed. Recently published a study which looks at the importance of art in child development. Their study showed that children feel an “emotional” sense of satisfaction when they engage in various artistic activities. This “satisfaction comes from the control children have over the materials they use and the autonomy they have in the decisions they make” (Schirrmacher, 1998; Seefeldt, 1993). Even in a particular craft they can decide how to go about it, how to decorate it, etc

Making and painting is also a sensory experience, Kamii and DeVries (1993) suggested that exploring materials is very important because through this children gain an understanding of the objects in the world around them and thus how the world works.

Children gain important gross motor and fine motor skills through artistic practice. We adults forget that even gripping a paintbrush takes quite a lot of concentration for a small child and then working out how to move that around a piece of paper or card requires a complex system of messages firing off from the hand to the eyes (see Koster, 1997).

It has been demonstrated that creative endeavours light up the right hand side of the brain, real physiological changes can be seen in the brain when children are monitored doing a creative activity.

There are other positives to art and craft too. The New York Center for Arts Education gave the following examples of the positive effects of art, these are as follows:

Your child learns to think creatively,

Your child learns to observe and describe, using analytical and interpretive skills

Your child learns to express feelings, with or without words.

Your child practices problem-solving and critical-thinking skills.

Your child discovers that there can be multiple solutions to a problem and that there doesn’t have to be a wrong way, even mistakes can be creative.

Your child learns that learning itself can be fun

Your child learns to collaborate with others and other important social skills, such as patience.

Arts introduce children to cultures from around the world

Your child learns that they can be good at something, physical or mental ability is no barrier to being artistic.

Added to these findings your child also learns accomplishment and a sense of pride in what they’re doing. This in turn leads to a child becoming more confident, especially when they receive praise for what they have accomplished.

So how can you help your child to be creative. That’s the brilliant thing, to start off with you only need a scrap of paper and some crayons, or some finger paint, you can even make your own. Then if you want to take things further why not introduce them to crafts. Creating something other a flat image will give your children a huge sense of achievement and provide presents for family members or even decoration for your home.

If you’re stumped for ideas there are a myriad of books out there and numerous tutorials on the web to get you started and if you’re still struggling or you don’t have the materials required, let’s be honest, it’s not very often that you will; then why not check out our website http://littledoers.com. We not only design a craft but we also provide you with everything you’ll need (paintbrushes, aprons, glue,etc). All wrapped up in a box and sent to your child every 4 weeks with fun and unique extras. Plus we even have a members site where you can access photo guides, source files, past projects and beautifully illustrated certificates for your child and more.

Some suggestions for you:
straw painting
symmetry painting

 

websites with craft ideas:

http://littledoers.com/resources
http://www.activityvillage.co.uk
http://www.makeandtakes.com


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