There’s more to art experiences for preschoolers than crayons and watercolor!
Varied art experiences help students with creativity, motor skills, and cognitive skills required to follow directions. From painting with marshmallows or yarn, to Jackson Pollock Splatter Art, or finger paintings inspired by Van Gogh, or just good old fashioned free art- there’s A LOT our preschoolers will be learning from this months activities.
Creativity
A wide variety of art experiences help students to broaden their horizons of what art is and what it can be. Pencils, crayons, markers, chalk, and paintbrushes are all useful for teaching children to use traditional mediums. Expanding options to include collage materials, painting with different types of items, and studying different artists art styles will help to cultivate creativity, curiosity, and awareness.
Motor Skills
In addition to creativity, using an array of artistic materials also helps with developmental milestones. Grasping traditional materials helps with fine motor skills necessary for kindergarten. Utilizing larger materials will also help develop other muscles in their hands, as well as some art projects become gross motor activities, for example when we paint large murals or utilize foot paint stamps, or foot prints themselves!
Following Directions
While free art (open-ended materials without specific instructions) is great for kids, the ability to follow multi-step directions is also an important skill to be developed before entering kindergarten. Here’s a useful chart to make sure your child is on track.
Remember you can foster creativity, build motor skills, and help your child learn to follow to directions at home too! Taking a few minutes to build these routines into your day will benefit your child as they continue their journey to kindergarten.