I talk to so many adults and teachers who think art is just a frivolous subject, an activity to give kids to do to keep them quiet for an hour or so. Some might even know the value of art in that it encourages kids to think creatively and work through complex emotions. Art benefits both their mental health and their fine motor skills too. But, did you know art-making stimulates kids’ brain development!? It goes beyond creative expression (although that’s important too) and actually has lasting positive effects on kids’ brains!
You may think that the art projects and lessons you’ve been doing in your Montessori classroom are just busy work—filling time and keeping kids busy. But in fact, there is a lot of behind-the-scenes action going on during each art activity that fuels students’ brain development. We know that when a child touches an object, information is sent through their sensory nerves to their brain. Visual art learning happens through direct sensory interactions which stimulate learning in different ways than visual and audio learning.
These sensory experiences can help young students learn more, better understand different ideas and concepts, and art-making stimulates kids’ brain development. Here are a few areas where art directly benefits kids’ brain development.
Gross Fine-Motor Skills
Visual arts provides kids with the opportunity to use their hands on a regular basis. They are holding pencils, pinching and sculpting clay, cutting with scissors, and making fluid brushstrokes. These all help kids build their hand muscles and strengthen their hand-eye coordination as well as fine motor movements.
Connection to Vocabulary and Communication
Visual arts help kids make connections across different subjects and ideas to be able to better understand things. So, when kids explore different art activities, they’re actually learning how to communicate what they see in their artworks and how to describe the artistic process they used to create. In doing this, they unknowingly start making observations such as, “I see color,” “I see pink,” “I see a squiggly line,” “I see zigzags.” When they communicate those observations to you or each other, they begin to develop their art language and a greater vocabulary. As a result, they improve and develop important cognitive processing.
Stress Regulation
Creating art also helps children wire their brains to regulate stress. Art gives them the tools to learn how to calm themselves down. Tactile sensory processing occurs when children create art; neural networks fire and signal their focus solely on what they’re doing with their hands, blocking outside thoughts and stimuli. What happens is, if kids are stressed out or upset about something and they’re making art, they can’t focus on that. Art involves active learning, meaning they have to focus on what they’re doing immediately, which takes away the upsetting, stressful things that are happening in their environment.
Implicit Memory
Another area of brain development art fuels is implicit memory. When kids learn repeated movements, they’re strengthening their implicit memory and are actually storing this new information. The next time that they engage in an art activity, implicit memory kicks in and their hand movements will come naturally—the actions are wired and become linked in their brain. That means they don’t have to consciously think about every minute action; they will see a paintbrush, and instinctively know to pick it up, dip it into the palette or water, and start creating. The sensory information of seeing the paintbrush and then holding it in their hand immediately send that information to their brain, triggering an action. Building this implicit memory helps develop more skills down the road; they’ll have this implicit memory already stored in their brain and can then focus on new skills to learn.
Spatial Intelligence
Spatial intelligence is learned through creating with forms in space. When children make art, they become aware of the spatial relationships among objects in the realm of their own experiences. This gives them the ability to visualize and manipulate elements, rotate objects, and distinguish depth and balance—which is critical in early childhood brain development. It’s important to note that spatial intelligence is something that cannot be taught unless kids are actually doing an activity; art gives them the experience of seeing how things interact and happen dynamically or statically.
Where to Start: Lesson Plans to Ensure Art Stimulates Kids’ Brain Development
Here’s some great news: students will automatically start getting all these benefits any time they create art! That means you don’t have to have any fancy art mediums or materials or complicated lesson plans. You can do simple activities to make sure art stimulates kids’ brain development. The more art lessons and activities you plan for your Montessori students, the more they’ll deepen their neural networks and build on all these developmental skills. Any art lesson, especially those that involve process-based or exploratory learning, will benefit kids’ brain development.
One Step Further: Watch My Training, ‘How-to Teach Art Montessori Art Lessons Using Storybooks’
I’ve worked with so many Montessori teachers from all over the world and they’ve all told me how intimidating it is to actually teach art in their classrooms. I want art to be accessible to every child, from early elementary on up—and to do that, I know that actually teaching art needs to be easy.
One way I love to introduce teachers to the idea of how to teach art is by showing you how to work with tools you already have—like storybooks! I created a virtual training that teaches you how to teach art by using storybooks to create art lesson themes. And as a bonus, I share some quick-planning ideas to help you regularly and easily schedule art activities in your Montessori classroom.
To get access to this incredible training (for free!), click here!
A Short Cut Just for You
If you’d like to learn more about all the benefits art can offer to children, read my book, Defining Visual Arts. It provides art literacy standards and gives you a guide to what you should be teaching your students. The book also includes tips for using artistic language, choosing the best art mediums, and putting together art projects for kids of different ages.
It’s truly a solid foundation to help you teach art in your classroom (in a way that’s stress-free for you, and exciting and fun for your students!). To purchase Defining Visual Arts, click here.
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