Creative arts: Inspiring children to be innovative

What do you feel when you hear the word, ‘creative’?

‘I see a stream of colours–yellow, blue, red, orange, pink and purple. We are using them to paint the wall. Once the wall is coloured, I will hang lanterns there, which I made in school for Diwali.’ 

This was the answer given by a seven-year-old when asked about his feelings pertaining to ‘creativity’. While adults have a set notion when referring to creativity, children have unhindered imagination and curiosity. Children love to explore, observe, imitate and learn from different actions that lead to creativity. 

Art facilitates free play in children, allowing them to handle different materials in an unstructured way, and this organic approach paves the way for exploration and experimentation. Such explorations not only provide a joyful experience to the children but also help them to harness a wide range of skill sets, which is beneficial in the learning process, as well as in their everyday lives. 

Creative arts

Creative art is the use of imagination and original ideas, especially in the domain of artistic production. Creative arts involve activities that stimulate children’s imagination. The different forms of creative art–be it art, dance, drama, music or puppetry – help children in developing their abilities in different domains. 

Benefits of creative arts

Creative art is extremely beneficial for a child’s physical, emotional and mental development. One might wonder how creative art impacts a child’s physical development as we often take it for granted assuming that it is something that happens naturally. However, even simple actions such as gripping a pencil, jumping or clapping help young learners develop their gross and fine motor skills. Moreover, creative arts provide them with an avenue to explore and gain control over their emotions. If a child is associated with creative arts from a young age, they gradually learn how to channelise their emotional energy. This can help them even in their later lives to stay balanced in challenging situations. Theatre and role-play are some of the creative arts that develop children’s emotional abilities. 

Effect of creative arts on cognitive development

Be it remembering the names of colours and shapes through creative activities or learning different patterns of a particular art with practice – creative arts play an important role in the cognitive development of children. For example, while using colours, children gradually learn that on pushing a crayon harder, it gives a darker colour. They may also discover the strategy of mixing two primary colours to get a new colour. Creative arts help children practise critical thinking as well, since it involves making mental plans to execute these actions.

Ways to motivate children for creative arts

Research has proven the importance of creative arts in a child’s development during their early years. 

Here are some ways in which parents can motivate their children to develop an interest in creative arts. 

1. Read out stories to children in a dramatic way. As children learn by imitating, such reading sessions encourage children to create their own stories and teach them expressions.
2. Create a small art studio at home and equip it with different materials such as old clothes, paintbrush, paper, glue, boxes and paints to pique the child’s curiosity, which can further inspire them to pursue art and craft.
3. Parents can encourage their child to sing or dance at home whenever they wish to and not restrict it to formal functions. Parents too can join them and make the occasions more memorable and joyful. Such impromptu performances inspire children to stay connected to art.

Creative arts inspire children to stay innovative which is essential for a learner’s academic development. Thus, it is imperative to integrate creative arts with mainstream education from an early age to make a stronger foundation for success in later life.