This is Part 2 of a 3-part series on the benefits of arts & crafts.
Let’s talk about the cognitive benefits:
While exploring different colors, patterns, textures, and senses, your child’s brain is actively learning and linking experiences with thoughts and sensations. This helps your child’s brain cells learn how to communicate with one another more easily.
This can help develop skills to process visual information, such as interpreting color, size, shape, patterns, and depth. Our brains take in millions of pieces of information about our environment, and our brains must learn how to organize and understand all of this information. Exposure to colors, shapes, patterns with arts & crafts facilitates this learning process.
Completing crafts also helps children learn to use logic, follow directions, and solve problems as it may require making decisions or completing steps in a proper order. Regularly doing arts & crafts helps your child understand cause & effect relationships and the importance of following directions… as well as how to work through mistakes.
Doing crafts can help develop skills in self-regulation. When the art or craft does not turn out as well children hope, they learn to manage their emotions (frustration) and behavior (acting out). And, when your child is completing a work of art they are proud of, crafts can develop skills in self-regulation such as patience as well as develop greater self-esteem!
So, pop on the plastic table cover, crack open the crayon box, try to relax about the ensuing mess, and have fun with your child! Check out the WIND Study’s seasonal newsletters to learn about fun craft ideas to try!