Adults think of paints and crayons as tools for creating art. For kids, paints and crayons are more than that. They are tools for discovering and learning through play.
What are some of these learning and kindergarten readiness activities? The most obvious skills developed are fine muscle control and eye-hand coordination. This helps little ones with writing tasks later on. Creating with paints and crayons is also a form of self-expression as kids explore what they like and don’t like and exercise their imaginations. They are also building the understanding that images on paper have meaning, which is a basic concept for both reading and writing. Language skills are also developed as kids talk about what they are doing and practice words like more, darker-lighter, bigger-smaller, shapes and colors. Kids discover that some colors mixed together make new ones for some science fun. Taking care of their crayons and paints and helping clean up afterwards also helps them learn to be responsible. As kids work and play, they are building their attention span. All of this is part of readiness for kindergarten.
Better hang on to your child’s art work. While it may never fetch the prices that Kieron Williamson’s does ( already in the thousands of dollars for this 9-year old!) it will be priceless for you! What art decorates your fridge?