July 21, 2016

6 Benefits of Drawing Time for Children

Few activities come as naturally to young children as drawing. Whether your child’s medium is chalk on a sidewalk or crayons on printer paper, he or she likely enjoys the act of creating art. Along with other forms of expression like dance and storytelling, drawing has numerous developmental benefits. In this blog, we list six reasons to encourage your child to draw at home, in daycare, and in school.

1. Develops Fine Motor Skills

Fine motor skills include any specialized movement of the hands, wrists, and fingers. As an adult, you rely on fine motor skills when you type, drive, or even text. It’s important for your child to develop strong fine motor skills at a young age.

Holding and manipulating writing implements represents one of the best ways to improve a child’s fine motor skills. Drawing creates immediate visual feedback that changes depending on the tool your child uses and how he or she uses it. This feedback helps your child identify the best ways to produce the desired result.

2. Encourages Visual Analysis

Young children do not yet understand some concepts that you may take for granted, such as distance, size comparison, and textural differences. Drawing provides the perfect opportunity for your child to learn these concepts in a deliberate way.

Having a child draw specific items, especially in relationship to each other, can help him or her perform fundamental visual analysis of everyday spaces. To support this kind of drawing at home, prompt your child to draw examples of big and small, rough and smooth, far and near, and so on.

3. Helps Establish Concentration

Because most children enjoy drawing, this activity provides time to establish the concepts of concentration and practice. These concepts will be essential to your child’s academic success, even in elementary school.

Learning how to observe small details, concentrate on achieving a specific result, and practice tricky tasks helps your child mature.

4. Improves Hand-Eye Coordination

In addition to improving fine motor skills, drawing enables your child to draw connections between what he or she sees and what he or she does. This hand-eye coordination is important in athletic and recreational situations, as well as in academic scenarios such as penmanship lessons.

For a hand-eye coordination boost, have your child draw an object while looking at it or copy a drawing that you made.

5. Increases Individual Confidence

As a parent or guardian, you probably love to hear the phrase, “Look what I made!” When you child has an opportunity to create physical representations of his or her imagination, thoughts, and experiences, he or she gains confidence.

Drawing can help your child feel more intrinsic motivation, self-worth, and validity. This affirmation will make him or her more confident in other areas that may not come as naturally as drawing.

6. Teaches Creative Problem Solving

Along with visual analysis and concentration, drawing encourages your child to solve problems creatively. When he or she draws, your child must determine the best way to connect body parts, portray emotions, and depict specific textures.

Providing specific drawing tasks, such as creating a family portrait, and talking about your child’s color, method, or special choices can help him or her develop stronger problem solving skills over time.

To help your child feel motivated to draw and create, use positive reinforcement. You may want to display finished drawings in your child’s room or in other areas of your home, include personalized drawings in letters to family members, and praise your child for practice and specific achievements.

Encourage your little one to draw throughout his or her childhood to reap all the benefits listed above.