The benefits of painting activities are just innumerable. These activities can promote holistic development in children as painting has many social, emotional, physical and intellectual benefits.
The main reason why painting activities are not getting their due as one of the BEST afterschool activities for children is because some of the benefits of painting such as practicing control over holding pencil, promoting creativity are obvious while a majority of them like enhancing emotional stability, promoting communication skill etc are hidden. Let us look into the major benefits of painting activities.We hope that this list will bring about a positive change in the perception of parents.
1. Fine motor Control
When children use tools like brushes, knife etc to paint, they are giving exercise to their hands, wrists and fingers. This is important for learning to hold pencils and pens when they write and also turning the pages of books when they read.
2. Hand-Eye Coordination
It involves using information taken in through the eyes to guide both fine & gross motor activities.Using paint brushes and other painting tools will promote this.
3. Gross motor control
Yes, you read it right.Painting on large surfaces like large sheet of paper or a large wall provide good exercise for their large muscles.On a lighter note,running around to change and clean the brush will promote gross motor skills.
4. Visual discrimination
It involves the ability to detect differences in what you are seeing and ability to classify objects, symbols, or shapes. Painting activity may be used in several ways to support kids’ visual discrimination development, for example, copying a picture that is set right next to them into their own painting, completing partly-painted pictures, finger painting shapes or other images, painting within an outlined boundary on paper surfaces. This will ultimately help them in solving puzzles like finding the difference between two pictures, copying whatever is written on board into their notebook etc.
5. Spatial sense
This is the ability to visualize shapes in the mind’s eye. This sense will help a child to write everything with in a line or with in a box. These skills are ultimately required for a child to work in the field of engineering, architecture etc in future.
6. Enhance creativity
Children love to use colours. Colours can seem to be messy for a parent but if children are left to use colour as per their will it can work wonders for their overall growth. Children are not much worried about the outcome of their work. Ideally it should be so. A child left to colour on his free will can surprise you with his masterpiece.
7. Emotional Stability
Painting activities can have a calming effect on children. Children often do not know the words for expressing what they are feeling. Painting offers them a way to express their feelings through lines, colours and other symbols.
8. Appreciation of art
It is valuable to teach children to understand and appreciate art in any form. Appreciating art work of famous artists will promote children to get inspired, become curious and ultimately develop their own style in future.
9. Planning
Before any art work the child will have to plan what colours are required, what tools are required, which colour combinations will be the best. All this planning will ultimately help him in future.
10. Concentration
Painting activities requires a child to focus on whatever he is doing. Over the period of time he will understand that if he does not focus on his work the outcome may not be that great. It promotes patience also. Studies have also shown that in children with attention deficit painting activities when done regularly can increase their attention span.
11. Experiencing art
Painting lets a child to express ideas, convey emotions, explore colours, learn the process of painting and finally experience the pleasant or not so pleasant outcome .
12. Communication skills
Painting can be a good ay to start good conversations. For example, What colours they have used and why? Believe me, their response can really surprise you.
The benefits of painting are innumerable. We have designed a canvas painting kit as we believe that children should be exposed to different painting mediums from a very young age. You can buy the Artwist Canvas painting kit here
Unlike the 80’s or 90’s there is a marked change in attitude of people towards art education. The policies of the government like including art education in the curriculum and remodeling the textbooks in such a way that art is incorporated in learning of alphabets, numbers and basic concepts has really played a major role in changing the attitude towards art. But still there is an alarming number of people who believe that art education is a waste of time. We hope that ,this blog will play a role in changing this perception.
