A common dilemma child care providers face is children who are critical of their own or another child’s art. These children may dislike their own art, have unreasonable expectations or standards or criticize another child’s art. Children of all ages may be critical of their art, but older children are more interested in drawing realistically and may be most critical when their artwork does not turn out as planned. Here are some suggestions you might try when children criticize their …
Creative art activities can help children in all areas of development. Child care providers should plan creative activities with the child’s overall development in mind. Here are some ways that art activities can support young children’s development.
When child care providers offer art activities, they are supporting children’s large and small muscle development, as well as their eye-hand coordination. Using crayons, markers, and paintbrushes helps children practice the fine motor control they will need for writing later on.…
Well-planned art experiences are a valuable part of the child care curriculum. Early childhood art activities need to balance process and product. Process is doing, product is the result. Young children are process-oriented. For infants and toddlers, the joy of art is in the doing and making. They usually want lots of finger paint, really squish it around, and then pay no attention to what happens to their picture afterward.
Preschoolers love to experiment with color and design. They do …
Creative art is an important part of the child care curriculum because it allows children to practice self-expression, fine motor skills, thinking and many other skills. Unfortunately, many activities that look like creative art do not actually encourage creativity. These activities are sometimes used in art programs and may help develop fine muscle control or eye-hand coordination, but they don’t provide artistic and creative opportunities.
It’s important to avoid activities masquerading as creative art. Activities that masquerade as creative share …
Child care providers often have children with special needs included in their programs. Art activities can be a valuable learning experience for many children with special needs, but the art activities given in a child care setting may need to be modified or adapted so that all children may participate in them.
Child care providers should also be aware that they may need to guide children with special needs when helping them with their art activities. Here are some ideas …
Art activities might appear to be “just messy,” but creating art is a valuable part of a child care curriculum. Art opens up new worlds for children and gives them a variety of important experiences. Crayons, markers, paint, clay and many other art materials are the tools that can help children:
