The Importance of Art in Children’s Lives
Do you enjoy arts and crafts time with your child? Everyone with kids knows that they love to get their hands messy with paint, glue and glitter. However, art is more than just a bit of fun. Practicing and learning about art can have a great influence on children’s lives, so as a parent, it’s important that you introduce the idea from an early age. Encouraging creativity won’t just give your child the co-ordination skills they need to draw and paint, it will help them in all areas of development.
How Children Can Benefit from Art
One of the most important benefits of art is that it helps children to fully express themselves and stimulates their imaginations. Whether they’re creating a masterpiece or learning about a piece of art, they will develop an open mind and be in touch with their emotions and senses. Looking at artwork and discussing it together assists with critical thinking and the development of your child’s observation skills. It exposes children to different cultures and things they’ve never seen before, helping them to become smarter and more rounded overall. Art also increases confidence and teaches children to take pride in what they’ve made. After all, there’s no wrong way to do it!
Where to Find Child-Friendly Art in London
Spending time with your child drawing and painting at home is a valuable activity for the whole family. But where should you go if you want to look at works of art? The cultural city of London is one of the best locations to find art in the UK. Here are some of the most highly-recommended places to explore child-friendly art in London. The Tate Modern is a fun and interesting place to introduce your kids to art, plus admission is free. Located on the South Bank, it provides a great day out for the family where you can see art in a relaxed and inspiring environment. Discover works by famous artists including Picasso, or head to the Bloomberg Connect Drawing Bar where little ones can showcase their own artworks on a digital drawing.
Teach kids that art is more than just paintings with a visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum. Here, you’ll find everything from sculptures and ceramics to fashion and textiles. The V&A caters to families and hold regular child-friendly activities and workshops for parents and kids to take part in.
While some art can be lost on children, portraits are easily recognisable and create an immediate impact on youngsters. The National Portrait Gallery has over 200,000 portraits which will inspire your child to discuss and ask questions about the people in them, so be prepared for plenty of questions! When you get home, why not encourage children to paint or draw their own portrait piece?
How do you teach your child about art? Let us know your ideas and thoughts on this subject below.