There’s More to Arts & Crafts Than Meets the Eye!
The “A” in STEAM stands for “Art,” and every St. Patrick’s Day is a great opportunity for some fun arts and crafts to share with your preschoolers. Your kitchen can quickly turn into an art studio with the right supplies and a young mind full of imagination and creativity.
Did you know though that these arts and crafts have a purpose beyond being fun? Here are several real and fantastic benefits your early learner can get from creating collages, cards and more this St. Patrick’s Day.
Fine Motor Skill Development
Whether you’re drawing a straight line, gluing on shamrocks or cutting with scissors, arts and crafts can help your child develop their fine motor skills. This doesn’t just help your learner get used to things like using pencils and pens, but the hand-eye coordination can also help build the dexterity they need to succeed in physical areas, like sports!
Improved Decision-Making
What colors does your child want to work with? Which tools do they need to use: buttons, stickers or glitter? If they want to make construction paper look like a lucky four-leaf clover, how will they accomplish that? Artistic choices and challenges can encourage your child to make small, but impactful decisions that create real, tangible results. This can help build your child’s confidence in their own decision-making as well as their own critical thinking skills.
Practicing Patience
You can’t rush paint drying and you can’t cut too quickly if you want to get your leprechaun’s hat to turn out just right. This helps kids understand the value of patience and waiting. If they rush something and it doesn’t turn out the way they wanted, they’ll also learn from the experience. Next time, they’ll remember that glue has to finish drying before they can touch the paper if they don’t want their hands to get sticky!
Memory Through Hands-On Learning
Creating St. Patrick’s Day arts and crafts also builds memory. Hands-on learning with colors and shapes makes more sense to kids than asking them to just remember names for things. In other words, if you draw a heart you’re more likely to remember what shape a “heart” is, and if you have to ask for a green crayon you’re more likely to remember which color that is later on.
Self-Expression & Self Esteem
Arts and crafts give your child a way to express their own thoughts and ideas through pictures. There’s a real sense of achievement that kids get from completing their arts and crafts. They get the opportunity to make something, by themselves, that they’re proud of sharing. This gives your child the chance to be creative and try new things while boosting their self-esteem.
Better Socialization Skills & Bonding
The best arts and crafts aren’t done alone—they’re done with family or friends! Getting to interact with other kids who are trying the same arts and crafts (and maybe even sharing them with one another) gives them an opportunity to make friends through a shared experience. When parents are involved, it can help strengthen that parent-child bond, too!
Ready to start some arts and crafts this St. Patrick’s Day?
At Amazing Explorers Academy, we value the early learning of every child through STEAM: Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics. That’s why we’ve found plenty of “amazing” arts and crafts activities you can enjoy with your child this St. Patrick’s Day! Find one that you love at our Pinterest board here.
