Arts Education

Art is often viewed as an ideal way for children to show their feelings and ideas. Children love art because it’s fun and provides them with an authentic self-expression. Through the art, a child can really exercise their freedom of choice, creativity and feelings.

But art does more than just that. Children can learn a lot through art. Children learn about their world as they draw, paint, make collages and sculptures. They explore colours, shapes, sizes and properties of objects under a controlled and safe environment. When children mix paints, colours or dyes, they learn about how one object can affect another, and changes in forms and states. In the process of art, children also learn to make choices; think about the many colours and types of paints to choose from!

With art training, children often will begin to view the world around them from an artists’ perspective. Young artists are attracted to details and characteristics of objects, animals, people and their surround. Everything they see is a potential subject.

For young children, the process of art is more important than the finished product. Children don’t need to complete a beautiful piece to learn from art. In our competitive and academic-focused world, the concept of learning-during-art may be hard to understand for some, or even hard to accept.

Young children and adults feel a sense of accomplishment and pride when they create and complete a piece of art. This builds confidence, facilitates focus and increases self-esteem. This confidence and self-esteem in children not only motivates children to do better in the future, but also builds bonds between a proud parent and their child.

Our education system places great emphasis on academic achievements. Art programmes often reduced or eliminated from education programmes to accommodate other subjects. At Artary, we do not view that arts are alike a casual enrichment activity, but a necessity to a child’s development. To us, the arts are basic to education.

Art Teaches Important Skills in Life

There are also many ways in which arts can contribute to learning, both in school and life.

Art, Literacy and Languages

Art activities are central to literacy and language development. Many language programmes include art as an interaction or introduction activity to build on vocabulary. Children who draw pictures of stories in class tend to be more motivated to read new material, and display improved reading comprehension capabilities. Art introduces pre-writing experiences that equip young learners with fine motor skills that allow them to hold a pencil for writing. Children who are comfortable with expressing themselves with art will also be more likely to reflect these expressions, creativity and relation skills onto their literacy works.

Art, Sciences and Mathematics

Art can also be useful to young children who are exposed to mathematics for the first time. Making collages helps children identify with classifications (colours, sizes, shapes), sequencing and pattern recognitions. Preparing collage materials help to introduce numbers and counting skills, and composing an art piece or collage allows children to appreciate structure, symmetry, shape and beauty. Parents and educators should understand that art is not only about colour, emotion and aesthetics, but also about patterns, rhythms and problem solving.

Art, Social and Communication Skills

Doing arts in groups can be a fantastic opportunity for children to learn how to behave and act in a social setting. Children will be learn how to express their choices to their peers, wait for their turn at using a red crayon stick, or queue up at the washing bay. Through the process of art creation, they share their personal experiences at zoo visits or holiday trips with their friends, and in turn hear about stories from their friends! Children learn and practice the concept of group work, sharing and respect for each other.