Those who work with young children get amazing cards and just as amazing is all the fun and learning that kids have when making and playing with them. For kids in playschool, preschool and daycares, they often make and decorate cards to exchange with others but kids at home can do a few for the family.
In a recent Learn and Play with Mrs A radio show with artist and art therapist, Karen Wallace, she explained that very young children begin scribbling and making marks about the age of a year and half old! For them, the interest is in what they are doing with their bodies rather than what’s in the drawing. Toddlers become interested in naming what they create and about the age of 3 or 4, kids are more eager to try and draw what something looks like. Many children love to explore what they can draw and paint and create with colors, shapes, and lines. This fun and play with tools is the beginning of the process of writing things down.
Once kids have made cards, it’s also fun to imagine and play with them. Even babies are starting to learn about give and take and will play the game of giving something to us and then we give it back. This is the basis of relationships and so is a social skill that kids need to learn. Older kids may remember what happens at the post office and the mail box and enjoy pretending to send and get mail. Would you agree that both making cards and playing with them are great for fun and learning?
