Benefits of Creative Arts for preschool children

“Creative arts” is one of the six learning domains in Vinschool’s Kindergarten curriculum, which features activities that actively stimulate children’s imagination through shapes, dances, music, and performances. Art activities are always organized to arouse children’s excitement, develop their confidence, passion for creativity, and help them learn how to accept and respect the diversity of artworks made by their friends and people around them, as well as the differences in art styles all over the world.

1. Importance of the Creative Arts  

Creative Arts features exciting activities organised at all Vinschool Kindergarten campuses, including creative arts lessons, events, and competitions. Vinschool teachers have realised many benefits brought by Creative Arts to children, as it:

• Comprehensively promotes children’s intellectual and cognitive development.
• Creates stepping-stones for children to build necessary skills and develop these skills optimally. (For example, shaping helps children develop gross and fine motor skills and 5 senses, etc., while acting brings them a lot of profound life skills and useful lessons…)
• Helps children learn to accept change, gradually overcome fear and anxiety – factors that hinder their creativity.
• Helps children realise that some problems are not easy and take a lot of time to deal with.
• Helps children realize that there are different positive answers to each question, and the goal of which is to explore the world.
• Helps children observe and accept their own feelings and those of others.
• Respects children’s creativity, even if it creates a mess.
• Respects children’s joy of experiencing and acknowledge children’s efforts.
• Helps children to persevere, and encourages them to explore the world.
• Helps children appreciate and value their unique traits and expressions.
• Develops children’s language skills. Teaches children to respect the beauty of different cultures and respect diversity.

2. Creative Arts activities

With the aforementioned benefits, Creative Arts is encouraged not only at school but also at home, with the participation of parents via creative activities. Here are suggestions for parents from teachers at Vinschool Kindergarten:

• Shaping: drawing, watercolour painting, torn paper collage, kneading the dough, making handicrafts, etc.
• Music: singing, dancing, playing musical instruments (such as drums, bamboo castanets, rattles, bells, dancing with colourful scarves)
• Acting: Acting based on a story, or playing an imaginary role (For example, parents act as students, children act as teachers, etc.)

3. What to keep in mind when carrying out creative arts activities

Teachers at Vinschool Kindergarten always have certain requirements to make sure that all activities can bring about the best educational and pedagogical goals. These are important suggestions from Vinschool teachers in the hope of helping parents accompany their children in the most meaningful and effective way.

To promote preschool children’s creativity, it is essential to give them the right to make every decision related to their artworks. Besides, it is necessary to focus on PROGRESS instead of COMPLETED WORKS or PERFORMANCE. Adults sometimes pay too much attention to the completed works, so they just ask their children to memorise a song or re-enact a play, thus ignoring important skills such as expressing feelings and thinking, promoting linguistic competency and feeling arts.

• If we focus on COMPLETED WORKS, we will limit to a specific outcome and hinder creativity. The artworks, therefore, may become “stereotypical”, and expectations can make it hard for children to actively participate in the activity.
• If we focus on PROGRESS, we will no longer pin expectations on our children. The children, therefore, are free to experience and explore. They will make creative products that even amaze adults.

After completing an artwork or a performance, children need adults’ attention and recognition through such actions as:

• Sincere praise..
• Asking questions (How did you draw this? Which part of the play do you like most? If the situation were different, what do you think it would be?) Questions help children think more carefully and talk more openly about their products, through which we can learn more about their thinking and feelings.
• Displaying – children will think that their creativity is recognised if there is a separate corner for their artworks.

Art activities give children the first socialised learning experiences, which make a significant contribution to their healthy, fair and correct social interactions. These are suggestions from Vinschool Kindergarten teachers so parents can nurture their child’s passion for creativity, independence, and confidence, at the same time kindle their hidden artistic sensibility.