To Screen or Not to Screen? That is the Question… for Discussion
Next week is Screen-Free week, so it’s timely to talk about digital art for kids. There are some definite advantages and some substantial disadvantages. I am not an expert in digital technology. Rather, this is my viewpoint as a kindergarten teacher and parent. This discussion will, hopefully, give you some points to consider.
The AAP, American Academy of Pediatrics, recommends no screen exposure for kids under 2 years of age, and only 1-2 hours per day for those older. Is art part of those couple of hours? There are hundreds of apps and programs for kids to use for digital art, varying from easy enough for young toddlers to more complicated ones for older kids.
Some of the benefits include being able to engage with colors, lines, shapes, and patterns in a visually impactful way. There is no doubt it is exciting to see results right away on a screen. When the images move and change on a screen, it’s even more capturing. Digital art can also stimulate imagination and improve small muscle coordination.
What about the drawbacks? Children learn through their senses and digital art lacks the sensory stimulation of crayons, brushes, paint, markers, chalk, scissors, glue, play dough and other materials.
Kids do not get to use their skin to feel textures like rough, smooth, bumpy, slippery, or pokey. Hands do not get the same range of energy and motion with a device. There’s no squeezing, pinching, tugging, gently smoothing, or just barely touching. That’s only the senses of seeing and touching. Human voices are far richer in terms of expression than recorded ones and there’s no smell or taste with a screen.
Some children will like the immediacy and animation when using electronic devices. The young girl who colored this picture of oil pastels using oil pastels says she does digital art but prefers the pastels. For contrast, even the drawing of the crayons is closer to the real item than a more accurate digital image.
As with anything, we need to consider what is reasonable. Yes, we can include digital art for kids but only as one part of all the different kinds of art play. What’s your point of view?