How Creative Activities Can Benefit a Child's Development

Creative activities play a vital role in a child's development. In fact, there are numerous studies that support this.

But as child care workers, it is imperative for you to plan in creative activities as part of your daily program. You have to remember that not every child has access to resources and materials to allow them to exercise their creative juices. Some children will have never had a chance to paint or draw until they've stepped into a nursery for the first time. It is a sad fact, but it is true. 

In this post, we share 8 ways of how creative activities can benefit children of a young age.

1. Motor Skills

There are many motions involved when undertaking a creative activity, whether that may be painting or scribbling with a crayon. These motions are essential for the development of fine motor skills in young children. Art activities can support both large and small muscle development as well as improving their hand-eye coordination.

The National Institutes of Health advises having developmental milestones such as children at the age of three should be able to use safety scissors and should be able to draw a circle. Many American preschool programs emphasise the use of safety scissors at a young age as it develops the dexterity children will require for handwriting.

2. Language Skills

Very young children who take part in creative activities don't just make art, they also learn new words for different colours, shapes and actions. As the child gets older, they'll be able to express what they like about the activity and expand their vocabulary at the same time. 

Related Learning: Level 3 Diploma for the Children & Young People's Workforce (RQF)

3. Imagination and Experimentation

By encouraging children to partake in creative activities, you're letting them let their imagination run wild. And you're also enabling children to experiment, come up with ideas and explore new ways of thinking. If one of your children wants to know what happens when they use four paintbrushes at once, let them find out what happens. You can even help the child come up with a way to join the paintbrushes together with an elastic band. 

4. Cognitive Development

Besides learning the names of shapes and colours, creative activities can play a crucial role in cognitive development. Cognitive development relates to memory, decision-making and problem-solving. For children, it enables them to form their own judgement when they experiment with things like mixing two different paints together. 

5. Emotional Development

Creative art gives children a platform for them to express experiences they are not able to verbalise yet. Younger children will draw pictures which are out of proportion to exaggerate things which are essential to them. As a child care worker, we really need to value a child's creativity, no matter how unique their work might appear to be. This way, you will help raise their self-esteem and make them feel valued as a person.

Related Learning: Level 3 Diploma for the Early Years Practitioner (Early Years Educator) (QCF)

6. Social Development

You can create group activities for different art activities. By encouraging children to work together on an art project, they'll learn how to share, interact and work in a team. Creative activities also help children to become more responsible in cleaning up after the activity and putting the materials away. 

7. Visual Learning

Creative activities like drawing, playing with plasticine or threading beads on a string all develop vital visual-spatial skills. Remember, we are living in an age where toddlers are able to know how to operate a smartphone or tablet; that means they are taking in visual information before they can even read. 

8. Promotes Intrinsic Motivation

When encouraging creative activities, don't encourage your children to focus on the end product. Instead, get them to focus on the process. This helps children to freely express themselves without worrying about what others are thinking. If we spend a lot of time focusing on the final product (or even spend a lot of energy praising the end result), then the child will be more likely to do things for your approval, instead of what they want to do. By focussing on the process, you're placing more importance on the efforts and exploration.

Thanks for reading. What are your thoughts on this topic? Do you know of any other benefits of getting children involved in creative activities? Please let us know in the comments section below.